Passing through the grades of the
Royal Conservatory of Music's education program is a rite of passage for many Canadians: approximately 100,000 take an exam each year. The program provides for a comprehensive syllabus and testing standards that are clear and consistent across the country. If you move from Moncton to Mississauga, you can pick up right where you left off.
Things aren't so organized south of the border: currently there's not a nationally recognized set of music education standards that provide uniformity in testing or a common curriculum. So when
Carnegie Hall, which offers a wide range of music education programs, was looking to help bring some order to this state of affairs, it was natural for the organization to look to Toronto, where the RCM is based.
After some initial meetings and talks, last year RCM and Carnegie announced the creation of a new organization, called
The Achievement Program. Its goal is to provide "a framework to help students and teachers set goals musically and then pursue those goals," explains RCM's academic vice-president Angela Elster, "so they can have a sense of benchmark of what they're achieve and accomplishing."
The Achievement Program provides independent music teachers with a curriculum, and will help students across the United States prepare to take RCM exams. Over time, the goal is to have RCM's grade system used widely, providing the kind of national standard that is currently missing.
Last week Minister of Labour Lisa Taitt was in Toronto to announce financial support for RCM and for its contributions to The Achievement Program. The $7.5 million in funding will go to RCM's ongoing development, and her announcement highlighted this new business venture.
Both RCM and Carnegie expect to see growth in staffing as enrollment in The Achievement Program ramps up. As Elster points out: "shared mission and values [aren't] enough—we need a sustainable business model for all three organizations."
Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Sources: Angela Elster, VP Academic, Royal Conservatory of Music; Sarah Johnston, Director, Weill Music Institute; David Batchelor, Chief Marketing Officer, Royal Conservatory of Music