Regulations

Membership of the Australian Society of Musicology and Composition ('the Society') shall be granted exclusively on the recommendation of an appointed examiner, in accordance with these regulations, and in accordance with fee requirements as determined by the Director. Membership is perpetual, but not transferable.

Membership shall be available at three levels (Associateship, Licentiateship and Fellowship), and in four categories (Musicology, Composition, Performance, and Music Education).

To apply for membership, a candidate will submit to the Director a sample of work, which will then be assessed by an appointed examiner, who will make a recommendation regarding the membership status of the candidate. Appropriate fees must be paid at this stage.

Submissions may assume any form, but typically will be in one of the forms listed below, for the categories of musicology, composition, performance or music education respectively:

  • A paper presenting a work of musical analysis or other item of musicological research, of 3,000-8,000 words in length;
  • A composition, or small folio of compositions, which may be supported by recordings or other documentation;
  • A video recording which demonstrates performance abilities in a strongly musicological or compositional context, or which presents works of an interesting contemporary nature;
  • A work which contains original composition, research, argument or methodology, and serves an educational purpose. This may include: compositions, or collections of compositions, specifically of teaching intent; textbooks on musical subjects; published or unpublished articles of educational intent, or on topics relating to music education or pedagogy; video recordings of educational workshops or lectures presented by the candidate. ASMC Music Education diplomas are not intended for use as teaching credentials in their own right. Any candidate in the category of Music Education must either demonstrate professional experience in the field of music education, or hold formal qualifications in music or education.

Any submitted material must be accompanied by a signed statement declaring the authenticity of the submission, and describing in detail each of the following as may be applicable;

  • Any specific or general purposes of the work, including details of publication, etc.;
  • When, where, and under what conditions the work was created, performed or recorded;
  • The role of any other parties in the content or presentation of the work, which are not otherwise acknowledged or referenced in the submission itself, including teachers, supervisors, copyists, accompanists, recording technicians, etc.;
  • Any editing of recorded material;
  • The nature and role of any equipment which has contributed significantly to the content or presentation of the work, including sequencers, music notation programs, text editing programs, etc.

An examiner may accept for assessment, or decline to assess, submissions in any form, at his or her discretion.

Examiners will be instructed to observe, but are not bound to demonstrate, the following broad equivalences in qualitative standards with awards from Australian tertiary institutions;

  • Associateship - AdvDipMus or 2nd year BMus
  • Licentiateship - BMus
  • Fellowship - MMus

Any award may be conferred 'with Honours' upon the examiner's recommendation.

An examiner may advise that a submission be revised before making a recommendation to the Society.

A recommendation for the admission of a candidate to Fellowship will not be enacted unless validated by the Chief Examiner or Director. A recommendation for Fellowship which fails to gain the endorsement of the Chief Examiner or Director may be altered to a recommendation for Licentiateship or Licentiateship with Honours, by negotiation between the appointed examiner and the Chief Examine or Director.

Persons admitted to the Society will be issued with a formal ASMC certificate signed by the current Director, and may indicate their status by the appropriate postnominals (F/L/AMusicol/Comp/Perf/MusEdASMC[Hons]).

Members of the Society are authorised to wear the following academic dress. Associate: Black cloth gown of the Cambridge BA pattern, black cloth trencher cap, hood of black cloth in the Cambridge full shape, lined to a depth of 15cm with violet silk and edged to a depth of 4cm with gold silk. Licentiate: Black cloth gown of the Cambridge BA pattern, black cloth trencher cap, hood of black cloth in the Cambridge full shape, lined throughout with violet silk and edged to a depth of 5cm with gold silk. Fellow: Black cloth gown of the Cambridge MA pattern, black velvet bonnet with black cord, hood of scarlet cloth in the Cambridge full shape, lined throughout with violet silk, and edged to a depth of 5cm with gold silk. Violet represents the music tradition; gold represents Australia; scarlet represents the governing authority of the Council. ASMC can recommend professional robemakers in Australia.

The Society shall confer no honorary awards. Fellowship may be conferred without examination in exceptional cases to persons whose standing or record of achievement is considered by an examiner to make examination unnecessary or inappropriate. In such cases, the award will not be deemed 'honorary'.

Persons with an interest in the activities of the Society, or its objectives, may be admitted as Affiliates of the Society, upon application or invitation. Admission as an Affiliate carries no academic status and does not entitle the use of any postnominals or formal certification. A formal letter from the Director will be forwarded to all Affiliates of the Society. An administrative fee of A$250 applies.

Where reasonable evidence exists that a person has undertaken deliberate deception in any aspect of a submission, that person shall be expelled from membership of the Society.

Any candidate for whom a recommendation for membership is made, and who declines to meet fee requirements, shall not be permitted to make any other submission for a period of twelve months, and shall not be permitted to re-submit the original work at any point in the future.