Conservatorium of Music Library exhibitions for 2026
Each semester, the Library works in partnership with a Sydney Conservatorium of Music researcher to showcase their work in the Library exhibition space.
Semester 1
Sensory concerts
Are classical concerts designed for everyone?
Traditional classical concert etiquette expects silence and stillness during the performance, which can unintentionally exclude individuals and families with sensory, intellectual, or physical needs.
Sensory Concerts responds by relaxing these rigid audience expectations without compromising artistic integrity. Founded by Grace Kim, concert pianist and mother of a neurodivergent child, Sensory Concerts is born from professional and personal determination to make quality live music accessible to the neurodivergent families.
Audiences can experience performances by professional classical musicians in a sensory-friendly setting, with small numbers, flexible seating, retreat options, and onsite therapist support. Patrons are welcome to engage with the music in their own way, and the music is thoughtfully programmed to calm and engage the senses.
The impact of Sensory Concerts extends well beyond the concert space. Families feel welcome and understood, children experience quality live music as a source of calm and joy, and musicians witness the power of music creating emotional and social connection.
Sensory Concerts has also contributed to the research field, informing emerging scholarship on neuro-inclusive performance practices. Academic studies, including current PhD research on neuro-inclusive concerts in Australia (Kim & Mitchell, 2025, in review) and a 2024 publication on the calming effects of repetition in music for children with sensory sensitivities, demonstrate how thoughtfully designed concerts can be support attention, engagement, and emotional regulation. This research reinforces the idea that accessibility in the arts is not an accommodation at the margins, but a pathway to richer musical engagement for neurodiverse audiences.
This exhibition invites you to learn more about the thinking, design, and lived impact behind Sensory Concerts and to consider how sensory-friendly approaches can transform concert experiences into a welcoming space for all.
The exhibition will be on display at the front of the Conservatorium of Music library from Monday 16 March until Saturday 20 June 2026.
Semester 2
Ecomusicology in Indigenous Australia and beyond: Music, sound and the environment
Current ecomusicological research has opened new avenues for exploring human-environment relationships through music and sound. Exhibition curators Dr Georgia Curran, Prof. Myfany Turpin, Emeritus Prof. Linda Barwick and PhD student Evelyn Quispe have curated an exhibition showing different relationships between music, sound and the environment in Indigenous societies of Australia and beyond.
The exhibition features performance traditions of music and dance from endangered cultures, and the use of new technology to hear the sounds of the earth that are beyond reach of the naked ear. We showcase how long-standing social and environmental interconnections are carried forward across generations through musical performance in societies, many of whom have had a relatively small environmental impact; and how performance can influence people's relationships to their environment, and the environment itself. The exhibition features examples of intercultural song, dance and engaged listening practices that nurture the interrelational links between people and their environments.
The exhibition will be on display at the front of the Conservatorium of Music library in Semester 2, 2026.