We were saddened to hear the news of WollCon’s founding principal – Mr Jim Powell who passed away peacefully on Friday 16th August, aged 94 years.
During 2022 we were proud to host Mr Powell as our special guest for one of our 50th birthday concerts in the Town Hall, a program which included the BlueScope Youth Orchestra being conducted by Jim’s daughter Merion.
Mr Jim Powell began his tenure as the Executive Director of WollCon in 1972, as a Branch of the NSW State Conservatorium of Music, teaching a wide range of music classes out of the Wesley Methodist Church Youth Centre (what is now known as Church on the Mall in Wollongong).
Under Jim’s leadership the Conservatorium not only supported a growing Illawarra class community but provided the opportunity to access high quality music tuition, particularly for students enrolled in the NSW State Conservatorium courses.
Mr Powell moved the conservatorium to the inspirational surroundings of the Botanic Garden and Gleniffer Brea in the 1980s to occupy part of the historic homestead built by steel pioneer Arthur Sidney Hoskins. A place where it has remained and continues to thrive for our music community.
His vision for Music Education in Wollongong was ambitious but he achieved everything he could in his 18 years as the first ‘Honorary Principal’ of Wollcon.
Mr Powell created a wonderful music program at WollCon. with great classical musicians from Europe teaching and working alongside pioneers of the Suzuki method, which was first introduced to Australia in Wollongong. Students at the Conservatorium such as the young Richard Tognetti, received a training rooted in the long history of European classical music alongside more progressive methods such as Suzuki.
He nurtured the thought that you could start your path towards being a professional musician from childhood, and established the Transition Program, which researches Musical Instrument Selection to help children make the best choices of what to learn from an early age.
In an effort to unify conservatorium musicians with other creative groups in the community, he established the Conservatorium Theatre Company, uniting dancers, singers, actors and production crew, to produce professional level productions.
Another important project for Jim was the establishment of the Wollongong Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra, which became the precursor to the BlueScope Youth Orchestra, and has been one of the flagship performing ensembles of WollCon for over 35 years and one of the longest running sponsorship of the arts in Australia.
He also toured NSW as an AMEB Piano Examiner for decades, running masterclasses and workshops, and was an adjudicator for the Wollongong Eisteddfod as well as other regional areas in NSW.
He ended his tenure in 1990 and continued to work tirelessly on many other music projects outside of the conservatorium.
We thank Jim Powell for all that he has done for WollCon and Music Education in our region.
… A Life well lived.
