Three months after splitting from the University of Canterbury, an academy for gifted young musicians has expanded across New Zealand.

The Pettman National Junior Academy of Music broke away from the university, where it had been based since its inception in 2005, at the end of last year.

The move was made at the request of its sole benefactors, Britain-based philanthropists Barrie and Maureen Pettman.

Academy director Wolfgang Kraemer said the academy and the university were going in different directions and the Pettmans were keen to see the academy head out on its own.

Despite the split, the two entities still work closely, with university lecturers tutoring academy pupils in their own time and in the university's studios.

The academy's musical director, Edith Salzmann, is a cello lecturer at the university.

Salzmann said the split from the university had given the academy the freedom to expand it to other centres in the North Island, including Auckland and Wellington, where 25 per cent of the pupils now reside.

About 45 pupils aged from 8 to either 17 or 18 are in the academy. They attend mainstream schools, but twice a week receive lessons from academy tutors and also attend various theory classes and performances and competitions throughout the year.

The Pettmans, who have contributed $1.1 million to the academy, pay a $4000 scholarship for each child, and parents pay the additional $1680. They are based in Britain, but own property in Akaroa.

Professor Barrie Pettman is the co-founder of Emerald Group Publishing, the world's leading publisher of scholarly journals and books.

 

- © Fairfax NZ News

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