Deborah Cheetham workshops: NECOM
Arts NSW provided $37,860 in 2010 through the Regional Conservatoriums Arts Funding Program to the New England Conservatorium of Music (NECOM) for Closing the Music Gap.
Closing the Music Gap is a music program for Indigenous communities in the New England region involving a pilot program at Ross Hill Public school linked with a visiting Indigenous artists program.
Opera Singer Deborah Cheetham with accompanist Toni Lalich and Bass Baritone, Tiriki Onus conducted workshops with grades 5 and 6 Indigenous students which concluded with the students performing in a concert using material from Deborah’s opera “Pecan Summer”
A variety of master pieces by Bellini, Donizetti, Dvorak, Gerome Kern and George Gershwin were also performed. The concert received a standing ovation from the audience, many of whom had never heard operatic works performed live.
Other visiting Indigenous artists include the ubiquitously loved duo, the Stiff Gins and internationally renowned Indigenous musician and singer Shellie Morris.
Building on the success of the 2010 Closing the Music Gap program, Arts NSW is providing funding for the second stage of the program in 2011 which includes a workshop series with Indigenous composer of orchestral and contemporary music and didgeridoo soloist William Barton.
