As mentioned in our December eNewsletter’s ‘Singing Indigenous Language to Life’ article, the choir has almost 50 young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members living in the Gold Coast region. Created by passionate choirmaster and the community’s yarrabil gingun (songwoman) Candace Kruger, the choir forms an essential part of the Yugambeh Museum’s outreach program, which is helping to revive, preserve and maintain the Yugambeh language and culture through song.
Now that a new year is under way, and AMEB and Yugambeh Museum are working together to provide the Yugambeh Youth Choir with the opportunity to learn music formally, we need your help.
While AMEB is pleased to be able to provide music publications and exams to assist the Yugambeh Youth Choir members’ formal learning, the Yugambeh Museum and AMEB are seeking donors to support this vital program.
At $1500 per child, the Yugambeh Museum needs to raise a total of $75,000 to cover the cost of the music lessons. Not only do the formal singing and/or piano lessons assist each choir member with musicianship necessary for performance, they help set them on a path to a brighter and more successful future.
“Through the formal learning of music and sitting of exams, the choir members improve their knowledge, life and study skills and wellbeing,” says Rory O’Connor, the CEO of the Yugambeh Museum. “In addition to helping them create a more constructive and enjoyable outlet in life, their participation in this significant program will increase their potential for successful enrolment and completion of tertiary education."
“The Yugambeh Museum is excited about the opportunities being created by this extraordinary partnership. We want this program to be a real engagement with kids, learning and AMEB.”
— Rory O’Connor, CEO of Yugambeh Museum.
Bernard Depasquale, AMEB CEO, adds: “The opportunity to partner with the Yugambeh Youth Choir and the Yugambeh Museum is ideal because it fits the very essence of AMEB’s mission: supporting, inspiring and advancing a life-long engagement with music in Australia.
“AMEB believes that our community will see the value of what is being offered and would like to contribute to the success of the project by making invaluable donations, whether that’s for a single lesson, lessons for a term or even a year.”
— Bernard Depasquale, AMEB CEO
Just as the Yugambeh Museum is preserving and sharing their culture and setting a wonderful example for other Indigenous communities across Australia, we ask you to share your passion for learning music through donations. So whether you’re a parent, grandparent, student (past or present), music teacher or a performer, together we can help make learning music more accessible for today’s young Indigenous Australians.
Most of all, you’ll be assisting them to create better opportunities for themselves in all areas of life as well as helping to build a greater sense of community.
For more information about the Yugambeh Youth Choir, visit their website. You can also listen to them performing “Gundalah” (Boat) at the official 2016 Commonwealth Day celebrations on the Gold Coast.