Accent On Music

Our students know all too well how our cats love music, eagerly awaiting firstly acknowledgement by the humans, then content to just sit and listen or fall asleep - no matter if it’s Einaudi or Rachmaninoff.

Naughty cat disrupts live orchestra concert and steals the show Forget clapping during movements or the shrill call of a mobile – now it’s cats who are disrupting classical concerts.

A HUGE THANK YOU to students of Leah Hanchard Peggy Shen Margaret Greig Beverley Tang who performed in 2 concerts we held on Sunday night. We raised almost $300 for Wayside Chapel Christmas Appeal. We have also made a contribution to a Christmas Foodbank appeal at Carlingford.
The students playing for us were awesome as were their families’ generosity in giving to these worthy causes.
We are proud of you all!

Donate to Wayside Chapel's Christmas Appeal For people like Rodney, the Wayside Chapel community provides unconditional love and patience, which empowers them to change their lives and make the decision to give back. This is love in action, and we need it more than ever this Christmas.

Today is Make Music Day!
Let’s Go for it

Music in schools, taught by music specialists, as a properly funded compulsory subject is essential. I did it for 20 years and the outcomes were remarkable.
It’s way past time Music became important again, not just an optional extra.

More music needed in classrooms after 20-year decline, educator says A strong arts curriculum stretches brain power across subjects to improve overall learning, but in Australia it's been in decline for 20 years.

How much better off would we - and especially our kids - be if we spent as much time expressing ourselves naturally through the Arts as unnaturally glued to screens.

What a great idea! Pianos put back into hospitals and schools.

Grand piano in hospital foyer draws applause from staff, patients and visitors Staff at a major regional hospital say the arrival of a grand piano is improving their workday and reducing the stress on patients and visitors.

More proof of how playing music is a higher order brain activity

Aussie brain-mapper discovers part of brain that lets you play piano It's the size of a pea, an until-now-unknown brain region possibly linked to our fine motor skills. And it's just been discovered by Australian scientists.

Music is a mandatory component of the NSW primary school curriculum. Mandatory – but it is hardly taught. Why?

How public schools stop the music for our kids It is a mandatory part of the curriculum, but NSW students have a serious gap in their education because teachers are hopelessly ill-equipped to teach music.

Christmas is a time to review my love affair with the piano.

Elton John stars in nostalgic John Lewis Christmas campaign - AdNews British music icon Elton John retraces his “incredible journey” in John Lewis’ emotionally-charged and nostalgic Christmas spot.

More from Richard Gill - an impassioned plea to ALL educators in Australia

Music holds key to providing a quality education system In spite of scattered pockets of excellence in some state and private schools, Australia remains a country in educational decline.

VALE to this amazing Australian - an outstanding and tireless advocate for the value and importance of music education

TEDxSydney - Richard Gill - The Value of Music Education Music educator Richard Gill argues the case for igniting the imagination through music and for making our own music. In this talk, he leads the TEDxSydney au...

How important a place should the Arts have? The PM of NZ has it worked out!

This from New Zealand's Prime Minister today:

"I want to see a country where the creativity and joy that comes from the arts is available to the many, not reserved for a privileged few. I want to see a country where the arts flourish and breathe life into, well, everyday life. I want to see a country where the arts are available to us all and help us express ourselves as unique individuals, brought together in diverse communities.

I believe the arts and creativity are integral and inseparable parts of what it is to be human."

Man she is my kind of woman! Wish we had her over this side of the water!

What are your favourite thoughts about the benefits of Music?

And during my career I’d say most of those adults ‘blame’ their parents, whether because they couldn’t afford it or because they let them quit instead of encouraging them press on. And here’s a thought - what do you think happened to the other 10%?

But wait! There’s more....

Music education could help children improve their language skills An MIT study done in Beijing shows music may help with spoken language.

People who play an instrument regularly have higher executive function skills than non-musicians. Read for more on the case for musical training in schools: https://hgse.me/2I4tdnj

Those of us doing music know it. Share this with your friends who need to know too!

Piano lessons make children smarter, claims new study A new piece of research reveals that playing piano for six months can noticeably improve a child’s language skills.

CONGRATULATIONS to Ben North who won the Presidents Award at UMT Finals on Sunday

All exam results for this May Series are through. And we have EXCELLED ourselves! CONGRATULATIONS to all the students - P Plate Piano and Preliminary to Certificate of Performance and Diploma and everything in between - who prepared so hard and achieved so well. Just love our new Studio and the amazing work we are all doing. Well done to all the Candidates and also to the other 2 Teachers sharing this excellent effort - Leah and Sarah. (I'd like to give a special mention to my 2 Certificate of Performance students who both received an 'A")
If you know anyone who wants a great start in learning Music, followed by a fantastic middle and culminating in an awesome finish, let them know we're here!

CONGRATULATIONS to BEN NORTH - Received the Outstanding Performance Award at United Music Teachers (North West) Award Auditions day last Sunday.
-Awarded an Associate Diploma in Australia (AMusA) after his exam yesterday.