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Exploring voice, values, and behaviours in conservatoire instrumental one-on-one lessons: A reflexive rhizomatic analysis
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Exploring voice, values, and behaviours in conservatoire instrumental one-on-one lessons: A reflexive rhizomatic analysis

Nathaniel Smorti
Southern Cross University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Southern Cross University
2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25918/thesis.556
Appears in  Recent Southern Cross PhD Theses
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Abstract

Conservatorium Tertiary music education Arts education Tertiary arts education One-on-one lesson Deleuze Deleuze and Guattari Deleuzian education research Artistic research Rhizome Rhizomatic research Instrumental lessons Music research Australian Conservatorium Conservatoire Conservatorium research Classical music Art music Art music research Music performance research Music education research
Recent years have seen increasing concern about the purpose, efficacy, and relevance of conservatoire education, especially surrounding the one-on-one lesson format. In this thesis, I explore a multiplicity of voices that interweave throughout the setting of the one-on-one conservatoire lesson. Inspired both in content and form by the writings of French post-structuralist Gilles Deleuze, the thesis is presented as an artistic, reflexive narrative. In this work I seek to immanently grapple with the becomings of students and teachers as they navigate a rhizomatic web including centuries of musical tradition, personal artistic values, and demanding institutional expectations towards what are often unreliable career prospects. This was achieved through talking to current students and teachers at a selection of Australian conservatoires. Initial participation was anonymous through an online survey, with an opt-in process allowing students and teachers to engage in a series of interviews and have their lessons recorded for reflection and analysis. These voices were mapped alongside each other through a rhizomatic analysis process, with reflexive narrative being used as a tool to explore and present the ways in which the values and behaviours of these students and teachers intertwine, interact, disrupt, challenge, and engage towards a multiplicity of outcomes. The outcome of this thesis is a mapping of the ways in which conservatoire teachers and students are disrupting what is traditionally considered conservatoire education. It is hoped this study will contribute towards increased understanding of the ways institutions and educators can better engage diverse, mobile students and support teachers to adapt to the changing requirements for young musicians in the twenty-first century.

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