Music
For All
Project
We believe that participation in music is the right of every child and that all young people have rich creative and musical potential. We recognise the significant power of music to build social cohesion and to positively impact the health and wellbeing of individuals and the community.
Music for All Project is a music and arts education project for young people by Connecting the Dots in Music that focusses on creative agency, accessibility and the development of safe and welcoming community spaces for all. Mentored by teaching artists, students are invited to create original music through collaborative composition to generate soundscapes, pieces and songs.
In 2021, Connecting the Dots in Music commissioned a brand new story book and accompanying musical score to provide a creative framework through which to inspire students to create their own new music, artwork and performances.
The Nest was developed by a team of South Australian creatives: Finegan Kruckemeyer (author), Karen De Nardi (illustrator), Rachel Bruerville (composer), Thea Martin (lead Teaching Artist/Producer, Emily Gann (project director/producer), Hilary Kleinig (co-producer), and with major support and input from specialist music teachers Lily Gower and Lucy Standish.
The Nest premiered in 2022, brought to life by 50 students from SA School for Vision Impaired and Kilparrin Teaching and Assessment School and Services. A team of emerging teaching artists collaborated with students across a weeklong program of creative workshops, culminating in a public performance to over 200 audience members. The project had universal design principles and accessibility at its core, and was named a finalist in the 2022 Arts South Australia Ruby Awards for Most Outstanding Project or Work for Young People.
Following the 2022 pilot, The Nest creative workshops was toured to schools across South Australia as part of the 2023 DreamBIG Children's Festival. A workshop of the project was also featured at the New York Arts Education Roundtable Face to Face Conference in April. In October 2023 The Nest was presented at The Art Gallery of South Australia for their ‘Start at the Gallery’ event to celebrate the opening of the Nature Festival. The day received 1148 visitors with 642 participants, 98 of whom participated in The Nest creative music making workshops across three sessions.
The Nest on the Yorke Peninsula
Assisted by the South Australian Government through Carclew, Connecting the Dots in Music received funding to develop a 5 day residency on the Yorke Peninsula in June of 2025, working with the students of Warooka Primary School and Stansbury Primary School. Invited to the area by Arts and Cultural Facilitator for the Yorke Peninsula Council, Molly Flanagan, 3 artists from Adelaide stayed at the Artist Retreat ‘Ballara’ opposite Warooka Primary School, and were joined by a team of 6 local teaching and trainee artists, including 2 high school students from Yorketown Area School. Over 80 students from the combined primary schools participated in a series of creative music and visual arts workshops to explore the story of The Nest, including new locally developed audio engineering/soundscape workshops and weaving workshops - culminating in a performance to an audience of 60+ people from the wider community on June 20th at the Warooka Town Hall.
'The Nest' in New York
Supported by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, Connecting the Dots in Music were invited to travel to New York City in April 2024 for the premiere performance and presentation of The Nest as a part of Carnegie Hall’s Spring Day program. Six interactive concerts were given to families and young people on Saturday the 20th of April, performed by Ensemble Connect and facilitated by folk-musician and Lullaby Project artist Jean Rohe. Young people were invited to bring their own special ‘piece’ to a collaborative performance of the song ‘A Piece of Me, A Piece of You’, performing alongside members of Ensemble Connect. Families were also invited to contribute to a multimedia installation in the foyer space to share their unique nests, hopes and cares alongside their community.
In 2019, Connecting the Dots in Music established its first Music For All Project inspired by the joyful South Australian story, Fancy Pants by Kelly Hibbert and Amanda Graham.
Mentored by composer, Paul Rissmann, and London Symphony Orchestra violinist Belinda McFarlane, six early career artists from Australian Youth Orchestra's Momentum Ensemble performed alongside and collaborated with the participants as they collectively devised, explored and performed brand new music of their own. The program culminated in a celebratory public concert at the Marion Cultural Centre. This process was a deeply transformative experience not only for the participating students, but also for the artists, teachers and broader community.
Led by Connecting the Dots in Music, the first Music for All Project was built through a major partnership of multiple partners including Kilparrin Teaching and Assessment School and Services, Australian Youth Orchestra, City of Marion, Suneden Specialist School, SA School for Vision Impaired, and Raising Literacy Australia. The project was named a finalist in the 2020 YAM Awards of Jeunesses Musicales International.
Fancy Pants with the Australian Youth Orchestra
Past Music For All Project Partners:
