From a very young age, O has always loved singing. When she was in year three at her previous school in Western Australia, O joined the school choir and loved it. With the school choir, she performed at their school and also on stage at the 2017 Schools Make Music Concert series. She loved the experience of performing with her school choir in front of such a large audience. They were one of the smallest choirs performing but what they lacked in numbers, they made up for with their combined voice.
When we moved back to Queensland, O mentioned to us that she really wanted to join the Australian Girls Choir and at the beginning of 2019, much to her delight, O was offered a place in the Australian Girls Choir, Avanti level. From the moment that O's Australian Girls Choir uniform arrived and she tried it on for size, we could not wipe the smile from her face. The look on her face was one of pure joy. And since that moment every Thursday afternoon when O puts on her uniform, she beams so brightly. O loves telling everyone and anyone that will listen about the Australian Girls Choir.
The Australian Girls Choir was established in 1984 by Judith Curphey, OAM, in the Melbourne suburb of Burwood. Judith, whose 30 year career background is in music and drama education, was the sole tutor and she had 150 girls rehearsing in four classes. Judith's aim in establishing the Australian Girls Choir was to form a girls choir that would have an emphasis on not only singing but also dance and presentation and she wanted the choir to be known for its unique Australian sound.
The founding philosophy behind the Australian Girls Choir is that every child can learn to sing if they are given the encouragement and training. The Australian Girls Choir provides very high quality performing arts education and truly exceptional performance opportunities.
This year marks 35 years of the Australian Girls Choir. Judith celebrated her 90th birthday in style by going to Paris to watch her beloved choir on one of their oversea tours. Today, in 2019, there are approximately 6000 girls aged from 4 years to 18 years learning to sing, dance and perform in Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.
Since joining the Australian Girls Choir, O has very definitely found her niche. And in the last 12 months of being an Australian Girls Chorister, O has blossomed musically and her confidence has grown.
Earlier this year O performed in the Winter Showcase. Leading up to the Showcase she was a bundle of nerves but on the day of the showcase, she was cool and calm. After the concert, O talked non stop about being back stage, the dress rehearsal, the performance and meeting the choristers from the other venues. That performance cemented to O, that singing is what she wants to do. Singing is her happy place.
Last weekend, O performed in one of the Australian Girls Choir Annual Concerts at the biggest venue that she has ever performed in - The Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC.) O can now say that she has performed on the same stage that one of her Mummy and Daddy's favourite celebrities, John Scott Barrowman (Doctor Who, Torchwood, Arrow) performed on!
The morning of the concert, O had a massive anxiety panic attack about something that had happened at school during the week prior. She was a huge mess and both myself and Daddy Superhero were concerned about how she would go that night. But to O's credit, she brushed off her anxiety, put one foot in front of the other and off we went to QPAC. As soon as we arrived, she became a completely different child and she shone. After the concert finished, O was on a huge high. The drive home took us over an hour and she talked, sang and giggled the entire trip. It is truly wonderful to hear your child on such a high after doing something that makes her so very happy - singing, dancing, performing.
One of the things that I love about the Australian Girls Choir, is just how happy the classes make O. No matter how rough a day O has had at school, she goes to her weekly classes and comes out at the end of the hour and a half session on a huge high. O is genuinely happy and will giggle and sing the entire hour car ride home. I love the camaraderie that I see week in, week out at her weekly classes and also that I've seen at the two performances that O has been involved in this year. I honestly believe that her Australian Girls Choir classes are genuinely beneficial to O's happiness, as well as her mental and emotional well being. Australian Girls Choir is very definitely one of O's happy places and she has found her tribe with her fellow choristers.
But what about O? What does she think about her Australian Girls Choir experience?
"I love that the AGC doesn't try to push me beyond my limits. My friends there accept me for who I am. Everyone, the girls in my Avanti group, my tutors and the older choristers, our venue manager Miss Parkinson, all of the staff at the concerts, are so friendly and inclusive of all of the girls. It's like being in a big choir family. I am making friends with girls who are my age and who I have so much in common with. And I loved meeting and singing with our groups sorella, she was so lovely and her singing voice is beautiful.
My tutors Mrs Scott and Miss De Castro are so friendly and very encouraging. Mrs Scott and Miss De Castro have taught me so much more than just singing. They've taught me how to read sheet music, how to project my voice when I sing and act. I'm learning drama and performance skills. I love going to choir. I just wish we'd found out about the choir when I was younger. But I know that I want to be with the choir until I am in year twelve. I want to be just like the big girls in the performance and concert levels."
So bring on 2020, O's second year with the Australian Girls Choir! We can't wait to see what next year with the Australian Girls Choir will bring!
P.S. Sorella is Italian for sister! There is an emphasis on the Australian Girls Choir being like a big family. O's AGC big sister is one of the older choristers who was helping out in their class leading up to the Annual Concert. For third term I'm not sure who was having more fun the class, the girls or their sorella!
When I was a child I loved music. I started playing the Alto Saxophone at the age of 11 and by the age of 18, I was in numerous concert and Jazz bands. I'd travelled overseas with the Jazz band and I'd also performed as part of a concert band at numerous concerts, festivals and stage productions and at an international school sports competition.
Music was one of my escapes. I found that when I was playing music, my anxieties disappeared, I was able to think clearly and I was relaxed. My worries disappeared and I was able to be me.
And it would appear that O has inherited my love of music, in particular a love of singing. When O is singing, her anxiety completely disappears. Like Mother, like daughter!
I've known about the benefits of music due to my own experiences with music but it has only been since both O and L have been diagnosed with autism that I have begun to look into just how beneficial music is to children.
When children, special needs or not, engage in musical activities, their brain is changed for the better.
Through music, children learn to communicate and cooperate with others, they learn to problem solve and begin to focus better on the task at hand. Children gain immense confidence by participating in musical experiences. Music also provides lessons in perseverance and discipline. All of these are essential skills that are needed by children to be happy and successful.
Playing a musical instrument can assist in the further development of fine motor skills and fine motor control.
Instead of using words to communicate, children can use a range of musical activities to communicate with others - singing, playing a musical instrument, improvising to music to name a few. Through these activities, children learn to communicate with others, they participate in social interactions, they can practice eye contact and turn taking with others.
O has mentioned numerous times that she would like to learn to play the piano or the violin or the flute or the ........
The instrument keeps changing but she is adamant that she wants to learn to play an instrument of some description!
From a very young age, O has always loved singing. When O started at the school that she currently attends she found out that the school had a choir. And since that very first day she has been desperate to join the choir. On the first day of school this year, O said "I'm in year 3 now so I can try out for the choir!"
The day the choir try outs were on, she wanted to be at school nice and early so that she wouldn't miss it. O made the choir and she hasn't missed a single choir practice all year.
Just recently her school choir participated in the Schools Make Music 2017 Concert Series at the Crown Theatre here in Perth.
The choir has performed at school assemblies throughout the year, but the Crown Theatre was going to be the largest venue so far that they had performed at.
Prior to the concert O was an absolute mess. From the minute I collected her from school to the minute we arrived at the Crown, her anxiety was very visible.
However as soon as her teachers collected the choir in the foyer of the Crown, O became as cool and calm as a cucumber.
From where I was seated in the theatre, I had a clear view of O on stage and not once did her anxiety show through.
Her choir was one of the smallest in numbers to perform, but what they lacked in numbers they made up for in their combined voice. They sang beautifully and very loud!
Apart from O's school choir, there were two other performances that really stood out for me due to background of the students in the performances.
The first was a 5 piece all girl band who performed their own song with an underlying theme of depression. They looked and sounded incredibly nervous but the song was quite powerful and the fact that they got on stage in front of hundreds of people and performed was incredible.
The second act that I thoroughly enjoyed was a drum line of students from a special education unit. You could see the pure joy on the students faces as they performed on stage. It was wonderful that even though their act was quite simplistic, they were given the opportunity to perform at the concert. It was just a shame that others seated around me, could not see the performance for what it was. Students enjoying making music. I was horrified by some of the comments that were being made throughout their performance and I made sure that those making the comments knew that I wasn't impressed - lots of glaring occurred!
The concert really did show that music is a "universal language" and that it is something that everyone can participate in and enjoy.
There was a wide diversity of students involved in the concert and their abilities ranged from beginner students to students who were very obviously quite advanced in their music ability.
The concert showed that music is a beautiful way to open the door to a greater understanding of the world around us and of each other and to connect with others.
