Sarah Maher Progress Review presentation

Employment in the music industry is inherently precarious and can result in vulnerability of mental, physical, and financial well-being for its workers. To improve their ability to be employable across their career lifespans, many musicians are diversifying across disciplines and genres. This can present some challenges, however. For singers specifically, there are various performative, cultural and physical differences across genres that can be difficult to manage. In the past, tertiary music institutions have provided highly specialised education by discipline and genre. More recently, some Australian institutions have begun introducing multi-genre and multi-disciplinary voice education to account for the diversity often required to maintain employability. Experiences and perceptions of these programs are yet to be explored, however. Likewise, the processes through which they are introduced are relatively unknown. The current study therefore seeks to use an instrumental, collective case study methodology to explore staff and student perceptions of multi-genre and multi-disciplinary undergraduate voice performance programs in Australian universities. It also seeks to explore how these perceptions and experiences intersect with the process of introducing these programs. By developing recommendations to further improve these programs and their introduction, future generations of singers may be better prepared for the precariousness of the music industry and thus better able to choose employment that best supports their needs and wellbeing.

All HDR students and staff are welcome.