Are you looking for inspirational stories about community music making? Would you like to read factual analysis and findings about the benefits of community music making for your physiological and psychological state? You should make your way to the CMVic blog. The blog was started in 2014 to be our glass against the wall to hear what’s going on out there, and our tin can on a piece of string, for telling everyone all of the great things we get up to, and what we’re all about, here at Community Music Victoria.
It’s a great platform from which to celebrate achievements and share inspiration. We welcome contributions and stories from singing and music group leaders and participants, and we frequently post scientific findings relevant to the practise of collective music making.
As it evolves, the CMVic blog is shaping up to be a rich resource in its own right for community music makers and your comments, stories and input are what make it so. Submit an article for the blog here; we'd love to hear from you!
Below is a list of archived articles from 2021-2022 (previous years can be found in the dropdown menu to your right!)
162. ROCKS ‘N’ STROLL ALONG THE ELWOOD SINGING WALKING TRAIL Along a well-known part of Melbourne’s Bayside, a new Singing Walking Trail is fine tuning walkers into their environment through a series of songs telling stories that incite fresh knowledge and new perspectives of its familiar landscape.
161. SHARING FOOD & MUSIC MAKES SUNRAYSIA SHINE Music and food make great mates, their charismatic combination creates the perfect context for friendships to flourish and where there’s one you will invariably find the other.
160. EUROA’S VORACIOUS APPETITE FOR THE RETURN OF VOCAL NOSH It’s never been hard to get excited about a Vocal Nosh, what’s not to love about informal harmony singing, hearty soup and crusty bread?
159. ALL DIRECTIONS CHOIR SUMMONS SONGS AND STORIES FROM THE DEEP All Directions Community Choir has written 5 original songs from scratch as part of an original composition project called Songs and Stories from the Deep, facilitated by choir director, Cath Rutten.
158. MOTHERS USE THE BENEFITS OF SONG TO PROMOTE INFANT DEVELOPMENT A program led by Professor Shannon de l’Etoile from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music aims to help at-risk mothers engage with their babies through singing, to support and promote development of emotional and self-regulation in the infants.
157. SWEET NEW SERIES OF CELTIC JAM SESSIONS FOR YOUNG ADULTS WITH DIVERSE LEARNING NEEDS & DISABILITIES Every Thursday evening in Box Hill, Judy Oleinikov and Katy Addis host an open jam Celtic music session for anyone aged 15-25 with and without lived experience of diverse learning needs, and or disabilities.
156. SQUEEZING OUT THE ZEST! THE MUSIC MAKERS ADDING FLAVOUR TO THE MURRAY MALLEE We are quite isolated in terms of where we sit within Victoria. Given that we are a really diverse community, we punch well above our weight in terms of the people we have involved in performing arts and community music and I feel that we’re really just under the radar.
155. SPEECH OR SONG? IDENTIFYING HOW THE BRAIN PERCEIVES MUSIC Most neuroscientists who study music have something in common: they play a musical instrument, in many cases from a young age. Their drive to understand how the brain perceives and is shaped by music springs from a deep love of music.
154. COMMITTING TO THE COMMITTEE MODEL: HOW BEING INCORPORATED SUSTAINS THE YARRA VALLEY SINGERS “I’m totally supportive of the idea of committees of management, or whatever structures support the purpose of the singing group.” These are the words of Belinda Gillam Derry, Musical Director of Yarra Valley Singers (YVS), a community choir established and singing together since 1988.
153. SINGING IN THE BRAIN For the first time, MIT neuroscientists have identified a population of neurons in the human brain that lights up when we hear singing, but not other types of music.
152. CRESFEST: THE NEW FOLK & ROOTS MUSIC & DANCE FESTIVAL PUTTING CRESWICK ON THE MAP “There’s music everywhere!” says Judy Turner, convenor of the inaugural CresFest taking place between April 1-3. For two days, the township of Creswick is throwing open its arms and its doors and inviting visitors to savour two of life’s transformative pleasures: music and dance
151. GOOD VIBRATIONS: HOW THE INFECTIOUS ENERGY OF JOHN LANE MAKES LIFE FEEL BETTER All my training has been on the job and I have learnt it by doing it… I always loved singing and I loved acting and I liked being the centre of attention, I guess, whether it was in music or theatre.”
150. JEANNIE MARSH TAKES OUTDOOR SINGING IN HER STRIDE In conversation with Jeannie it is often hard to pre-empt what brilliant idea is going to pop out of her in-jeannie-ous brain next. Her latest iron in the fire is the Elwood Singing Walking Trail, cooked up in lockdown and coming to fruition a little more each day.
149. GOING BACK TO U-BASS-ICS, WITH OLI HINTON ine years ago or thereabouts, Oli Hinton retired from UK academia and made the move to Australia for what began as a sabbatical holiday. Oli and his partner, Jess, had known Jane Coker for many years through playing community music back in the UK.
148. UKE LOVERS GET INTO THE BUF IN ASHBURTON Boroondara Ukulele Festival (BUF) was born of Margaret Crichton’s desire to bring something to an area of Melbourne where, for some years, she has been running a number of community music groups. Back when plans were evolving for BUF, COVID wasn’t even a thing.
147. MUSICFEST: A NEW LOOK, STATEWIDE CELEBRATION OF COMMUNITY MUSIC Trying to plan a state-wide music camp at this moment in time is a bit like juggling with jelly. Unless, like CMVic’s Nicki Johnson, Craig Barrie and Oli Hinton, you had already been dreaming of ways to bring people together across time and space, even pre-pandemic.
146. MUSICIANS AND THE CLIMATE CRISIS Musician Climate Crisis Network (MCCN) was founded by musician and climate activist, Simon Kerr, emerging out of a longstanding involvement in music and concern about the climate future we face.
145. A COMMUNITY IN ACTION Terry and I have been walking and filming in the Coastal Woodlands over the last couple of weeks. We've also been spending time with singing and ukulele groups
144. CMVIC CELEBRATES MAKE MUSIC DAY ’21 WITH OPTIMISM & UKEOKE! Once again on June 21st, Make Music Day Australia will bring together friends, colleagues, strangers and neighbours to share joy and connection in a free celebration of music making for musicians of all levels using a glorious smorgasbord of styles, both online and -restrictions permitting – face to face.
143. MAKING MUSIC, CHOCOLATE FOR THE SOUL A common mindset when approaching musical participation, especially working collaboratively, is that you need to reach a certain skill set before you can perform. However performance can have many advantages beyond other people enjoying your music.
142: CHOIR SINGING CAN IMPROVE COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING AMONG THE ELDERLY Researchers have made exciting new discoveries on the benefits of choir singing which may include positive effects on cognitive functioning similar to playing an instrument.
141: SINGING IN STEP WITH LEANNE MURPHY Over the past ten years, Leanne Murphy, a community musician from North East Victoria, has experimented with ‘a lot of things’ to keep herself and other people energised; running long-term projects, singing groups and ukulele groups.
140. ONLINE OR ON STAGE: A LOOK AT WHAT’S ON WITH BRUCE WATSON As both a song writer and performer, Bruce Watson is always thinking about how to relate to people through his music.
139. A NEW SPACE FOR COMMUNITY SINGERS 'UNDER THE OAKS' The leafy canopy of two giant old oaks in the Dandenong Ranges has shielded party goers from summer heat, witnessed weekend gatherings and even a wedding.
138. BALLARAT CHORAL SOCIETY RESEARCHES SAFE WAYS OF SINGING TOGETHER AGAIN In a quest to know if and how it could be safe to all sing together again, Ballarat Choral Society applied for funding from Regional Arts Victoria to conduct some research of their own.