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.
Fancy Pants with the Australian Youth Orchestra
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.
Past Music For All Project Partners:
