Conservatorium High School

Conservatorium High School
Front western view of the Conservatorium
Location
Sydney , NSW Australia
Coordinates	33°51′48″S 151°12′51″E
Information
Type	Publicly run and funded, co-educational, performing arts, secondary, day school
Motto	Template:Lang-la ("Let there be light")
Established	1918
Principal	Robert Curry
Enrolment	~155 (7–12)
Colour(s)	Black and white
Website	http://conhigh.nsw.edu.au/

The Conservatorium High School (colloquially known as Con High), is a selective, co-educational, creative and performing arts secondary day school specialising in the education of talented young musicians. The school is the secondary arm of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the state's only specialist music high school.

The Conservatorium High School accepts students from Years 7 to 12. The school numbers among its alumni some of Australia's most acclaimed performers, teachers and composers, musicians who have made their mark in all facets of the music profession.

History

Established at the behest of Henri Verbrugghen, foundation director of the NSW State Conservatorium of Music, the school enrolled its first students in 1918. The inaugural principal, Mr Alfred Steel, was seconded from Sydney Boys' High; he taught in both the secondary and tertiary programmes of the Conservatorium.

Campus

Conservatorium of Music during Macquarie Night Lights, 2006

Located in the Royal Botanic Gardens overlooking Farm Cove, the Conservatorium of Music is one of Sydney's best-known heritage sites. The heart of the Conservatorium is the turreted sandstone structure that was designed by the convict architect, Francis Greenway, to serve as vice-regal stables for Government House, which is located across the gardens to the north. Extensive redevelopment in the late 1990s transformed the Con into a superb teaching, research and music performance complex with expanded accommodation for up to 180 Conservatorium High students.

Facilities

The facilities of the school include:

• Choral assembly hall with recording facilities
• Music computer laboratory
• Keyboard laboratory
• General computer laboratory
• Science laboratory
• Visual arts and design and technology studio
• Student Independent Learning Centre (SILC)

In addition, the school has access to venues such as:

• Recital halls
• Music cafe
• Practice and ensemble rooms
• The Music Workshop
• Verbrugghen Hall

Library

The Conservatorium Library is one of Australia's finest academic music libraries, run jointly by the University of Sydney and the Department of Education and Communities. Conservatorium High School students have partial access to the library and the computer facilities.

School life and admissions

The Conservatorium High School is staffed and administered by the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities. Instrumental tuition, chamber music programs, and individual composition lessons are provided to the students by Conservatorium lecturers and tutors. Students are given privileges such as free admission to Conservatorium concerts and masterclasses.

Admission is through a highly competitive process of audition and interview that assesses each applicant's potential as well as current level of achievement. Prospective students must also pass the NSW selective school tests. Auditions are held each year in July–September.

Curriculum

Subjects offered for students in Years 7–10 include: music, science, English, history, mathematics, geography, Mandarin, visual arts, design and technology, drama, personal development and health, performance workshop program, physical education and esports.

Subjects offered to students in Years 11–12 comprise: Music 2, music extension, music performance board endorsed course (performance workshop program, ensembles, chamber music and choir, house concerts), ancient history, modern history, history extension, biology, chemistry, physics, English advanced, English extension 1, English extension 2, French, German, mathematics general, mathematics, mathematics extension 1, mathematics extension 2, society and culture, drama, and visual arts.

Concerts

Every year the school holds a regular program of public concerts, often attracting world-renowned musicians to perform with the students. The school presents three major choral/orchestral concerts in terms 1, 2 and 3. Term 2 showcases the annual concert and term 3 is the valedictory concert and farewell to Year 12. The winner of the School's annual concerto competition also performs with the orchestra on this occasion. During term 4, students organise house concerts where the houses (Bach, Beethoven and Brahms) compete to win the award of best performance for the evening. Each house is allocated about 30 minutes organised by house captains and the vice captains without the assistance of teaching staff.

The School appointed Carolyn Watson conductor-in-residence in 2011. Recent repertoire performed under Watson includes Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition in a performance involving every student at the school. In 2012 the CHS presented a first-ever all-Australian program featuring works by composers Vine, Sculthorpe, Stanhope, Hindson and John Peterson; during 2011, the school performed the Mozart Requiem to capacity audiences.

In addition to orchestral concerts, there are numerous chamber music concerts, soloist concerts, large and small ensemble concerts and assembly performances.

The School has an active Parents and Citizen's Association, and encourages parental representation on curriculum, finance, welfare and school management committees, and in a variety of fund-raising activities.

Fees and scholarships

The cost of individual tuition with teachers of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music is subsidised for students enrolling at the Conservatorium High School. Scholarships are available for special programs and purposes.

Alumni

Notable ex-students of the Conservatorium High School include:

• Lin Cho-liang – violin
• Iva Davies – multi-instrumentalist, founding mainstay of Icehouse
• John Foreman
• Jade MacRae
• The Presets
• Jane Rutter – flute
• Toby Thatcher – oboe, cor anglais, conductor
• Richard Tognetti – violin, composer, and conductor
• Barry Tuckwell – French horn
• Roger Woodward – piano

The school's alumni association, the Con High Association of Old Students (CHAOS), aims to keep alumni in touch with one another, and informed about current developments through its newsletter, "This week at Con High". The Association puts on an annual series of convival concerts that raises funds for providing scholarships for students.

See also

• List of government schools in New South Wales
• List of creative and performing arts high schools in New South Wales

External links

• Conservatorium High School website
• Conservatorium High School Parents and Citizens Association