The American academic leaves after only three years citing “personal reasons”.

Dr Karl Kramer is to leave the Sydney Conservatorium of Music after only three years in post he announced on Friday. “I will be resigning my position as Dean of the Sydney Conservatorium effective July 17, 2015”, he wrote to colleagues in an email subsequently leaked to the classical music news site Slipped Disc. “For personal and family reasons, Jean and I will be returning to the United States,” he said, adding that “there will be a smooth and orderly transition over the next three months.”

Kramer was appointed Dean on a five-year contract in April 2012, and during his time in Sydney has overseen a series of academic staff changes as well as being involved in the planning and artistic direction of the Conservatorium’s proposed Centenary celebrations, including many events that presumably he will now not see come to fruition. In a staff and student email, Provost Stephen Garton took the opportunity to “thank Professor Kramer for his contribution and wish him well in his future endeavours”.

A respected American academic with several decades of educational experience, Kramer came to the job following the...