- Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust
The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust (AETT) was set up in September 1954 under the guidance of H. C. ‘Nugget’ Coombs, Governor of the
Commonwealth Bank , SirCharles Moses General Manager, Australian Broadcasting Commission andJohn Douglas Pringle , Editor of TheSydney Morning Herald . It aimed to establish drama, opera and ballet companies nationally. Named to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Australia, the Trust raised £100,000 by a public appeal. [ [http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms5908 MS 5908 Records of Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust at the National Library of Australia] ] [ [http://www.theindependent.org.au/downloads/AETT-annual-report-1957.pdf Annual Report 1957, The Australia Elizabethan Theatre Trust] ] Since 1999 the Trust has offered overseas music scholarships; 80 scholars have been supported, with grants totaling over A$1 million. The Trust is also the owner/proprietor of the Independent Theatre,North Sydney . [ [http://www.theindependent.org.au/downloads/AGM_Chairmans_Address_2006.pdf Chairman’s Address for 2005, The Australia Elizabethan Theatre Trust ] ]The Trust played a key role in establishing
high culture in Australia through its involvement in setting up:
*the Elizabethan Theatre Trust Opera Company (nowOpera Australia ) in 1956
*the Elizabethan Opera Ballet Company, a short lived ballet company set up in 1957, and withJ. C. Williamson Ltd the Australian Ballet Foundation in 1961 and theAustralian Ballet School under the direction of Margaret Scott
*the Elizabethan Trust Orchestra in 1967, which in 1969 split into two orchestras, one each resident in Melbourne and Sydney.It has also supported:
*National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA)
*Marionette Theatre of Australia
*Australian Theatre of the Deaf
*Old Tote Theatre Company
*Melbourne Theatre Company
*South Australian Theatre Company.Following the establishment of the Australian Council for the Arts (later the
Australia Council ) in 1968, it ceased to be a funding body for opera and ballet in 1970.During the 1980s the Trust scaled back its operations and in the 1990s had a Sydney focus and operated a ticketing agency and organised theatre parties.
ee also
*
Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra References
*"The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust: the first year", Sydney: The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, 1956
*Stephen Alomes, The search for a National Theatre, "Voices", Spring 1993, pp. 21-37.External links
* [http://www.australiadancing.org/subjects/3521.html Profile of The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust at AustraliaDancing]
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms5908 MS 5908 Records of Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust at the National Library of Australia]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.