“The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has announced two new Creative Chairs, with Yorta Yorta [Aboriginal Australian people] soprano and composer Deborah Cheetham to be the orchestra’s First Nations Creative Chair, and music educator and researcher Dr. Anita Collins appointed as the Creative Chair for Learning and Engagement,” writes Angus McPherson in Monday’s (3/8) Limelight Magazine (Australia). “Cheetham … has been working closely with the MSO recently. Her acclaimed oratorio Eumeralla: a war requiem for peace premiered (in its large-scale orchestral form) with the orchestra in 2019…. She was named Composer in Residence in 2020…. Anita Collins—whose role will focus on identifying priority needs within Victoria’s music education sector and working through how MSO can proactively address these needs with content and resource development—is best known to Australian audiences for her role in the ABC documentary Don’t Stop the Music … and has published a new book, The Music Advantage: How Music Helps Your Child Develop, Learn and Thrive…. ‘These two five-year appointments usher in an exciting period in the MSO’s evolution as we continue to promote our learning and engagement programs as well as our relationships with Indigenous artists and communities,’ said MSO Managing Director Sophie Galaise.”
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