Queen’s birthday honours 2016: life nurturing creative side

Schoolchildren are missing out on music education and the chance to grow creatively, says music advocate Richard Gill.

Music educator Richard Gill. Picture: Colin Murty

Schoolchildren are missing out on music education and the chance to grow creatively because of an obsession with NAPLAN results, says leading music advocate Richard Gill.

Gill, a conductor and educator who has long campaigned for school music, says schools prioritise numeracy and literacy, often at the expense of creative skills. “That’s really unfortunate, because the most important thing is the creative side of a child’s brain,” Gill says. “We need children who can think, who can create, who can imagine.”

Also well-known as a conductor of concert music and opera, Gill, 75, is today admitted as an Officer in the Order of Australia for services to the performing arts and music education. He is founder of the National Music Teacher Mentoring Program, which aims to give general teachers the confidence to teach music.