Into a new future: Australia's early cultural diplomacy and the case of the Australian Youth Orchestra at Expo '70

Schuele, Lola

Into a new future: Australia's early cultural diplomacy and the case of the Australian Youth Orchestra at Expo '70

Authors

Schuele, Lola

Date

2026

Affiliation

Fine Arts and Music Collected Works

Full item page

Document Type

Honours thesis

Access Status

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URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11343/370742

Description

Abstract

In Australian cultural diplomacy (CD), the understanding of musicians as “non-state” actors has been limited. Though studies on this topic examine the history and efficacy, they present less on the role of “non-state” actors in furthering international relationships through their ability to connect with audiences. This thesis situates Australia in the 1970s, where fostering stronger diplomacy between its prospective partners of Japan, India and ASEAN was front of mind. In a six-month cultural Expo in Osaka (Japan), Australia was provided with an opportunity to project a nation of “diversity, modernity and enterprise,” expressed by Prime Minister John Gorton at the time. A part of Australia’s Expo ‘70 cultural portfolio was a week of performances by the Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) conducted by John Hopkins. For this performance, the AYO commissioned Peter Sculthorpe’s Music for Japan, which was intended by Sculthorpe as “a present to Japan from Australia.” Through examining the motivations of both the AYO and Sculthorpe as “non-state” actors this project will show how Australian artists internalise the role of national ambassadorship when used as “non-state” actors in Australian CD.

Keywords

Australian cultural diplomacy, non-state actors, music diplomacy, Australian Youth Orchestra, Expo '70 Osaka, Peter Sculthorpe, Australia–Japan relations, national ambassadorship

Collections

Fine Arts and Music Collected Works - Theses