Dome in the saloon, Elizabeth Bay House. Photograph (c) Nicholas Watt, Sydney Living Museums.
Sound Heritage Sydney: Making Music in Historic Places
On the 28th of March 2017, an international forum of invited experts spent a day at Elizabeth Bay House sharing their knowledge about music making in historic houses.
Have you ever wondered about how music was made in the Australian homes of the past? What music was popular, who played it and how was it played? Having pondered these questions for some time, Sydney Living Museums and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music invited a range of experts from across Australia, the UK, and New Zealand to participate in a symposium at Elizabeth Bay House to explore the history of music making in the Australian home and its international contexts.
Sound Heritage Sydney brought together musicians, scholars and heritage practitioners to discuss what and how music was played in historic houses and at other historic sites. The forum was also interested in uncovering innovative ways music can be used to reveal new narratives in historic properties for contemporary visitors.
Sydney Living Museums is the Australian partner of the British-based Sound Heritage network, co-founded by Professor Jeanice Brooks, University of Southampton, and Jonathan Wainwright, University of York, and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK). Launched in 2015, Sound Heritage is an international network that is seeking a richer understanding of how music functioned in the life of historic houses in the 18th and 19th centuries. SLM is one of three international partners along with representatives from the US and Ireland who have participated with our British counterparts in a series of three study days in England. SLM was invited to join Sound Heritage in recognition of our contribution, led by the Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, towards a better understanding of domestic music making in colonial NSW and further afield.
Symposium Videos and Abstracts
- Musical Soundscapes in the Historic House Museum - Professor Jeanice Brooks, University of Southampton
- Curating the Colonial Musical Museum - Dr Graeme Skinner, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney
- Music from Home: Sydney Living Museums' Sheet Music Collections and the Scots in Australia - Dr Brianna Robertson-Kirkland, University of Glasgow
- The Dowling Songbook Project: Making Music Matter at Elizabeth Bay House - Dr Matthew Stephens, Sydney Living Museums
- Listening to the Past - Performing the Past: Restoring the Voices of Lanyon Homestead, Mugga Mugga and Calthorpes' House - Dr Jennifer Gall, Australian National University
- Silence and Listening: An Introduction to The Sounds and Music Collection of Rouse Hill Estate, 1813-1980s - Nicole Forsyth, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney
- Words and Music: Symposium Concert - see concert program for details and Videos & Abstracts page for performance videos
- Rediscovering Dance and Dance Music in Historic English Houses - Dr Katrina Faulds, University of Southampton
- Dancing in Fetters: The Culture of Convict Dance - Heather Clarke, Queensland University of Technology
- Pleasure Garden: Listening Through Time - Dr Genevieve Lacey, performer and artistic director
- Closing comments - Ian Innes, Director Heritage & Collections, Sydney Living Museums
Image Gallery
Symposium speakers and performers outside Elizabeth Bay House. From left to right: Dr Brianna Robertson-Kirkland, Dr Matthew Stephens, Professor Jeanice Brooks, Dr Genevieve Lacey, Heather Clarke, Nicole Forsyth, James Doig, Nyssa Milligan, Colin van der Lecq, Dr Katrina Faulds, Dr Graeme Skinner, Dr Jennifer Gall, Ian Blake, Sandra France.
Nicole Forsyth, Historical Performance Division, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney.
Dr Matthew Stephens, Research Librarian, Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Sydney Living Museums singing in the saloon, Elizabeth Bay House.
Dr Brianna Robertson-Kirkland, Dr Graeme Skinner, Heather Clarke, Vincent Plush, Ian Blake, Professor Jeanice Brooks and Dr Jennifer Gall.
Ian Blake, composer and performer, playing piano in the saloon at Elizabeth Bay House.
Dr Jennifer Gall, School of Music, Australian National University, speaking at Elizabeth Bay House.
Dr Katrina Faulds (piano), University of Southampton, and Dr Brianna Robertson-Kirkland (singer), University of Glasgow, in the saloon at Elizabeth Bay House.
James Doig and Nyssa Milligan, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney, in the drawing room at Elizabeth Bay House.
Dr Genevieve Lacey, performer and artistic director, and Joanna Nicholas, Portfolio Curator, House Museums Portfolio, Sydney Living Museums.
Michael Lea, former curator of music at the Powerhouse Museum, and Dr Alan Maddox, Senior Lecturer in Musicology at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney.
Colin van der Lecq, consultant piano conservator and tuner, and Ian Innes, Assistant Director, Sydney Living Museums, in the drawing room at Elizabeth Bay House.
Sandra France, pianist and composer, and Heather Clarke, Queensland University of Technology.
Elizabeth Nicol, University of Auckland, and Dr Graeme Skinner, Honorary Associate, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney.
Professor Ian Jack, Senior Fellow and Archivist, St Andrews College, University of Sydney and Dr Brianna Robertson-Kirkland, University of Glasgow.
Bronwen Griffin, consultant muscial instrument conservator.
James Doig, postgraduate student, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney, singing and playing piano in the saloon at Elizabeth Bay House.
Dr Katrina Faulds, University of Southampton, and Nyssa Milligan, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney, in the library at Elizabeth Bay House.
Dr Gillian Dooley, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Flinders University, and Leona Geeves, Wagner Society in NSW Inc.
Sandra France, pianist and composer, and Melissa Flyte, Assistant Curator, House Museums Portfolio, Sydney Living Museums.
Sandra France, pianist and composer, playing piano in the saloon at Elizabeth Bay House.
Scott Hill, Portfolio Curator, House Museums Portfolio, and Beth Hise, Head of Curatorial & Exhibitions, Sydney Living Museums.
The saloon, Elizabeth Bay House.
News from Sound Heritage Sydney
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Bel canto at Elizabeth Bay HouseThursday 30 August 2018
Sound Heritage
Sound Heritage Sydney Symposium ReportTuesday 2 May 2017
The University of Southampton's write up on the first Australian symposium on sound heritage
Sound Heritage
Sounding HeritageTuesday 2 May 2017
Music critic Harriet Cunningham shares her impressions of Sound Heritage Sydney
Sound Heritage
Sound Heritage Down UnderTuesday 2 May 2017
Symposium report by Professor Jeanice Brooks, co-founder of the Sound Heritage Network
Sound Heritage
Returning from the not-so-final frontierTuesday 2 May 2017
Visiting scholar Dr Brianna Robertson-Kirkland from the University of Glasgow recounts the highlights of her Sydney adventure
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