Newsletter Autumn 2024

Welcome to our Autumn newsletter and it’s hard to believe Easter is well passed and term two is upon us. Autumn is also the month of Ramadan in the Islamic faith – a time in which people of Muslim faith dedicate time to fasting, prayer and reflection. For Keys of Life, this has also been a time of reflection and looking forward to the future and we are very excited by some of the discussions and initiatives that are beginning to take shape.

Community Connections evening

On Monday 25 March, Daphne and Joe Proietto hosted the inaugural ‘Community Connections’ evening. Over 50 people, all connected in one or another with Keys of Life, gathered together to hear some wonderful student performances and to hear an update from the chair of the Foundation, Michael Tucker.

Guests were thoroughly entertained by the Social Music Group performing traditional Celtic folk music as well as guest speaker, Aban Mimar who spoke brilliantly about the role that learning piano has played in her life.

Welcome Carmel Jacobsen

We welcome our most recent board member, Carmel Jacobsen to Keys of Life. Carmel comes to Keys of Life with significant experience in the financial services industry and we are fortunate to have her join us.

Carmel is currently employed as the Research Finance Manager at a Melbourne Medical Research Institute. She has over 20 years extensive experience in financial management and reporting in the not for profit sector, particularly in the management of government and philanthropic grants. She has also held various operational roles in her current organisation.

Carmel has been active in holding Committee positions for her (now grown) children’s pre school and sporting clubs – mostly as Treasurer.

Carmel has an interest in giving back to the community and supporting the development and learning opportunities of children with disabilities and diverse learning needs.

2023 Emerging Artists Concert

2023 finished with the wonderful “Emerging Artists Concert” in the Lindsay Cuming Auditorium at Caulfield Grammar in Wheelers Hill. Over thirty performers presented a range of solo and ensemble items, culminating with all performers combining in a rousing rendition of ‘Chopsticks’. It was an inspiring and engaging concert highlighting the wonderful achievements of so many young musicians.

Social Music Group

We welcome Luke Byrnes to our Social Music Group who has been appointed as Judy’s assistant. Luke has a lot of experience working in the disability field and was also a National Folk Fellow (conducting research for the National Folk Festival) so he is a perfect fit. We also welcome some new performer members – Matthew, Ella and Rebecca. As mentioned above, the SMG performed at our recent Community Connections Evening and was a great hit!

Presentation for MTASA

Daphne Proietto was one of the keynote speakers at the recent Summer Conference held by the Music Teachers Association of South Australia. Her presentation, titled Some of the commonly found neuro- divergent conditions and ways in which they can be managed in the music studio, also featured 4 of her students; Elizabeth , David, Sherry and Sophie. Not surprisingly, the presentation was exceptionally well received!

Board farewells

Bernie Hickey is also stepping aside from Board duties. As one of the founding board members, Bernie has been integral in guiding the Foundation to its current strong position and we sincerely thank him for his efforts and expertise.

April course

On Sunday April 28, we ran our first Melbourne face-to-face course for 2024. Once again, Daphne and Joe hosted a keen group of teachers who were treated to hearing Daphne and a number of guest speakers. They then shared their collective wisdom by brainstorming issues and ideas. The KoL social music group rounded out the day, performing several sets of Celtic music for an enthusiastic audience.

New teacher training initiatives

In 2024, keep an eye out for two new training initiatives and a new online training module. The first of these we hope will be a series of podcasts in which Daphne will talk about her teaching practice and philosophy. These podcasts will be available for download off our website.

We are also excited about two free webinars to be held later this year. The webinars will be aimed at instrumental music teachers working with neurodiverse students and will have a strong emphasis on participant-led questions and discussions. With the increasing demands placed on teachers, our aim is to provide an easily accessible and relevant professional development opportunity for all teachers.

Also in the pipeline is a third online video module focusing on teaching students with visual impairments. Filming is currently underway and we anticipate it will become available early in the second half of the year.