Madam, - Richard Pine's article on music education in your edition of October 4th might have had some merit to it if it were not riddled with inaccuracies, innuendo and insinuations.
He is accurate when he says that I am passionate about the need for a national conservatoire. But a conservatoire would be only one level. I want to develop pre-instrumental training in every suburb, town and village in Ireland so that every child can be introduced to music in a fun way that makes it natural to their development. I also feel that music education at primary and secondary school levels is generally deplorable except for the odd enlightened school that recognises the arts as a desirable addition to the general education of its students.
I am not asking that every child is "converted" to classical music. What I am advocating is that every child should be given a general musical educational that will allow their teachers to recognise (or to discover within themselves) a talent that might propel them to be the U2, Chieftains, Louis Stewart, Corrs, Chris de Burgh, Suzanne Murphy, Barry Douglas or James Galway of the next generation. And the rest of the students need to be musically educated so that they can appreciate greatness in the art and enjoy it all the more.
Richard Pine's wishes for the future of music education may be similar to mine. However, it is deeply disturbing that as a governor of the Royal Irish Academy of Music he would not feel it necessary, desirable or advisable to inform the chairman of the board or myself, as director, of his intention to submit any article to any newspaper which identified him as a governor and speak of privileged Academy information without seeking to have approval or at least verify the facts therein.
It is unfortunate that he did not bother to check the accuracy of his statements. He states that the "Royal Irish Academy of Music did attempt an institutional link with DCU that foundered on the university's internal politics". Even the minimum of research would have revealed that this was untrue.
Similarly, his assertion that my discussions with the DIT was a "solo run" is pure conjecture. The fact is that I was approached by the DIT to enter discussions and if he had bothered to check his facts he would have discovered that I had kept the management of the Academy and the chairman of the board informed at all times.
In addition his statement that "the Academy is independent of State control" is extremely naïve when one considers that the major source of our funding comes from the Department of Education and Science.
I still believe that the idea of an IAPA is a good one. Richard Pine's assertion that its demise was due to "political hijacking" is so glib as to be banal. There were many forces working against the idea but I will not have the goodwill of Bertie Ahern or Micheál Martin brought into question. I have personal knowledge of the support and good intentions of both men.
But I have not lost hope. I agree with John Coolahan (as Richard Pine quotes him) that the way forward requires "a climate of partnership, trust and goodwill", qualities that, I fear, I cannot detect in Mr Pine. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN O'CONOR, Director, Royal Irish Academy of Music.
Madam, - I refer to the article in your edition of October 4th by Richard Pine, who used his title of governor of the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
The board of the Royal Irish Academy of Music did not sanction the article by Mr Pine and wishes to dissociate itself from it. - Yours, etc.,
BRIAN AYLWARD, Chairman, RIAM Board of Governors, Westland Row, Dublin 2.