The need

The Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music has been housed in the Performing Arts Centre at the Clayton campus since 1995.  Our School has expanded rapidly since 2001 and outgrown its current premises.

Changes in curriculum, including new undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and research growth areas have seen a rise in the numbers of students and staff. And we are still growing - we expect to have about 50 per cent more students in 10 years’ time.

Current lack of space means 300 undergraduate students must share just eight practice rooms and minimal ensemble rehearsal spaces.  This is woefully inadequate given that students are expected to practice at least three hours each day. This situation is not tenable and students have expressed their dissatisfaction.

The Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music also experiences other problems:

• lack of soundproofing in the building makes practising and rehearsing difficult
• teaching spaces are very limited
• offices are not soundproofed so teachers cannot conduct one-to-one instrumental lessons, nor do their own performance research
• the recording studio is out-of-date, suffers from sound leakage, and has limited equipment and no digital facilities
• there are no social spaces for students
• postgraduate students do not have enough office space