BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Music education matters.
Whether you first picked up an instrument at school, you’re working full-time in an orchestra, or you’re just entering your industry training, it’s likely you share the sentiment.
The airing of music education program Don’t Stop the Music on ABC resonated so strongly with Australian audiences that they donated more than $60,000 and 4,000 instruments to the benefit of schoolchildren. The legacy of music education advocates and activists such as the late Richard Gill have inspired generations of musicians to teach, and share their knowledge of music with students young and old. Australia can no longer turn away from the knowledge that children who sustain music education throughout their school years will experience permanent benefits to their brain, advancing their language and problem-solving skills.
In this new series Music education matters, we team up with a leading Australian educational institution to find out how music education can help shape lives.
Speaking with talent from the Australian National Academy of Music, we introduce you to practising industry figures – emerging and established, performing and teaching – so we can discover the true stories behind the power of music education.
Music education matters, says Jackson Bankovic
Jackson grew up in Orange, New South Wales, before achieving his Bachelor of Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Now, he’s about to wrap up his studies at the Australian National Academy of Music. So we’re looking forward to learning about his views in music education.
But beyond academia, Jackson has also achieved some great industry experiences, and has performed with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, and Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. Nice!
Tell us about your upbringing with music education. What do you feel are some of the defining moments during your music education as a child?
I grew up in Orange with my mother, an ex-professional dancer, who continues to teach dance today. While not a musician, her being a dancer still meant that some of my earliest memories – sitting up the front of her teaching studio watching a dance class – involved being surrounded by music from the classical masters right through to the cheesiest of ’90s pop.
I remember having my first trombone lesson, where my teacher told all the other beginner trombonists and myself to practise for 10 minutes every day. Loving the trombone — and always being the teacher’s pet — I did 15 minutes of practise every day in that first week and never looked back.
What happened as you grew older?
I participated in AMEB exams throughout high school, but was very fortunate in that my high school trombone teacher Graham Sattler presented to me the wide world of music outside of the exam room. He nurtured my passion by introducing me to incredible music, connecting me with musicians and teachers beyond Orange, and seeking out for me as many great opportunities as he possibly could.
I was very fortunate that Orange had an amazing regional conservatorium. I can confidently say that it is because of this institution that I am pursuing a career in music. It is through the teachers, ensemble opportunities, and equally eager friends that I developed the love for music that I have now.
This was perfect alongside my high school. I attended the big public high school and was lucky to have encouraging, supportive, and hard-working music staff who went above and beyond their job description.
After school, I completed a Bachelor of Music (Performance Honours) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, studying with one of my long-time role models and probably the kindest human I have ever met, Scott Kinmont.
Now in my final year at ANAM, I know I have learnt so much from my time here, and have tried to squeeze every drop of knowledge and inspiration out of my colleagues and the incredible opportunities we’re presented with.
How do you feel a music educator is responsible for a young person’s passion for music? That is, in what ways can a teacher make or break a young student’s interest?
Music educators hold the highest amount of power when it comes to the interest of students. They are almost solely responsible for whether a student loves what they do, or becomes uninspired.
I feel as though the greatest teachers are those who put music as the first priority and technique secondary. For me, I’ve always been so excited to play a piece or to develop myself that I’m inspired to practise all the technique that is required to achieve that. This is much more fascinating than repetition of technical studies for the sake of it.
I’m not denying that technique is of great importance, but it’s much easier to be inspired to practise technical work when there is a clear musical outcome for which you can strive.
I’ve been fortunate that every teacher I’ve ever had treated my development in this way, even if I didn’t notice it at the time. It’s something I will always do with my students; honestly, I still try to keep this mentality myself in the practice room. This is about continuing to nurture a passion and enjoyment in music, which so obviously is coupled with a student’s interest in it.
The best teachers are a very rare and special breed, being genuinely caring and invested in the students’ musical journey, and who themselves are still always striving to learn and become better pedagogues. These are the ones who understand when a student is working their hardest and the ones who treat the student as a whole person, inspiring and encouraging them rather than just teaching them how to play an instrument.
At what point did you realise you wanted to take what you’d learnt about music and form it into a career path?
I don’t know that there was a specific point in my life when I decided that I wanted to make a career out of music. What I do know is that I always loved playing music. I loved practising, I loved rehearsing, and I loved performing.
I auditioned for a few universities after school mostly because I wasn’t ready to give it up. However, it was at that time that two things happened that really made me think about what I wanted.
Firstly, I was accepted into both the Sydney con for classical trombone, but I’d also been accepted into the Generations in Jazz Academy run by Graeme Lyall in Mt Gambier. Having to think so much about what I wanted to do made me realise just how much I wanted to study and make a career from music. It was then that I couldn’t imagine doing anything else as seriously or as passionately.
Secondly, I was awarded a full scholarship to the Sydney Conservatorium, which was the final incentive I needed to try to make a career out of music.
Why did you decide to pursue higher music education?
Growing up in a regional town provided fewer opportunities than the cities. So, largely, I decided to study music at university [to learn with] a wider variety of teachers in the jobs I dreamed about, and like-minded students on my own instrument. Little did I know at the time that that was just the tip of the iceberg.
What studying music at this level did for me was expose me to how much there is to learn by being around people: playing chamber music; playing in an orchestra; playing in a class specifically dedicated to your instrument; finding random people in the hallways and asking them to listen to something you’ve been working on.
These opportunities don’t readily exist at home or in your own practice room.
What have been some of your strongest needs as a musician?
As a musician who is trying to be as realistic as possible in terms of career viability, what I have always needed is for my teacher to show me a healthy balance of honesty and encouragement.
It’s important for my teacher to believe in me and to know the work I’ve been putting in; not for it to be publicly or even privately recognised, but just so that we’re both on the same page as to how I’m working, and so I can realign myself and my priorities when needed.
The other thing I’ve needed from my regular teachers is to just be able to trust them when I’m being vulnerable or when I am working on something new; just being able to experiment or talk through a stupid ‘revelation’ I’ve had is so important to me.
Personally, what I never knew I needed, and what I had to learn, was to have flexibility. I was always the kind of student who had a plan and rigidly stuck to it. It almost seems humorous now, but I was so strict with my plans! And then I’d get cranky with myself when I deviated, and that just led to bad practice.
This is probably the most important lesson that I’ve learnt through my own practice, and is something I still need to think about every day.
How can teachers best support adult students?
I think that, regardless of the age of the students being taught, the fundamentals of what a music teacher does remains the same. I believe that music teachers should be nurturing a love and appreciation of music while respecting and appreciating the life of the student.
With any student, there has to be a balance between their expectations of what they will get out of taking music lessons and the work that they themselves need to put in outside of the lesson. When there is a constant juggling of work and family obligations, both the teacher and the student need to be realistic about the rate of progression.
The thing with music is that you have to put in a certain amount of work to get peak enjoyment, and this amount varies between every person. Some people are happy to not be thinking of their instrument between lessons and playing the same material each time, while others need to feel like they’re progressing and so need to spend more time with their instrument between lessons.
The best support that a teacher can give to an adult student is to ensure that conversations happen so that their expectations realistically align with their already established life.
There’s been a lot of dialogue about the importance of music education in Australia. How do you think music education can benefit the community as a whole?
Well, science has well and truly solidified how amazing music is for the brain! […] Beyond these physiological benefits, music is good for the metaphorical soul. Everyone can sing! I think of the incredible choirs that consist of people dealing with mental health and rehabilitation concerns, and how that brings a sense of community and support to people who may be struggling. But this sense of community can be experienced by absolutely everybody! Being a part of a group where you can make music, be surrounded by a group of people who are similarly giving it a go, and just have fun is brilliant.
Beyond this, there are many skills that music education can teach you that transcend just music to give people greater quality of life and make them better members of society. Personally, I’ve learnt things such as commitment, resilience, discipline, how to work with others, and self-reflection, just to name a few things, which help me in everyday life both with and without the instrument. And I think that these skills I’ve learnt through music have made me a better person.
What changes would you like to see in music education in Australia on an industry level?
What I would love to see is music teachers being taught how to be music teachers.
I believe that one of Richard Gill’s greatest legacies is that he actually taught people how to teach and how to engage and inspire students. Yet teaching still is, by too many people, considered as a ‘back-up’ plan or that teachers are just failed performers. Obviously, this is an unhealthy mindset, but one that I see far too often. This is part of the elitism from musicians that can make music so inaccessible.
Beyond this, I have experienced so much pressure to travel overseas for further study. While doing something like this is obviously highly worthwhile, I feel like study in Australia is hugely undervalued. We have fantastic institutions, great pedagogues, and a huge amount of talented student and professional musicians in Australia. While there may be more happening overseas in terms of summer schools etc., we could definitely — and I cannot emphasise this enough — have more of this kind of thing in Australia. But in order for this to happen, we need to place more value on what we have here, and engage people with what we have here.
What impact have you made, or would you like to make, on the industry?
The impact I would like to make is much more personal than anything industry-based. I want to enrich people’s lives. I want to teach and be taught. I want to help my students to love music. I want to help my friends to continue to be passionate and inspired as they help me to do the same. I also want to do my part in helping to remove the elitist stigma that classical music has.
What advice would you give to musicians to help them get the most out of their educational experiences?
Do everything. Experience everything. Some of the greatest lessons I’ve learnt about music have been when my instrument is in its case.
Consume, learn, and evolve. Don’t just evolve as a musician, either — evolve as a human. There is more to art than music and there is more to life than art. You are more than what you do!
Learn about how you learn, both by doing things you know you love, and by pushing your own boundaries. I’m a big believer in negative experiences being just as valuable as positive ones, so don’t be afraid to trial something new!
Be inquisitive and always ask why. Be an active listener, observer, and performer. I guarantee that you’ll not only learn more by doing this, but you’ll probably enjoy yourself while you’re at it!
We’re teaming up with ANAM throughout 2019 to share these interviews in our series Music education matters.
Stay tuned as we prepare to bring you more of the personal stories behind music education in Australia.
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Images supplied.
