Defence Force School of Music (Australia)

The Defence Force School of Music (DFSM) trains all musicians for the Australian Defence Force. It is located at Simpson Barracks in Yallambie, Victoria, Australia.[1] The DFSM was established in 1984 and provides training courses to musicians wishing to join the Royal Australian Navy Band, the Australian Army Band Corps, the Royal Australian Air Force Band, as well as other Australian military bands, in order to qualify them for employment and leadership in these bands.[2][3] It also offers training to musicians from overseas militaries and Australian emergency services/police organisations. It was previously the divided into the Australian Army School of Music (which was itself part of the Army Apprentices' School)[4] and the Royal Australian Navy School of Music.[5]

Within the DFSM are several training sections:

  • Piping Section
  • Military Band Section
  • Vocal Ensemble
  • Fanfare Team
  • Woodwind and Brass Quintet
  • Big Band
  • Other specifications

The level of competence required to be admitted into the DFSM is a Grade 7 by the Australian Music Examinations Board.[6]

  1. ^ "Defence Force School of Music Historical Collection". Culture Victoria. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  2. ^ "International Directory of Music and Music Education Institutions". idmmei.org. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  3. ^ Ewans, Michael; Halton, Rosalind; Phillips, John A. (2004). Music Research: New Directions for a New Century. Cambridge Scholars Press. ISBN 978-1-904303-35-0.
  4. ^ Statistics, Australian Bureau of (1973). Official Year Book of the Commonwealth of Australia No. 59, 1973. Aust. Bureau of Statistics.
  5. ^ Bannister, Roland; Cartledge, Damon (1 June 1999). "New Musicians in an Old Tradition: Music Education as Vocational Education at the Defence Force School of Music". Research Studies in Music Education. 12 (1): 58–67. doi:10.1177/1321103x9901200107. ISSN 1321-103X. S2CID 145747957.
  6. ^ Hannan, Michael (2003). Australian Guide to Careers in Music. UNSW Press. ISBN 978-0-86840-510-0.