Raise your brasses!

A student brass ensemble provided a fitting celebration to help mark the beginning of construction of the $104.5 million Ian Potter Southbank Centre on August 2.

Member for Albert Park and Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley and Lord Mayor Robert Doyle joined University of Melbourne students and staff in turning the sod on the iconic project.

The new Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (MCM) will commence classes at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) in 2019.

University of Melbourne Vice Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis and Dean of the Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (MCM) Professor Barry Conyngham joined Minister Foley and Cr Doyle in turning the sod on the new conservatorium.

Professor Glyn Davis said the new building was one of the largest enhancements in the Faculty’s history and would confirm the Faculty internationally as a pre-eminent school of art and music.

“The realisation of this project is the culmination of years of collaboration with our project partners, and the exceeding generosity of our donors,” Professor Davis said.

Professor Barry Conyngham said the project was a once-in-a-century event that would produce Australia’s next generation of musicians and bring together the VCA and MCM.

“The University of Melbourne was one of the first Australian universities to offer formal studies in music, and the new headquarters for the Conservatorium will see that legacy continued and amplified alongside all arts disciplines on our Southbank campus,” Professor Conyngham said.

Martin Foley said the Victorian Government was proud to partner with the University – and with its philanthropic supporters – to make the project happen.

“The new Melbourne Conservatorium will be a transformative link in our arts precinct that will boost our cultural and educational offering and attract the best and brightest talent to our creative state. It will further help build Southbank’s Sturt street as the cultural hub of Melbourne,” he said.

The Ian Potter Southbank Centre joins the current $42 million redevelopment of the Dodds Street Stables into a visual arts wing, and the introduction of the Buxton Contemporary Museum.