John Hopkins (conductor)
John Hopkins OBE (born 19 July 1927) is a Yorkshire-born, British conductor and administrator. Hopkins moved to New Zealand in 1957 and to Australia in 1963. He conducted the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in 1987 in one of New Zealand's first Orchestral Composers' Reading Workshops. His current position is as head of conducting at the University of Melbourne.
John Hopkins founded in 1959 the New Zealand National Youth Orchestra in 1959, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009. John Hopkins was present for the New Zealand NYO season in 2009.[1] As part of his contribution to youth music he also conducted the South African National Youth Orchestra.
As the Federal Director of Music for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, Hopkins began a number of innovations within the Commission's Concert Music Division, such as starting an Australian Promenade (Proms) series in Sydney in 1965[2] and broadcasting international avant-garde classical music.[3] As a part of the Proms concerts, Hopkins programmed a variety of music, from the Renaissance, performed by the Sydney group The Renaissance Players,[4] the then rarely performed music of Hector Berlioz, Gustav Mahler and Sir Edward Elgar,[5] avant-garde music from overseas[6] and Australia.[7] The Australian composers who wrote music for the concerts included Peter Sculthorpe, Nigel Butterley and Richard Meale.[8] Hopkins resigned from the Director's post in 1973[9] due to a number of factors, including tensions with staff within the ABC Concert Music Division.[10] In 1974 he became the inaugural Dean of the School of Music at the newly formed Victorian College of the Arts.
In 1974 he led the world premiere of Sculthorpe's opera/music theatre work Rites of Passage.
He was Director of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music from 1986 to 1991.
He currently is professor of conducting at the Victorian College of the Arts and Music, and still does some guest conducting with community and youth orchestras.
[edit] Career
- Assistant conductor, BBC Scottish Orchestra, 1949–52
- Conductor, BBC Northern Orchestra, 1952–57
- Conductor, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, 1957–63
- Director of Music, Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1963–73
- Dean of School of Music, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, 1973–86
- Director, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, 1986–91
[edit] References
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Constructs such as ibid., loc. cit. and idem are discouraged by Wikipedia's style guide for footnotes, as they are easily broken. Please improve this article by replacing them with named references (quick guide), or an abbreviated title. (July 2010) |
- ^ New Zealand Symphony Orchestra National Youth Orchestra official Homepage
- ^ Sametz, Phillip: Play On - 60 Years of Music Making with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, ABC Books, Sydney, 1992 p.230
- ^ ibid
- ^ O'Sullivan, Mark: The Biggest Mind Bending Event So Far - Music Performance in Sydney 1932 - 1994, Sydney University Honours Thesis, 1994, p. 27
- ^ ibid, p. 30
- ^ Sametz, op. cit, p. 258
- ^ Sculthorpe, Peter: Sun Music, ABC Books, Sydney, 1999; p. 81
- ^ O'Sullivan, op. cit. p. 32
- ^ Sametz, op. cit, p.262
- ^ O'Sullivan, Mark, op. cit. p. 40, Sametz op. cit., p.283
