A HISTORY OF THE ROYAL (TORONTO) CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC PIANO EXAMINATIONS, 1887-2015: THEIR IMPACT AND INFLUENCE TATIANA VOITOVITCH-CAMILLERI A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN MUSIC YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO November 2019 © Tatiana Voitovitch-Camilleri, 2019 ii ABSTRACT Since its inception in 1887, the Royal Conservatory of Music has maintained its position as one of the largest and oldest community-based music schools and education centres in North America, with an integrated examination body and a comprehensive graded curriculum, influencing and shaping the Canadian musical landscape. For the past 130 years, the Conservatory has presented a wide-ranging art music repertoire for studying piano and offered a comprehensive system for assessing students’ progress through its Examinations, recently retitled as The Certificate Program. The Conservatory’s internal examinations began in 1887, with the external examinations following in 1898. The latter preserved the format of the former and expanded through increasing the number of the examination centres across Canada for both financial and educational reasons. Despite varying opinions of professionals and amateurs on the efficacy and value of the piano examinations in particular from the beginning, this dissertation, using historical sources and interviews, argues that over the years the structure and content of the piano examinations, while innately conservative on the whole, have kept up with a changing demographic of students across the country, and either countered or taken on the many criticisms that surrounded them over the years despite geographical and financial challenges, and indeed competition from other institutions. Recently they have been hardy enough to enter the American market. Overall, the Conservatory’s examination system has created a cultural asset ideal for a country such as Canada, providing, promoting, and disseminating both the branded curriculum and controlled assessment, which contributed to the development and improvement of music education rapidly and effectively. A distinctive part of the dissertation in addition to its detailed history is the interviews with current examiners and teachers, who face a whole new set of challenges and uncharted waters as technology offers new approaches to teaching and evaluation. In this ethnographic approach, their voices add a whole new dimension to the historical survey of the examinations system, arguing that despite—or perhaps because of—the weight of tradition they still have much to offer. iii DEDICATION To my dearest mother Dr. Tatiana Nikolayevna Voitovitch (Bychko)—my best friend, guardian and a life-long inspiration. All that I am and ever aspire to become is devoted to you. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe an infinite debt of gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Dorothy de Val who provided such indispensable guidance, bountiful knowledge, and kindness in every step of this journey: your mentorship, always conveyed with grace and tact, motivated and allowed me to grow as a researcher and an individual. Being your student has been the utmost privilege. My most profound gratitude is expressed to Prof. Michael Coghlan for his invaluable feedback, most positive demeanour, refined sense of humour, erudition and broad perspective on life, education, and performance. As a Graduate Program Director at the time, and throughout the subsequent years, Prof. Coghlan has shown his genuine trust in me. I wish to convey my most sincere gratitude and admiration to Prof. Christina Petrowska Quilico for her continuous encouragement, musical discoveries, invaluable advice and perception from such prominent pianist and pedagogue. As a member of the examining committee, Dr. Naomi Norquay shared a profound and perceptive angle to some key aspects of my dissertation, evoking further pondering about Canadian culture and its heritage. I greatly appreciate Dr. Karin Di Bella’s thorough editing comments and her expertise as an RCM examiner which allowed for a meaningful and constructive discussion during the defense. As current Graduate Program Director and a Chair at the defense, Prof. Stephanie Martin provided continuous support throughout the entire process, and stimulation for inventive thinking. I am grateful to Dr. Gilles Comeau for his helpful comments provided for the earlier draft. Endless gratitude goes to Tere Tilban for her tireless caring, contagious zeal, ever- empowering energy, and professionalism in every stage of my studies prior to her retirement. My warmest thank you is also for Triporna Das (Graduate Program Assistant) for her meticulous attention to the details, guidance and administrative support. I am forever grateful to my dear family: my husband Michael Robert Camilleri, and my aunt Dr. Galina Nikolayevna Bychko, for the love and care they surround me with every day; and my grandparents Nikolai Antonovich Bychko and Olga Mikhailovna Veremeichik (M.D.) who remain with me in kind spirit. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................ii DEDICATION................................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................................iv TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................................vii LIST OF FIGURES......................................................................................................................viii INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1 Section A: Literature Review.................................................................................................4 Section B: Methodology.......................................................................................................10 Section C: Limitations of the Research................................................................................15 CHAPTER 1: FROM TCM TO RCM: THE EXAMINATIONS IN CONTEXT Section A: Influences and Model of the Examinations........................................................17 Section B: The Piano Examination Overview......................................................................28 Section C: The RCM College of Examiners........................................................................36 Section D: Centre Representatives.......................................................................................46 Section E: The Expansion of the RCM Examinations to the US Market.............................47 CHAPTER 2: THE SYLLABUS: TRADITION AND INNOVATION Section A: A Historical Survey of the Piano Syllabus: The Evolution of Requirements, School Credits, Classification of Grades............................................................53 Section B: Marking Schemes...............................................................................................78 Section C: Repertoire Content: Then and Now....................................................................88 CHAPTER 3: “THOSE MUSIC EXAMS”—PERCEPTIONS OF EXAMINATIONS Section A: Critical Views on Examinations.........................................................................99 Section B: Conservatory Examinations in the Press..........................................................114 Section C: Women and the Examinations..........................................................................125 CHAPTER 4: THE SYLLABUS: BEHIND THE SCENES Section A: Making the Syllabus and New Book Series: An Overview ............................133 Section A.1: 2008 Syllabus: Technical Requirements ......................................................141 Section A.2: 2015 Syllabus: Repertoire ............................................................................146 Section B: Popular Selection List.......................................................................................150 Section C: Technological Advancements Utilized in the New Series...............................152 Section D: The Design of the Syllabus...............................................................................154 Section E: Overview of RCM (TCM) Examination Publishers.........................................161 Section F.1: Cost of Printed Materials...............................................................................164 Section F.2: Examinations’ Financial Resources...............................................................166 Section F.3: Expenses.........................................................................................................172 Section F.4: Practical Examinations Fees..........................................................................173 vi CHAPTER 5: PRESENT VOICES Section A: Examinations Through the Eyes of Examiners and Teachers: Their Impact on Students...................................................................................181 Section B: The Teachers and the System...........................................................................198 Section C: Creativity