Finding Repertoire
Finding a piece to play
Entering Strike A Chord is an exciting journey full of rewarding challenges.
We've got plenty of great advice and useful tips to help you along the way, from choosing your repertoire right through to the performance. Of course, if you're ever feeling overwhelmed or need some guidance don't hesitate to ask your teachers and tutors for help!
Deciding what repertoire is the best for your ensemble to perform in the championship can seem like a challenging task, but don't be intimidated, there are lots of great resources available to make sourcing music easier.
The best place to start when sourcing music is by seeking suggestions from your tutors and teachers. We've also listed a number of places below that are worth exploring. These are sources of music for loan or hire, or perhaps you know a freelance musician who will arrange or even compose something suitable.
Australian Music Centre
The extensive search function on the Australian Music Centre’s website gives access to its unparalleled collection of works by Australian composers.
Make a start here: https://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/introductions
And for repertoire suitable for the NSW HSC subject “Music of the Last 25 Years (Australian focus)” see this guide: https://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/guides/hsc
The Australian Music Centre (AMC) is the national service organisation dedicated to the promotion and support of art music in Australia. The AMC houses and curates the most comprehensive catalogue of Australian music, a living collection of scores, recordings, research papers, teaching kits, classroom materials and aggregated media. The collection includes more than 30,000 items by approximately 750 Australian artists. The organisation made the prescient decision to digitise this asset in 2002 and, today, the major part of the AMC's vast collection has been digitised and is accessible to anyone in the world with a smart device.
P: +61 2 9935 7805 / 1300 651 834
Website: www.australianmusiccentre.com.au
State Libraries
Many State Libraries have a comprehensive collection of classical repertoire available for loan, with specialist music staff available to assist.
IMSLP
IMSLP stands for International Music Score Library Project and started on February 16, 2006. It is a project for the creation of a virtual library of public domain music scores based on the wiki principle. You can access scores here for free download as they are all out of copyright.
Website: imslp.org
AMEB Ensemble Syllabuses
As one of the most respected bodies in this field AMEB's qualifications are recognised as a national benchmark across Australia. AMEB examinations are based on syllabuses designed by leading scholars and performers, regularly updated to ensure that they reflect an appropriate range of performance skills and the latest musicological research.
AMEB syllabuses set educationally appropriate goals across a wide range of musical instruments, from beginner level through grades 1 to 8 and onto diploma level. Candidates may select from a broad range of repertoire in the manual lists and AMEB grade books including compositions by Australian and regional composers. Syllabuses are regularly reviewed by specialists with a national profile in their instrument to reflect current pedagogical best practice.
Website: https://www.ameb.edu.au/shop
Tertiary Institutions
Many tertiary institutions have music scores available for perusal and/or inter-library loan.
University of Melbourne Library - http://cat.lib.unimelb.edu.au/
Monash University Library - https://www.monash.edu/library
University of NSW - https://www.library.unsw.edu.au/
University of Sydney Conservatorium Library - https://library.sydney.edu.au/
University of Newcastle - https://www.newcastle.edu.au/library
University of Queensland - https://www.library.uq.edu.au/
Griffith University - https://www.griffith.edu.au/library
University of South Australia - https://www.library.unisa.edu.au/
University of Adelaide - https://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/home
University of WA - https://www.uwa.edu.au/library/home
Edith Cowen University - WAAPA - https://www.ecu.edu.au/centres/library-services/overview
Australian National University - https://anulib.anu.edu.au/
Sheet Music Retailers
Please refer to this extensive list of sheet music retailers across Australia, compiled by the AMEB.