Professor Anna Reid Appointed As New Dean Of The Con

The University of Sydney today announced the appointment of Professor Anna Reid as the new Head of School and Dean of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

An accomplished string musician and alumna of the Con, Professor Anna Reid joined the University of Sydney in 2010 as Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning at the Con and was made Head of School in 2012.  She has been acting Dean of the Con since July 2015, and also for a period between 2011 and 2012.

Over the last 20 years Professor Reid has earned an international reputation for her research and collegial approach to learning and teaching in the higher education sector. Her interest in social equity and professional training has led to the creation of industry internships and collaborative programs with Australia’s regional conservatoria.

Her productive research career in higher education theory and practice, and her work as an academic developer at the University of Technology (1997-2000) and Macquarie University (2001-2009), is where she gained a deep-seated knowledge of tertiary policy and practice.

A music educator for most of her life, Professor Reid’s first role was Head of Music at Wesley Institute (1988-1995), now the Excelsia College in Sydney. It was here she composed With Heads Held High for the opening of new Parliament House in Canberra in 1988.

A keen cellist and viola da gamba player, Professor Reid recently performed alongside orchestral students in the Con’s first opera for 2016, Purcell’s The Fairy Queen.

Professor Reid graduated with a Bachelor of Music from the NSW State Conservatorium of Music in 1987, before she gained a Master of Educational Administration from the University of New England in 1994, and completed her PhD (1999) on music in higher education that explored the varied ways instrumental and vocal music is learnt and taught.