In a shock announcement at the end of May, the teachers and students of the Newpark Academy of Music were issued letters by the Board of Directors, informing them of their intentions to close the school. The reasons outlined in the letters were vague and suspicious, and the timeframe in which more than 600 students along with 42 staff were told that they no longer had a place to learn, to teach and to work.
Over its 45 year existence, the school has been formative for so much of what is important now in Irish culture and music, even running an esteemed jazz programme that due to it’s increase in student numbers transferred to DCU, the latter is also in a Global Partnership with Berklee College of Music, Boston.
Kevin Brady, drummer extraordinaire with the wonderful RBG Trio, and who happens to head up the current Newpark Jazz department, was kind enough to shed some light on a murky subject.
Newpark was the school I wanted to attend as a kid. This news came as a complete shock. Can you tell me a little about Newpark Music Academy and what the place means to you?
Our school year runs the same terms as any primary or secondary school would, with the offer of additional classes in June, summer workshops, and third parties also rent spaces at the school, like The Rock Jam Camp. For many years, Newpark Academy of Music offered a BA Degree in Jazz Music that was formed by Ronan Guilfoyle. The history of the school always had a jazz education element to it. I believe it is the first place in the country to have offered this type of tuition. At one point the only place in the country. Due to its popularity the full time course moved to DCU in 2017, and in 2019 I was asked to take over as the Head of the jazz department.
My role was to increase the opportunities for students to play music with each other, to create Micro Course options for students, to develop the ensembles classes, and offer a wider range of jazz instrumental classes. I created a Big Band summer camp, which we’re still going ahead with in July, but now in an alternative venue.
The Board of Directors operate Newpark as a charity run company, a CLG. On the 22nd of May, we all received a letter from the Board of Directors stating that “due to financial and other reasons”, that they were ceasing trading of the company that Saturday. Literally no correspondence beforehand. No consultation.
No signs at all?
We re-register our students quite early, so that everybody can hold their place. I had a lot of students over the country looking to enroll to do the jazz improv course.The enrollment was delayed with no indications as to why. After the announcement of the closure of the school, a new working group was created that features a lot of different people from a lot of different areas of expertise,to try to save the school.
Members of the group include Deborah Kelleher, the director of RIAM, David Brophy, Des Crowther, who would have financial experience. Katherine Griffin, who would be a consultant as regards PR and marketing, then Anne Woodworth, who also has experience with music education alongside myself, there are two music teachers on the board, myself and pianist Alyssa Filardo. The Director of Newpark Academy of Music, Hilda Chan, and the chair of RIAM, Judith Woodworth.
What we’ve tried to do is highlight the issue, we’ve tried to engage with the board and have meetings. They hired a HR person to deal with the staff and have said the consultation period is beginning.
Can you tell me about this outcry of support the faculty have been getting?
We are really thankful to the politicians who have engaged with this issue. It was brought up in the Dáil by Richard Boyd Barrett, which was one element of highlighting the closure. We also called a public meeting on the 11th of June, which included many different families, students and faculty members.
It also helped to shed light on the issue with TD’s and local councillors from the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown area, like Maurice Dockrell, Marie Baker, Michael Clark and Conor Dowling. Senator Barry Ward recently brought up the issue with the Department of Education who own the building, in the Oireachtas.
Another incredible support we received was that Arthur Cox LLP, a renowned legal firm, offered to come on board on a pro bono basis to act on behalf of the school. They’ve been a fantastic partner and we’ve been so grateful they’ve been able to advise us.
And you’ve been active online as well.
We created a Save Newpark Music social media campaign. The response to that has been amazing. The school has had thousands of students over the years who have come through and gone on to have hugely successful careers. A lot of famous Jazz musicians have come and taught at Newpark. I’m reaching out to my friends and colleagues all around the world, I’m reaching out to former students who’ve come through.
Rory Doyle, who plays drums for Hozier. Hozier was a student there at one point, Dave Moore Today FM radio presenter. Our aim is to keep the video campaign going with the Save Newpark social media presence.
I was under the opinion, when I was a kid, that the school was government run.
It was a charity that was set up in the late 80’s for the building to be used for music education. The principal at that time was an avid fan of music, and really wanted to offer that. That’s the thing, how can it be stated that we’re financially crippled. It’s a charity, not Nike. It’s not supposed to run with a massive surplus. It never did. It was a system in which the students paid their fees. You had a couple of part time office staff and a full time director. You had teachers who were part time, paid by the fees that came in. That’s how the charity worked, and a simple business model, we provide an arts and cultural focused service to the community.
Is there any hope on the horizon? I know you received some good news recently.
Well I am hopeful that negotiations can continue to find a solution to protect the staff and continue with the music education of over 600 students.
They must be bending under public scrutiny. I can’t imagine they expected this to be as visible as it has been these last weeks.
Well, we have worked tirelessly on this and have tried to highlight this as best as we can, the outcry from the public not only in Ireland, abroad also, has been incredible. The Working Group is a huge asset, also the inclusion of Arthur Cox LLP legal team has had a big impact on knowing how to take things forward in a positive manner.
What could people do to help? To keep that pressure on?
If people could contact local councillors and TDs, with regards to the situation. Try and get some political pressure and please Follow our socials, @savenewparkmusic on Instagram and Facebook.
It’s such a bizarre situation to be in, especially for an institution that’s so important. And so recognised.
I was a student there when I was sixteen. I had my first music teaching job there at 27. Newpark was the place you would go to access high quality music education. The music system available outside of it at the time was all classical when I was younger, and having the option of studying jazz performance was a real key element for me making my decision to attend the school.
I believe that The DCU full time jazz degree course would not exist now but for the formative years when the jazz education classes were offered to musicians, it created a vital stepping stone for the development of jazz education in this country. We should be in the business of creating music schools, not shutting them down.
Words: Adhamh Ó Caoimh
