Anna Goldsworthy speaks about classical music with an almost spiritual reverence.

"I see classical music as something that binds us to the inner life of humans who have come before us and humans who are going to come after us," the award-winning pianist, writer and festival director says.

Professor Goldsworthy, director of the Elder Conservatorium of Music at the University of Adelaide, is one of this year's speakers in the ABC's Boyer Lectures.

For her, the power of classical music stretches far beyond the bows and encores.

"There's so much of this music that just seems so contemporary to me and so familiar," she says.

"If I think about the ambivalence or the vulnerability of Schubert, it feels just as true to me as it would have presumably been to somebody in the first decade of the 19th century. Or the sort of astonishing feeling of divine order that is conveyed by Bach — it is absolutely magnificent and profound."

The art of listening

Aaron Wyatt, also a 2024 Boyer lecturer, sees classical music as an opportunity to deepen our understanding of who we are.

He's a multi-talented musician, working as a violist, violinist, conductor, composer, and academic.

A Noongar man, he also leads Australia's first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander chamber ensemble, Ensemble Dutala. And he is recognised as the first Indigenous Australian to conduct a state symphony orchestra in concert.

"We need to reframe how we think about the arts in this country and actually recognise just how vital and vibrant and important they are," he says.

"[That's] not just in an economic sense, but also in showing and shaping who we are — I think classical music can play a large part of that."

Professor Goldsworthy believes classical music can remind us that "we have more in common than we have apart".

"Even [as] a secular society, I think we still do crave the numinous in certain ways, things that have the capacity to take us out of our day-to-day existence and temporarily release us from the quotidian," she says.

She believes this is particularly relevant in today's political and media environment.

"Playing music together teaches us the art of listening in a culture in which we increasingly like to shout in our echo chambers," she says.

"Beyond that, it's a connection; it's a glue. A lot of people these days are feeling increasingly isolated … and I think music is designed to do the opposite: to bring us together."

Democratising classical music

While both musicians appreciate the works of legendary classical composers, they agree that musicians and programmers need to keep exploring new stories and voices.

"We don't have the same degree of representation of women composers historically and a lot of it is confirmation bias of the cultural gatekeepers," Professor Goldsworthy says. 

"But there are also a lot of factors that conspired against women being given the necessary tools in education in order to own their compositional voices," she says.

"The onus is on all of us who have any sort of platform to make sure that we do try to represent a greater diversity of voices, including women's voices."

Wyatt says that diversity should be reflected in both the music being written and performed and those creating it.

"There are some amazing works in the Western classical canon and I think we should absolutely be able to enjoy them and access them today. But I think it's worth also highlighting that classical music is still something that's happening today; there are still living Australian composers," he says.

"We're still finding our voice in terms of who we are as a country and a nation. And there are some amazing works written by living Australian composers."

When Wyatt's Ensemble Dutala performed at the 2024 Garma Festival, he was pleased to see children excitedly clamouring for the instruments, fascinated by their sound and how they were played.

While he says the remoteness of places like Garma can be a big obstacle in accessing music education, "it never hurts to have role models", especially for those in Indigenous communities.

"It's a chance for them to say, 'Well, this person did it, I can too'."

He believes initiatives like the Ngarra-Burria: First Peoples Composers program, in which he took part, are a good way to bring more diverse musicians into what can be a small and exclusive industry.

"Part of it is seeing more Indigenous people there, but also it's extending opportunities to people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, who don't necessarily have the resources to send kids to fancy private schools and get access to music education," he says.

Wyatt and Professor Goldsworthy agree that the preconception of classical music as "elitist and unfathomable" — in Wyatt's words — needs to be re-evaluated.

Professor Goldsworthy points out that professional sportspeople are elite by design, but they're still accessible and aspirational to the broader public.

"There's nothing fundamentally elite about the messages that are intrinsic to this music. I don't think it's an elite experience to feel moved, to feel swept away, to feel an encounter with art that actually speaks to your human experience of joy or sorrow or desperation or anxiety," she says.

"And so, rather than saying we must be done with this music because it's too elite, I think what we need is a sort of democratisation of this extraordinary tradition."

A need for music education

Both musicians stress the importance of music education, especially for children.

Professor Goldsworthy's own passion for music was inspired by an "extraordinary" teacher she had at the age of nine, Eleonora Sivan, who later became the subject of her first memoir, Piano Lessons.

In the decades since, she's seen the benefits of music education first-hand through her teaching roles.

"It's not about training a new generation of musicians; it's not even about training a new generation of audience members," she says.

"It's actually about equipping young people with really key skills, ranging from executive function to social ability to doing better right across the board."

Wyatt and Professor Goldsworthy say Australia lacks a culture of encouraging music appreciation in childhood.

She gives the example of Finland, where music education is baked into the curriculum and gives "profound pedagogical benefits for that society".

"A lot of the students we see coming in and starting piano and violin, in particular, are of Chinese or often Korean background because I think there's a really deep understanding of the intrinsic value of music education," she says.

"That's not actually about churning out professional musicians. It's just about equipping these children with this discipline and this appreciation of a great art form."

Wyatt says he's often surprised by how little Australian children are exposed to music at school.

"Choirs are such a relatively easy thing to set up, in terms of investment in equipment and all those sorts of things, you just really need a dedicated music teacher to do it. And yet, even then, it's something that just doesn't happen in every school," he says.

"That's super invaluable oral training and basic musicianship training that a lot of kids just miss out on.

To Professor Goldsworthy, it comes down to sharing what is ultimately a gift for everyone.

"I want to see this incredible achievement of humanity disseminated as widely as it possibly can," she says.

"Because this is a luxury that can enrich us all."