>Dr Graham Sattler
>Alison Talmage
>SARDA
>Stephanie Chan
Encouraging international research illustrates the potential of group singing to contribute to a subjective sense of wellbeing for both the general population and people with specific health needs. Choirs and singing groups for people with Parkinson’s, aphasia or dementia have been established in many countries, variously led by community musicians, music therapists and/or speech-language therapists. In New Zealand a specific model of “neurological choirs” has evolved, bridging inclusive community choirs and diagnosis-specific groups. University of Auckland research has found higher than expected health-related quality of life for neurological choir participants, voice improvements for people with Parkinson’s disease, and preliminary evidence of some benefits for people with post-stroke aphasia. Community singing is viewed as accessible, enjoyable and cost effective for participants and funders, and the evidence base is growing for specific voice, speech, language and wellbeing outcomes. There is, however, limited detailed reporting of facilitation styles in choirs / music therapy groups for this population, the rationale for repertoire selection, group dynamics and ownership, and participants’ views of practice and research. The first part of my action research study analyses membership demographics, facilitation style, and publicity surrounding the choir, as a basis for further research.
The CeleBRation Choir is a community singing group with a research focus at the University of Auckland. This presentation is an overview of my current practice and research as a music therapist and doctoral candidate, focusing on “choral singing therapy” for adults who have communication difficulties resulting from acquired neurological conditions such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, dementia or brain injury. I will present an overview of practice and research, including recent adaptations to the online Zoom environment during the pandemic lockdowns.
The CeleBRation Choir – A “Neurological Choir” in Aotearoa New Zealand
——Alison Talmage
PUBlic Choir: a challenge in inclusive practice
——Dr Graham Sattler
Bathurst is a major non-metropolitan centre in New South Wales, Australia,
approximately 200 kilometres west of Sydney. It has a population of just over 43,000 with a demographic and socioeconomic profile in line with the state average. In March 2018 Mitchell Conservatorium, a not-for-profit community music education institution based in Bathurst ran an event based on the principle of a handful of open- access singing events internationally, most closely aligned with one held in major Australian cities (PUB Choir). The model involved no-cost participation in a group singing session, held in a public bar (the PUB), led by a conductor/teacher and two guitarists. The song would be announced via social media and radio the day prior, there
would be neither requirement nor opportunity to prepare, and the process of learning the song and ‘performing’ it would take approximately 90 minutes and be filmed for social media sharing after the event. This presentation discusses the popularity of the event, its development as an ongoing
monthly activity with an increasingly regular cohort, and that cohort’s ownership of, and identity association with, the event. Challenges explored relate to maintaining the premise of unconditional welcome as equal status event attendees transform to empowered de-facto choir members.
Inclusive musical activity in a non-metropolitan setting presents many challenges, including access to prospective participants who may not have a prominent voice in the community, may not have access to convenient transportation, and may feel a reluctance to step into the limelight – to take the risk of being exposed or embarrassed in any way. In this context, the term inclusive refers to participation by any and all community members who do not identify as served by formal musical activities or events; those for whom there is a perceived impediment to participation.
Can we find composers in Hong Kong’s school music education?
——Stephanie Chan
An exploration of teaching and learning creativity in music lessons Developing creativity and imagination is the one of the learning targets in the Hong Kong Music Curriculum Guide. The concept of identities in music, established by Raymond MacDonald, David J. Hargreaves, and Dorothy Miell (2002), is defined as the roles in music. Identities in music generally refer to the social and cultural roles within music, for example, the performer, composer or the teacher. This sets forth the direction of this study and argues that school music education in Hong Kong aims to develop students’ creativity and imagination in the compulsory school music education from Primary One to Secondary Three.
Yet, two questions remain:
(1) How far does the official music curriculum influence the construction of ‘student composers’ within the education system?
(2) What are the difficulties facing by school music teachers in developing the musical identity of ‘student composers’?
By analysing the Hong Kong Music Curriculum Guide and related literatures, the findings reflect a gap between the official music curriculum and the music learning in Hong Kong’s schools. Students’ diverse musical background and time limitation of the music lessons are found to be the difficulties in developing student’s creativity and imagination. Nonetheless, this study found that technology nowadays is facilitating the learning and teaching of creativity in school music education. The exploration of how to use creativity and technology in music classroom is believed to enhance the teaching and learning quality in Hong Kong’s school music education in the near future.
The Band-in-charges, who are registered social workers in Hong Kong, would introduce the background of the SARDA band through Pecha Kucha. Some interesting episodes would be mentioned, and more importantly, our working approach would be highlighted, so that people can have a better understanding of the positive impact of music bands from a social work perspective.