Capital city of the Commonwealth of Australia. Designed by the American architect Walter Burley Griffin and founded in 1913, the city is an outstanding example of modern planning, and is home to some of the nation’s leading cultural institutions, including the National Library, ScreenSound Australia (formerly National Gallery, Australian War Memorial, National Film and Sound Archive), National Museum, and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Together, these organizations collect, preserve and provide access to Australia’s most extensive collections of music-related materials. One of the most notable public monuments is the 53-bell carillon, a gift from the British government to mark Canberra's 50th birthday in 1963.
The character of the city’s musical life reflects both its history and its demography. Initially the government promoted music societies as a means of overcoming social isolation for its small population of educated, middle-class public servants. The Canberra Philharmonic Society (established 1926) and Canberra Orchestral Society (1927) fused in 1928 to form the Canberra Musical Society, which was active in promoting concerts and bringing distinguished artists to the region until the 1950s. Throughout the 1930s and 40s, such organizations as the Stromberra Quartet, Canberra Male Choir, Canberra Ladies Choir, Combined Churches Choir and Canberra Band performed regularly, most often in the Albert Hall (1928). The National Eisteddfod Society was founded in 1937. The current large number of semi-professional and amateur musical organizations is a direct result of the continuing high level of participation in musical activity by the community.
The major performing organizations emerged during the 1950s when postwar construction finally secured the city’s future: the Canberra Orchestral Society (1950, later the Canberra SO), Canberra Philharmonic Society (devoted to music theatre, 1951), and Canberra Choral Group (1952, later the Canberra Choral Society). In 1954 the Band of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, was established on a professional basis to undertake official duties at government and vice-regal ceremonies. The city’s only significant operatic organization has been the Canberra Opera Society, later Canberra Opera, founded in 1970 and forced to close in 1984 in the wake of a financial scandal.
Established in 1965, the Canberra School of Music (amalgamated with Canberra School of Art in 1988, and since 1992 part of the Australian National University) has been home to many fine performers (including the Canberra Wind Soloists), jazz musicians, musicologists, teachers and composers, notably Don Banks, Donald Hollier and Larry Sitsky. Under founding director Ernest Llewellyn, the school created a new focus for national and local musical activities; its staff continues to form the core of the city’s musical life and music education. Among organizations catering for young people, the Canberra Youth Orchestra Society (1967), Canberra Children's Choir (1967) and Woden Valley Youth Choir (1969) have all achieved a national reputation and have undertaken numerous international tours.
The Canberra Theatre Centre (1965) was the first purpose-built arts complex operating in Australia and from 1976 has been complemented by Llewellyn Hall, the School of Music’s fine 1440-seat concert hall. Both established Canberra on the regular touring circuit for the national performing arts companies and for Musica Viva, the ABC orchestras and guest artists, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. The diversity of the musical scene, increasingly generating its own professional activity and supporting numerous youth, folk, jazz, indigenous and rock groups, as well as national folk and multicultural festivals, reflects an increasingly diverse community whose endeavours are often enriched by the embassies and high commissions.
G. Benjamin: Woden Valley Youth Choir: Twenty Years On (Canberra, 1988)
W.L. Hoffmann: The Canberra School of Music: the First 25 Years 1965–1990 (Canberra, 1990)
M. Webster: The Philo Story, 1951–1989: the Evolution of the Canberra Philharmonic Society (Canberra, 1990)
S. Purchase, ed.: Charles Daley: As I Recall: Reminiscences of Early Canberra (Canberra, 1994) [articles orig. pubd in the Canberra Times (1964–5)]
P.J. Campbell: Limestone Plains-Song: an Historical Survey of Choral Music in Canberra 1913–1993 (MMus thesis, Australian National U., 1996)
ROBYN HOLMES and PETER CAMPBELL