Keys of Life Spring Newsletter, 2023
A big hello to all our supporters!
The weather is warming up and we’re gearing up for our big concert. You are all warmly invited to celebrate the achievements of our students. They’ll be working together in small ensembles and our social music group will be playing some foot-stomping Celtic music. It’s sure to be an afternoon that makes you feel better about the world, (something much needed at the moment). Feel free to share details of the concert and forward our newsletter to anyone you think may be interested;
Keys of Life Annual Concert
Date: Sunday, Nov 19
Time: 3pm
Location: Lindsay Cuming Auditorium, Caulfield Grammar, Wheelers Hill Campus, 74-82 Jells Rd Wheelers Hill. (Drive as far as you can down the driveway. See picture below.)
Tickets: No tickets required. Donations are welcome.
Notes: Afternoon tea will be provided after the concert. There will also be a silent auction in the foyer.
Latest News
September Course
Our 3-day September course was held during the last school holidays. We welcomed a new cohort of teachers as well as some old faces who came to reconnect with us. One of the lovely things about Keys of Life courses is that many teachers stay in touch with us to brush up on their skills, but also to help each other out with how to be the best possible teacher for their students.
Acting on feedback from previous courses, our participants got a printed book of resources to go with the presentations. Donations to Keys of Life made this possible. Many thanks to our wonderful presenters;
- Dr Caroline Wong, GP, gave a presentation on anxiety and autism and the strategies her family has found helpful in managing their son’s anxiety, including his experience with learning the piano.
- Dr Sue Wade, Lecturer in the School of Education at Australian Catholic University, presented her research about supporting talent development in highly able individuals on the autism spectrum.
- Dr Alex Devine, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, gave a presentation on engaging with neurodiversity & anxiety through music.
Professor Joe Proietto, Emeritus Professor at the University of Melbourne, spoke about music, the brain and autism. - Dr Enza Santangelo, Clinical Psychologist/Psychotherapist, explored a deeper understanding of autism.
- And of course, Daphne Proietto, who allowed everyone to watch her teach and witness her students in concert. She shared her experience of the last 24 years teaching students with diverse learning needs and gave teachers practical strategies to help them get the most out of their students.
Many thanks to the teachers who attended and shared their knowledge and to Joe and Daphne Proietto for opening up their home.
Melbourne Disability Institute Research
Keys of Life was very fortunate to collaborate with the University of Melbourne’s MDI (Melbourne Disability Institute) to explore how to enable autistic students, or disabled students more broadly, to access and benefit from instrumental music lessons. Dr Melissa Raine and Associate Professor Grace Thompson from MDI conducted a literature review, interviewed students of KoL teachers, along with teachers who had completed our courses. We are very grateful to Melissa and Grace for the huge amount of time put into this research project. The report is a substantial 48-page document which will help inform us of future directions.
Since everything we do focuses on our students, we’ve picked out a few of their comments to share with you;
- [Without KoL concerts and duets] I will be, like, I don’t know, sad maybe.
- It makes me feel calm playing piano. […] Calm is like being quiet, playing piano, really focusing on the dynamics and everything else. […] I think that’s really something special about playing piano. [… I: does it last after you finish playing piano?] Yes.
- [Playing piano with other musicians] it’s like so exciting.
- [Playing in school ensemble] makes me more social.
- When I was younger and I remembered sitting on the floor of [Daphne’s] living room surrounded by her other students […] I loved it, yeah.
- Every time after I play [the piece being learned in lessons], I get very happy and then I start dancing around my room. I get very happy inside.
- I don’t have to judge stuff based on difficulty anymore. I can just play it if I like it and just enjoy the actual music.
If you enjoyed reading these snippets you can find more student stories here.
Social Music Group
The parents of children in our social music group recently decided that their children shouldn’t be the only ones to have fun, so they’ve joined in the music on ukulele and guitar. We couldn’t be happier.
The group currently runs in Northcote on a Wednesday night. We welcome new members. Just get in touch for further details.
Annual Report
Our annual report is out and can be found on the news page of our website.
Keep our programs going
Did you know we’ve trained over 300 teachers on how to teach students with disabilities and diverse learning needs? They take that knowledge to their schools and studios. That means lots of students are benefiting from Daphne’s knowledge and experience!
But we’re not stopping there. We’re producing more online modules and resources, as well as continuing to run our courses, to help spread the word even further.
You can help our good work by donating now via our website.