University of Melbourne confers Honorary Doctorate on music education leader Professor André de Quadros

The University of Melbourne has conferred an honorary doctorate on Professor André de Quadros, a childhood refugee and now senior international leader in music education, conducting, ethnomusicology and human rights activism.
The Doctor of Fine Arts and Music was conferred on Professor de Quadros at a ceremony on Saturday 14 December.
This prestigious honour recognises and celebrates Professor de Quadros’ outstanding contributions to music and arts education and research, including his work in impoverished locations with victims of torture and trauma, using the power of music and human creativity to build peace and heal communities and individuals.
Professor de Quadros has conducted research in over forty countries and his life’s work has been aimed at the establishment of fair and equitable social systems. His expertise spans multiple disciplines, with choral and community music, ethnomusicology, and music and arts education at the core of his practice.
Professor de Quadros’ work is founded on radical compassion, dialogue, reconciliation, and community engagement. He deploys music-making for peacebuilding, reconciliation, and psychosocial rehabilitation. He has led music ensembles within disadvantaged communities, running projects with prisons that use song to form understanding between mortal enemies, and working with refugees and asylum seekers to reinforce hope and unity.
Currently a Professor of Music at Boston University, Professor André de Quadros was a Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Music in early 2024. He is also a Faculty alum, having studied a Graduate Diploma in Music, and a Graduate Diploma in Movement and Dance with us during the formative years of his career.
Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, Professor Marie Sierra said: “Professor de Quadros is a longstanding colleague of our staff who research arts and health, and he has made significant contributions to promoting the University’s values through harnessing the inherent creativity that is common to everyone.”
“Through the unifying vehicle of music, his international reach is impactful locally and situationally, and he will continue to contribute to the University’s arts and health initiatives in the years to come.”