News Updates
Boom De Ah Dah....
Regional Development Australia is the national organisation established by the Federal Government to support regional development in all of the 55 "Regions" of Australia. One initiative from WA"s Wheatbelt region will use song to promote the area. Great idea!
Young people in the community are being encouraged to create lyrics based on the ‘Boom De Ah Dah’ song by National Geographic in order to give the world a glimpse of how ‘The Wheatbelt is Just Awesome’.
Cultural Policy in Singapore
Singapore has had a strategic review of Arts & Culture. The Arts and Culture Strategic Review (ACSR) Steering Committee says its vision for 2025 is for Singapore to be a nation of cultured and gracious people, at home with our heritage, and proud of our Singaporean identity.
This is what they have to say about "Promoting Engagement and Excellence"
Promoting active participation in arts and culture: The ACSR recommends greater support for potential arts and culture participants, hobbyists and enthusiasts, to make arts and culture more accessible and easily interwoven into daily life. This includes enhancing our people’s ability to appreciate arts and culture; affordable and convenient venues for practice and showcase purposes; platforms to network enthusiasts with one another; and greater support for community interest groups (e.g. through start-up grants, starter toolkits, workshops and partnerships with instructors).
That sounds pretty good, doesn't it?
Read more about the review and its recommendations here.
Australia Day Honours 2012
Congratulations to everyone listed on the Australia Day Honours list this year, particularly those making a difference in their musical community.
Among them are Mr John Graham CHRISTMASS (WA), recognised for his service to Music Education in Western Australia, and to choral performance. As well as his years of work as an educator he established The New I Voci Singers, Northam Bel Canto Singers, Northam Choral Society, Western Australian Secondary Schools' Choral Festival, and has been involved in many other musical activities in schools and the community. Another great contributor to community choral music, Mrs Shirley Edith GREEN (QLD), has also been recognised for her years of involvement with the Yeppoon Choral Society, since 1965, including her roles as founding member, Musical Director, President and now a Life Member.
Monday’s medical myth: play Mozart to boost your baby’s IQ
This article was originally published at The Conversation. Read the original article.
By Michael Vagg, Clinical Senior Lecturer at Deakin University School of Medicine & Pain Specialist at Barwon Health.
Children should be taught to play music themselves rather than just listening to it. Naruco
What parent can pass up the chance to boost their child’s intelligence by putting on some nice classical music?
The popular idea that IQ scores can be raised by listening to Mozart is a case study in how a cultural meme can be created almost overnight, if the right societal and economic factors are in place.
A response to the National Cultural Policy
One of the recommendations that was conceived during discussions at the recent Music in Communities Network national conference and the community music breakout sessions at the Music Council of Australia Assembly was:
That MiCN feeds a submission into the MCA’s response to the National Cultural Policy discussion paper and prepares its own stand alone response to the paper.
As well as having input into the MCA's response to the National Cultural Policy discussion paper, we have prepared two documents:
These responses have now been submitted but further comment is always welcome. Any comments or feedback can be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
