Interview with Robyn Holmes 2016 ASRA Award Recipient Sound is My Passion

Abstract

In 2016, Australian academic and musicologist Robyn Holmes received the Australasian Sound Recordings Association ASRA Award for excellence in the documentation and the dissemination of Australian music. Robyn talks to ASRA Board Member, Melinda Barrie, about her long and varied career in the field of music performance, teaching, and online distribution of Australia’s sound culture. She recalls her diverse interest in sound from the classical to new music, and how she has never forgotten her first day of teaching when an audio cassette - which was relatively new technology at the time - unravelled itself and she had to revert to using vinyl records. However, it was not long after this early experience that Robyn recognised the potential of audio recordings and the power of collections in teaching and learning. It is these early interactions with analogue sound media which can be credited with stimulating her lifelong passion and advocacy for Australia’s recorded sound heritage.