Roger Pulvers on Hisashi Inoue's time in Canberra in 1970s
19/05/2025 15:35 Hisashi Inoue was from Tohoku region in Japan, born in Yamagata Prefecture and moved to Iwate Prefecture when he was in the third year of junior high school. He passed away in 2010, the year before the Great East Japan Earthquake. Mr Palvers first spoke with Mr Inoue in 1974 at an interview. Mr Pulvers says they hit it off over a conversation about the Japanese poet and author Kenji Miyazawa, and continued to get to know each other like relatives. Mr Inoue taught as a visiting professor in Japanese studies in the School of Asian Studies at the ANU from March to July 1976. He also wrote two pieces during his stay in Canberra.
Mr Palvers is US-born Australian writer, translator, playwright, director and filmmaker, who had lectured in Japanese language and literature at the ANU since 1972. He is also a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon in 2018 and the Order of Australia in 2019.
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ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
Canberra Symphony Orchestra warns it could fold if ANU's plan to axe School of Music goes ahead
The Canberra Symphony Orchestra (CSO) has warned it could one day not have enough musicians to perform if proposed changes to The Australian National University (ANU) go ahead. Under the changes, the ANU's School of Music would be relegated to "programme" status and absorbed into a new School of Creative and Cultural Practice, with a revised bachelor of music to replace the traditional one-to-one instrument model. It is part of a raft of restructures and job cuts the university began last year in an effort to reduce annual expenditure. In July, CSO argued having fewer musicians coming to the city to study or teach would have a negative impact on the ensemble, and chief executive Rachel Thomas said she wanted to work closely with the university to find a way to keep performance students in Canberra. Now, due to what Ms Thomas described as a lack of communication by ANU, she feared the orchestra might eventually no longer function. "Because we did not hear from ANU leadership, we have not had a chance to express our concerns, and to really ensure that ANU has a deep understanding of what these issues are," Ms Thomas said. Ms Thomas said CSO was concerned there would be a slow decline in the number of musicians "coming through the orchestra". "We'll go from having some shows that are very large — like we've done recently with two sold-out John Williams concerts — and gradually we won't be able to put on shows to the same scale and to perform the same works that our audiences would come to expect," she said. "We're still very hopeful that we'll be able to have those conversations with ANU. We hold that partnership in very high regard." Ms Thomas isn't alone in her concerns. Professional violinist and teacher Bianca Porcheddu graduated from the Canberra School of Music in 1998, going on to perform in world-class ensembles, including the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, European Baroque Orchestra, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and the CSO. She said she owed her career to the school's old training model. "Working so closely with professional musicians and in collaboration with organisations like the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, whilst being a student and working with colleagues, teachers, that one-on-one tuition is so powerful in terms of really coming to grips with the skills and the dispositions that you need to acquire to become an elite musician." Ms Porcheddu warned the proposed changes to the School of Music would lead to "cultural erosion". "The Canberra School of Music has such a profound symbiotic relationship with other organisations such as the [CSO], and it's a vital ecosystem that I think we can't afford to lose," she said. "We risk losing the educational aspects and the cultural aspects, but it is about the way we collaborate with other organisations that allow us to be diverse in offering our skills and our passions. "Globally there are reputational implications there as well. There's no developed country in the world where they would dismantle the one-on-one instrumental tuition in a music university or conservatorium." Earlier this year, year 12 student Ishan Biddle applied to attend ANU in 2026 in a flexible double-degree in music and politics, philosophy and economics. A keen guitarist and singer, he plays in a local band and has already been involved with the School of Music's Community Music Centre. "At the moment, the School of Music has quite a good appeal to me, in that you can study music at the ANU and you can study another degree, so I can sort of delve into other things I'm passionate about apart from music," he said. But he said he was concerned about the "disestablishment of the School of Music as a whole". "It's a very long-standing institution that's sort of been at the centre of multiple different scenes in terms of the music community in Canberra," she said. "And I'm concerned that they're cutting a lot of staff, the staff who are going to remain are going to be overworked and sort of fed up with the whole situation, and there's going to be a lot of changes in the way that they teach music." Mr Biddle said he was concerned he wouldn't get much experience playing his instrument nor get one-on-one tuition from a qualified instructor. He said he and his band mates were now all considering studying interstate. "We've all sort of considered the ANU for a long time, but I think the reality is that there's conservatoriums in Sydney and Melbourne which offer, you know, performance tuition, ensemble practice, and … it's just not the same in Canberra anymore if these changes go through." Ms Thomas said she had heard similar dismay from other prospective and current students. "I think people will naturally start to move away," she said. "The School of Music has started to express these changes to students and they obviously want to be working to their highest capacity and they will be going elsewhere if that's what they need to do." In a statement, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences dean Bronwyn Parry said the changes were in line with programs at other top universities, and what students had told the university they wanted. "The proposed changes reflect a carefully considered process of consultation, strategic planning, and internal and external benchmarking with the world's finest university schools of music, including Oxford, Cambridge and Surrey," she said. "All recognise that musical education needs to evolve to address the changing nature of creative practice today — which is increasingly multidisciplinary, collaborative, and community-engaged." Professor Parry said the proposed changes reflected how artists worked "in the real world today" and were designed to equip them with the skills they needed to "excel in the future". "It is really important to understand that the proposed changes are a response to what students have been telling us they want," she said. "More than 60 per cent of our students are taking music as part of a flexible double degree, running their musical studies alongside a degree in another subject such as physics or accounting, and this mode of study is growing year on year. "We are a university, not a conservatory. "That distinction matters because our focus is on academic and creative inquiry, not on replicating conservatory models." Professor Parry said the university was committed to continuing its "very important" partnerships with the CSO, the Canberra International Music Festival and the National Folk Festival in "mutually beneficial ways". She acknowledged community concerns surrounding the proposed changes but said it was important that musical education at the ANU remained "responsive to changing needs". "We are proud that this proposal saves every existing discipline in the arts, humanities and social sciences in the midst of extremely challenging financial circumstances," she said. Professor Parry said the university was reviewing the feedback it had received and would present its implementation plan in due course.
Canberra Times
14-08-2025
- Canberra Times
Linkt's poor communication leaves much to be desired
The Canberra International Music Festival has appointed the former vice-chancellor of the ANU, Brian Schmidt, as a patron. As the mother of a student at the School of Music, I would like to hear Brian Schmidt's views on the destruction of the School of Music. He either contributed to the decisions that led to this financial mess, or it isn't a mess. Which is it, Brian?
The Advertiser
14-08-2025
- The Advertiser
Paul Kelly farewells Joe in How to Make Gravy sequel
Paul Kelly has surprised fans with a sequel to his beloved single How to Make Gravy, finally revealing what happened to Rita after Joe was sent to prison. The long-awaited follow-up track, Rita Wrote a Letter, was released on Thursday, picking up from the singer-songwriter's 1996 hit. How to Make Gravy is one of Kelly's most popular songs. It features the incarcerated Joe, who reflects on being separated from his family at Christmas time in a prisoner letter addressed to Dan. For three decades, the song has been a soundtrack staple for holiday road trips and turkey lunches. The track was voted as Australia's ninth-best song of all time in the triple j Hottest 100 Australian songs countdown, and has also been adapted into an award-winning feature film. The sequel continues the storyline from the original song, except Joe is dead and Rita has moved on with love interest, Joe's brother Dan. Kelly foreshadowed its release in a death notice for Joe published in a Melbourne newspaper on Monday, claiming he died from a "sudden misadventure". The obituary described the song's pivotal character as a beloved father, husband, brother, brother-in-law, and uncle to Dan, Rita, Stella, Roger, Mary, Angus, Frank, and Dolly - all names featured in the song. It also announced an August 14 funeral to be followed by a "wake to end all wakes". The sequel is the first single in Kelly's album SEVENTY, to be released on November 7, named for his milestone birthday in January. Kelly released the single alongside a music video, starring himself and long-time friend and actress Justine Clarke as Rita. The song's release precedes one of Kelly's biggest tours to-date, kicking off in Perth on August 26, before heading to Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide, and Melbourne, then multiple New Zealand venues. The 70-year-old has tallied multiple awards over his extensive career including the 2017 Order of Australia, along with 17 ARIAs and five APRAs. His long list of hit singles include To Her Door, From Little Things Big Things Grow and Leaps and Bounds. Paul Kelly has surprised fans with a sequel to his beloved single How to Make Gravy, finally revealing what happened to Rita after Joe was sent to prison. The long-awaited follow-up track, Rita Wrote a Letter, was released on Thursday, picking up from the singer-songwriter's 1996 hit. How to Make Gravy is one of Kelly's most popular songs. It features the incarcerated Joe, who reflects on being separated from his family at Christmas time in a prisoner letter addressed to Dan. For three decades, the song has been a soundtrack staple for holiday road trips and turkey lunches. The track was voted as Australia's ninth-best song of all time in the triple j Hottest 100 Australian songs countdown, and has also been adapted into an award-winning feature film. The sequel continues the storyline from the original song, except Joe is dead and Rita has moved on with love interest, Joe's brother Dan. Kelly foreshadowed its release in a death notice for Joe published in a Melbourne newspaper on Monday, claiming he died from a "sudden misadventure". The obituary described the song's pivotal character as a beloved father, husband, brother, brother-in-law, and uncle to Dan, Rita, Stella, Roger, Mary, Angus, Frank, and Dolly - all names featured in the song. It also announced an August 14 funeral to be followed by a "wake to end all wakes". The sequel is the first single in Kelly's album SEVENTY, to be released on November 7, named for his milestone birthday in January. Kelly released the single alongside a music video, starring himself and long-time friend and actress Justine Clarke as Rita. The song's release precedes one of Kelly's biggest tours to-date, kicking off in Perth on August 26, before heading to Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide, and Melbourne, then multiple New Zealand venues. The 70-year-old has tallied multiple awards over his extensive career including the 2017 Order of Australia, along with 17 ARIAs and five APRAs. His long list of hit singles include To Her Door, From Little Things Big Things Grow and Leaps and Bounds. Paul Kelly has surprised fans with a sequel to his beloved single How to Make Gravy, finally revealing what happened to Rita after Joe was sent to prison. The long-awaited follow-up track, Rita Wrote a Letter, was released on Thursday, picking up from the singer-songwriter's 1996 hit. How to Make Gravy is one of Kelly's most popular songs. It features the incarcerated Joe, who reflects on being separated from his family at Christmas time in a prisoner letter addressed to Dan. For three decades, the song has been a soundtrack staple for holiday road trips and turkey lunches. The track was voted as Australia's ninth-best song of all time in the triple j Hottest 100 Australian songs countdown, and has also been adapted into an award-winning feature film. The sequel continues the storyline from the original song, except Joe is dead and Rita has moved on with love interest, Joe's brother Dan. Kelly foreshadowed its release in a death notice for Joe published in a Melbourne newspaper on Monday, claiming he died from a "sudden misadventure". The obituary described the song's pivotal character as a beloved father, husband, brother, brother-in-law, and uncle to Dan, Rita, Stella, Roger, Mary, Angus, Frank, and Dolly - all names featured in the song. It also announced an August 14 funeral to be followed by a "wake to end all wakes". The sequel is the first single in Kelly's album SEVENTY, to be released on November 7, named for his milestone birthday in January. Kelly released the single alongside a music video, starring himself and long-time friend and actress Justine Clarke as Rita. The song's release precedes one of Kelly's biggest tours to-date, kicking off in Perth on August 26, before heading to Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide, and Melbourne, then multiple New Zealand venues. The 70-year-old has tallied multiple awards over his extensive career including the 2017 Order of Australia, along with 17 ARIAs and five APRAs. His long list of hit singles include To Her Door, From Little Things Big Things Grow and Leaps and Bounds. Paul Kelly has surprised fans with a sequel to his beloved single How to Make Gravy, finally revealing what happened to Rita after Joe was sent to prison. The long-awaited follow-up track, Rita Wrote a Letter, was released on Thursday, picking up from the singer-songwriter's 1996 hit. How to Make Gravy is one of Kelly's most popular songs. It features the incarcerated Joe, who reflects on being separated from his family at Christmas time in a prisoner letter addressed to Dan. For three decades, the song has been a soundtrack staple for holiday road trips and turkey lunches. The track was voted as Australia's ninth-best song of all time in the triple j Hottest 100 Australian songs countdown, and has also been adapted into an award-winning feature film. The sequel continues the storyline from the original song, except Joe is dead and Rita has moved on with love interest, Joe's brother Dan. Kelly foreshadowed its release in a death notice for Joe published in a Melbourne newspaper on Monday, claiming he died from a "sudden misadventure". The obituary described the song's pivotal character as a beloved father, husband, brother, brother-in-law, and uncle to Dan, Rita, Stella, Roger, Mary, Angus, Frank, and Dolly - all names featured in the song. It also announced an August 14 funeral to be followed by a "wake to end all wakes". The sequel is the first single in Kelly's album SEVENTY, to be released on November 7, named for his milestone birthday in January. Kelly released the single alongside a music video, starring himself and long-time friend and actress Justine Clarke as Rita. The song's release precedes one of Kelly's biggest tours to-date, kicking off in Perth on August 26, before heading to Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide, and Melbourne, then multiple New Zealand venues. The 70-year-old has tallied multiple awards over his extensive career including the 2017 Order of Australia, along with 17 ARIAs and five APRAs. His long list of hit singles include To Her Door, From Little Things Big Things Grow and Leaps and Bounds.
