Michelle Leonard OAM has inspired over 42,000 young people in remote and regional locations to explore music.
Key points:
- Michelle Leonard is the Agrifutures NSW Rural Woman of the Year
- She has trained over 42,000 young people in workshops across regional Australia
- The Moorambilla Voices choir is about to release a CD of recordings at the Opera House
In her latest project, she brought children to the Sydney Opera House to work with talented musicians and composers to create their own recordings.
She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Moorambilla Voices and was recently named the NSW/ACT AgriFutures Rural Woman of the Year.
In 2018, she staged a special performance for TEDex, and she recently released a video featuring young people drumming, dancing and singing in some striking outback locations.
Growing up in Coonamble
Michelle’s drive comes from her own experience growing up in Coonamble in western NSW, where there was an enormous amount of live music making when she was young.
“My father is 101 and when he was growing up you could dance, you could go to an opera in Coonamble, you could go to the Plaza Theatre.
“The space that we now rehearse at Baradine had dances with live band four to five times a week.”
She wants to create opportunities like that again.
She had a blossoming career in the arts in Sydney but chose to “live in both worlds” and “breathe life,” as she describes it, back into regional areas.
“I had to go on the road and knock on the doors of all these schools to give workshops.
“I wanted everyone to have an opportunity to learn, to sing, to read music.”
She used the TEDex presentation to demonstrate in just three minutes how she teaches young people about music using the Guidonian Hand —- a simple system for sight reading music.
“It’s not hard. Music literacy was designed before the printing press, so it had to happen on people’s hands.”
“It allows children to take the knowledge physically with them because you can see it on their hand.”
She said that gave children the belief that they could read music, and participate at a higher level.
Changing lives
One of those young people is Jaylan Walford from Collenrenibri.
He performed in the video, wrote lyrics for some of the music the choir has recorded and learnt to dance, play drums and sing.
He said it has made him more mature as a teenager.
“I love challenging myself and you get to go places and do things you’d never thought you’d do.”
Jaylan said the choir has had a wider impact on his community as well.
“It’s become a big part of our lives now…it gets my community involved, and it’s really beautiful to hear our aboriginal language in song.”
Moorambilla’s Indigenous links
Some of Michelle’s work is in the far west of NSW, where there are a lot of indigenous children.
She connects especially to the Brewarrina fish traps, which is a place where indigenous people have met for a long time to share culture.
“The place is older than Stone Henge, it’s the most extensive and sophisticated form of aquaculture and a place of aggregating thought, trade, culture and law.”
She has kept going back to Brewarrina and the fish traps.
“We’ve started to use this as a wider analogy for what happens with the artists and the children to create these conversations about respect and country.”
She loves the experience she has had running the choir but says the credit has to be shared with many volunteers, the choir’s board and the artists and children they work with.
“I stand on the shoulders of others who believe in people in regional and remote areas to perform with joy.
She wants to continue inspiring people to make great art.
“Let’s make wonderful experiences that connect us all together and celebrate the joy and the capacity of children to share that love with themselves and the audience,” she said.
