Dear ASME members,
I’m writing to you for the first time as National President of the Australian Society for Music Education, having been elected in July last year. While it’s taken me a little time to reach out formally, the past months have been anything but quiet – and I wanted to begin by saying how genuinely honoured I am to be serving our community in this role.
Many of us came together in September for what was an outstanding national conference. The energy in the rooms, the generosity of ideas, and the sense of shared purpose were palpable. It was a privilege to hear from such inspirational keynote speakers – William Barton, Pamela Burnard, Christa Powell, Paul Grabowsky and Andrew Ford – whose contributions reminded us of the depth, diversity and vitality of music education across contexts.
As I said in my closing address at the conference:
For me, this conference was an inspirational and transformational experience. In trying to encapsulate the feeling at the end of an extraordinary three days, the word that comes to my mind is connection.
- A connection with each other, with a collective of people who understand our reality, what we face in our work, and where our work might go in the future;
- A connection with our humanity – our values, beliefs and assumptions that shape us;
- A connection with music – the thing that has brought us together, despite the extraordinary diversity of musics that has been part of this program;
- A connection with ideas – those we agree with and those we don’t, wrestling to understand and deconstruct ideas as a way of connecting more deeply with the people who espouse them;
- A connection with the history of this country and its future, with our role within that future, and with the young people who will one day lead us;
- A connection with the history of ASME, the future of ASME, our role within it, and the next generation who will one day lead us.
How will we maintain those connections after leaving here today? For me, this is what ASME provides – a reason to connect, a tie, an invisible length of yarn that joins us, extends as we take our own lines of flight back to our own places, is maintained virtually, and brings us together again in a different time and place.
These connections are something I hope we can continue to build on together over the next two years.
Looking ahead: new initiatives
One recent initiative I’m particularly pleased to share is the addition of significant archival material to the ASME Resource Hub on our website. This includes access to BAMER — the Bibliography of Australian Music Education Research.
Begun in 1989 as a collaborative project between the Australian Society for Music Education (ASME) and Associate Professor Robin Stevens (then Research Editor of the Australian Journal of Music Education), BAMER is a database of music education research studies undertaken at Australian universities, or by Australian music education researchers at overseas institutions, covering the period from 1936 to 2012/13.
ASME is delighted to be able to provide access to this important collection. It represents a rich record of scholarship in our field and offers a valuable resource for researchers, teachers, students and anyone interested in the history and development of music education in Australia.
How you can support ASME
ASME is a member-led organisation, and its strength comes from the collective commitment of its community. You can support ASME by staying connected, participating in state and national events, sharing your work and ideas, encouraging colleagues to join, and contributing to conversations about the future of music education in Australia. Whether your involvement is large or small, visible or behind the scenes, it matters – and it sustains the work we do together.
As National President, I’m keen to ensure ASME remains a welcoming, forward-looking professional home for music educators across Australia – advocating strongly, supporting generously, and listening carefully to the voices of our members. I look forward to sharing more in the months ahead, and to hearing from you about what matters most in your work and your communities.
Thank you for the work you do to sustain and grow music education. All the very best for the upcoming start of the school and academic year.
Warm regards,
Rachael Dwyer
National President, ASME
