Dublin Institute of Technology, the State's biggest provider of performance education, is not part of the Government's plans for an Irish Academy of Performing Arts. Victor Merriman says it's time for the real debate to begin
Recent reports in this newspaper suggest a governing body for an Irish Academy of Performing Arts (IAPA) will be constituted shortly.The focus of any emerging debate about the proposed academy must be on the need to provide quality educational opportunities for young people who wish to develop their artistic potential.
Anyone would welcome a commitment to spend €44.5 million on the education of performers. The State's record in this area is not encouraging. In 1984, a report on music education in Ireland was entitled Deaf Ears? The Arts Council's submission to the National Convention on Education in 1993 was presented by its chairman, Ciarán Benson, as "a modest proposal". All the more reason to be positive towards a major initiative. The question of how this money might best be spent has still not been adequately aired, mainly because a new institution appeared from the outset as the only option, and because so many groups active in the field have not been consulted.
At the time of the first announcement, there were concerns among those institutions excluded from Peter Renshaw's report, on which the proposal to the Government for IAPA was largely based. That the Conservatory of Music and Drama at Dublin Institute of Technology was excluded from the report raises serious questions about the report's reliability as a guide for policy-makers. DIT is the largest provider of education and tuition in music and music performance in the State. It also attracts almost 800 applications per year to its three-year diploma in acting, and it will shortly have a four-year honours degree in the area. The conservatory has postgraduate students in both music and drama and offers a taught MA in music technology at Rathmines. In 2002, the conservatory's performance programme will bring young actors and musicians to a range of public platforms, among them the National Concert Hall, the Gaiety Theatre, St Ann's Church and Project arts centre.
The conservatory has active relationships with the National Concert Hall, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Anna Livia International Opera Festival, Opera Ireland, TEAM Theatre in Education Company and the Gate Theatre. There are ongoing projects at St Joseph's National School in Ballymun (music, generously supported by Department of Education and Science) and St Michael's National School in Ballyfermot (drama). International links include the Royal Northern College of Music and Drama, in Manchester; Westminster Choir College, in Princeton, New Jersey; the University of Connecticut; and the Yale School of Music. Many outstanding musicians are graduates of the conservatory or, as it is still known to many, the College of Music. The finest of Ireland's working musicians - including traditional musicians - teach at the conservatory. Some 1,000 young people and adult learners avail of individual and class tuition across the range of orchestral, keyboard, musicianship, vocal, opera and drama studies. Bernadette Greevy is artist-in-residence.
My purpose here is not to beat a sectoral drum or seek to revisit past events. My concerns are with the present state of things and with the prospects for the future.
Specifically, €44.5 million will not buy in 2002 and later what it might have bought in 2000. The programme of expansion at Cork School of Music alone has a budget in excess of this figure.
What provision will be made for the recurring costs needed annually from then on, to support a major facility such as this one?
Where will this provision come from, in a time of consolidation rather than expansion in the State's finances?
Will existing provision be run down? Will initiative be frustrated?
The imperatives and advantages of regional development, constantly urged on the State by the EU, must now inform all decision-making. Performance options are present or in preparation in almost all regions, and must have proper structural support in local areas. Since Renshaw, there have been developments in performance education in the north-west, at Sligo Institute of Technology; the north-east, at Dundalk Institute of Technology; and the south-west, at the University of Limerick/ Mary Immaculate College - Tralee Institute of Technology has had a performance option for some time.
A master's programme in theatre studies has begun at NUI Galway, and some post-Leaving Certificate courses have developed into three-year options, such as at CDVEC Inchicore.
All such courses compete internally in their institutions for funds that may not always be adequate for their needs. Other countries recognise that the education of performers, like that of scientists and chefs, requires dedicated facilities and funds. This is not followed through in the Republic at present. A new look at the needs of performance programmes in general, supported by an additional €44.5 million, could transform provision in a very short time. It is worth noting that an extensive survey by Music Network of instrumental and vocal tuition needs in the State will not report until later this year.
I would suggest to all concerned that Carmel Naughton, the chairwoman of the academy's interim governing authority, be invited, with others, to participate in a concise but inclusive public-consultation exercise, in order to expose the reality of provision in this area and to draw up a strategy for delivering a high-quality education in performance and related studies.
As a provider of education in music and drama, from pre-instrumental workshops to PhDs in performance, the Conservatory of Music and Drama at DIT will contribute fully and generously to any such initiative.
Victor Merriman is senior lecturer in drama and acting head of the conservatory of music and drama at Dublin Institute of Technology
