It is with deepest regret that we must announce the cancellation of the Composition Conference that was to be held from 9 – 11 October this year. While we initially enjoyed the enthusiastic response to the concept of hosting an Australian-first music conference targeting Composition, three months out from the event this has not translated into sufficient numbers of registrations. Despite a six month period of promotion which included advertisements in Arts journals, emails to almost every Secondary School in NSW, follow-up phone-calls, interviews on radio, Press Releases on the Department of Education website, flyers to all other Regional Conservatoriums, and targeted advertising on social media, this steady saturation did not convert into paid registrations. As such, the NECOM Admin and Board had to make a decision to cancel the event in time to release all contracted presenters, all of whom were in appreciation of having been invited by NECOM to present at a ground-breaking event. Similarly, a representative from Destination NSW has commented that NECOM is to be congratulated for having the vision to organise a conference such as this, and despite the outcome, the Sydney committee responsible for tourism funding felt that “this event was the one that stood a chance to attract a wide clientele from all over the state”.
NECOM remains committed to being recognised as a centre of excellence in the support of Composition as an artform, and will continue to serve the needs of the community through workshops, competitions and the commissioning of original works for New England ensembles.