Music education involves elements of inquiry, discovery, explicit instruction and self-driven designerly ways of thinking that can lead to mastery and expertise. COVID-19 forced lecturers and teachers within a Higher Education music conservatorium to creatively adapt delivery with students for much of 2020. This qualitative study examined responses from (N = 32) participants including (n = 25 students and n = 7 teachers). The authors utilised questionnaires and extended responses to investigate innovative pedagogies and delivery modes that evolved during the pandemic in Victoria, Australia. Graduate teaching programmes shifted to fully online delivery for 20 months, one of the longest periods of societal isolation mandated worldwide. Data identified how teachers reinterpreted curricula and repositioned methods of teaching and assessment, fostering new learning experiences, creativity, self-reflection and problem-solving skills. Recommendations point to adaptive delivery and student engagement innovations. The authors outline how teachers can approach personal, collective and socio-cultural pedagogic approaches that enculturate students towards adaptable, creative and interdisciplinary thinking.