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Wednesday, 28 March 2001

A senior figure from one of Britain's leading music schools has been appointed Elder Professor of Music at Adelaide University and foundation director of the Elder School of Music.

Charles Bodman Rae, the Director of Studies at Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, will take up the appointment later this year. He will play a leading role in the creation of the Elder School of Music out of the merger of the Elder Conservatorium and the Flinders Street School of Music.

The Vice-Chancellor of Adelaide University, Professor Mary O'Kane, said she was delighted that Adelaide again had a Professor of Music. She said Professor Bodman Rae had had an illustrious career as a practical and academic musician.

"I believe strongly in the future of music at Adelaide," Professor O'Kane said. "Professor Bodman Rae was selected from among more than 30 applicants for the Elder Chair in Music ­ Australia's first music professorship established in 1886.

"The University looks forward to his increasing involvement in all aspects of the merger of the Elder Conservatorium and the Flinders Street School of Music."

The Director of the Flinders Street School of Music, Mr Anthony Steel, welcomed the appointment.

"We look forward enormously to working with Professor Bodman Rae closely between now and when the merger takes effect to ensure that the best qualities of the Flinders Street school are fully represented in the new school," he said.

Professor Malcolm Gillies, the Executive Dean of Adelaide University's Faculty of Performing Arts, Law, Architecture, Commerce and Economics, said: "Professor Bodman Rae is a leading researcher of Polish music.

"He has a fine reputation as a composer and pianist and has held several leading administrative positions in British music colleges. All of these experiences qualify him well for the challenges of being the foundation director of the Elder School of Music."