Pianist Anna Goldsworthy appointed director of the Elder Conservatorium of Music

Professor Anna Goldsworthy, an award-winning pianist, writer, and festival director, has been appointed to lead the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music.

“The Elder Conservatorium of Music is a much loved part of the University of Adelaide and helps us maintain a strong connection with the wider community,” said Professor Peter Høj AC, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Adelaide.

“I am excited that a musician of Anna’s reputation has been chosen to guide this unique and vibrant community of musicians.”Anna Goldsworthy

The University of Adelaide’s Professor John Williams, Executive Dean, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics is delighted with the appointment.

“I am thrilled to appoint Professor Goldsworthy as the first female director of the Elder Conservatorium of Music, one of the oldest tertiary music schools in Australia,” he said.

“She will use her wealth of experience and knowledge and a long-standing interest in creative education and practice in her new role as Director.” 

The Elder Conservatorium of Music was established in 1883 and is widely respected as one of the country's leading music institutions.

Professor Goldsworthy is an accomplished classical pianist, who performs extensively throughout Australia and internationally, and can frequently be heard on ABC Classic FM.  She is a founding member of Seraphim Trio, whose collaboration with Paul Kelly, Thirteen Ways to Look at Birds, won an ARIA award. Her bestselling memoir, Piano Lessons, has been published throughout Europe, Asia and America, and was awarded Newcomer of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards.  

She is artistic director of the Coriole Music Festival, and the Hayllar Music and Mountains Festival in Queenstown, New Zealand, and former artistic director of the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival. She will be performing with Seraphim Trio during Illuminate Adelaide 2022 at the Lab.

“The Elder Conservatorium of Music is a jewel in the University of Adelaide’s crown. It is one of the most venerable music institutions in Australia,” said Professor Goldsworthy.

“It has been a part of my life since childhood, and I am passionately committed to seeing it flourish. I am very excited about stepping into this leadership position as a woman, and hope to be the first of many. 

“In our rapidly changing artistic landscape, the Elder Conservatorium is a critical site of cultural innovation and preservation, and an institution which has launched the careers of many of the leaders in the music world.”

Anna said the Conservatorium plays a key role in the community.

“We live at a time of exponential change, in which the connectivity and sense of humanity offered by music has never been more important,” she said.

“I look forward to maintaining the Elder Conservatorium’s reputation for excellence, while engaging with all parts of the larger musical ecology: the performers and teachers of the future, community groups, performing arts institutions, and a broadening audience.

“It is one of the markers of our city’s civic life: a home of music and culture, and a great gift to South Australia and the nation.”

On top of her current role as Professor at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, Anna was previously the Director of the J.M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice.

Anna will begin her role as Director of the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music on 18 July.

Media contacts:

Crispin Savage, Acting Manager, News and Media, The University of Adelaide. Mobile: +61 (0) 481 912 465. 
Email: crispin.savage@adelaide.edu.au