Blog
Have you got something to share with others?
Please email Sarah:
sarahpowell5@bigpond.com
You might like to share a lesson idea, an activity, a song, chant, dance, game.
You are also welcome to share positive feedback about a workshop or course that you’ve attended.
From Katie Salisbury:
The Special Course
In 2019 I attended the Summer Course at the Orff Institut in Salzburg. By this time I had done all four teacher training levels as well as every Orff workshop and conference that had been available to me, so I thought I knew at least in part what to expect. I was excited to see my former colleague, Michele Ellis, my friend Virginia Esparraga, and my soon to be friend and fellow Aussie, Kirrabelle Lovell (SA) who had just completed “The Special Course” at the Institut. If you’re not familiar, The Special Course is the affectionate name for “Advanced Studies in Music and Dance Education”, a postgraduate year of study designed for experienced music teachers who are already using elements of the Orff approach in their teaching. It is held at the Orff Institut, which is the Elemental Music and Dance faculty of the Mozarteum University, Salzburg. In addition to being taught by the incredible teachers of the Mozarteum, we also have frequent guest teachers from all around the world.
What I wasn’t expecting to see in 2019 was the deep emotional connection that Virginia had developed with her peers, her teachers, and this place. I remember sitting with her and asking how she was feeling now that she was almost going home. It was clear that she had had a truly once in a lifetime experience and that the whole thing was incredibly difficult to put into words. I didn’t really understand it at the time.
After my first six weeks as a student of the 2024/2025 Special Course, now I understand. I am one of 13 in my class who hail from all around the world. We have five people from Iran, three from China, and one each from Colombia, Spain, Ukraine, and Slovenia (or, “just around the corner”, as Doroteja, my new Slovenian friend likes to say). We are in every class together, we eat together, we are the only people in this city that we know for the moment. It is an intense bond which formed quickly yet naturally. We are all here for the same reasons, having all left a job, a home, friends and family. We all understand what each other are feeling and are helping each other to navigate the twists and turns, not to mention the Austrian Government and their several hoops… To say that I am already dreading July and saying goodbye is an understatement.
Our classes range from dance technique, to percussion, to choreography, to vocal ensemble, to improvisation and Orff history. We have the opportunity to visit practical classes for children which are taught by the teachers here, and it matters very little that they are in a language I don’t understand. In my short time I have already been to six concerts and performed in one. I am getting to know students in the other courses a little better, and the Institut is beginning to feel like home. It is not unusual for our classes to begin at 8:30am and go through until 7pm, so some days I spend more time there than in my actual home. We have classes most Saturdays too.
Our teachers are, of course, world class. They are the people whose names I have read in articles and who I’ve heard spoken about excitedly at conferences for years. I was completely and unexpectedly starstruck by Barbara Haselbach in the hallway during my second week. While she no longer teaches here, she remains a strong presence in the Institut, and I mustered up the courage to introduce myself to her the second time I spied her. She was here at the beginning, and it is a great privilege to be able to hear from her. She is coming as a guest to some of our classes in the coming weeks. I feel incredibly lucky and humbled to be able to learn from all of the teachers here. The joy and grace they all bring to their teaching is outstanding. They inspire me to hone my craft, to never stop learning, to collaborate and to laugh all the time.
I must admit that so far the course is more movement-centred than I had anticipated. As a less than graceful mover, it has been an interesting adjustment. We have six hours of dance classes on Wednesdays, three hours on Thursdays, and sometimes a guest movement teacher on Friday and/or Saturday. You know that all over sore feeling you have when you use muscles you haven’t used in a while? That is now my permanent state of being. While movement is of course a part of any Orff course or workshop that you are likely to attend in Australia, it is much more emphasised here. It is not used as a way into the music as such, but there is a real focus on creating and developing our own artistic practice.
I think my most moving class so far has been one that I am not obliged to go to. As part of the practicum lessons here, there is a class for adults with a wide range of physical and mental disabilities. The class is taught (although “taught” seems like the wrong word, it is so much more a collaborative process. Perhaps “facilitated” is better) by Erik Esterbaur, who, after spending many years as a psychologist, research assistant and music educator, now works in Inclusive Education at the Mozarteum University. Erik is one of the most calm and gentle people I have ever seen in any teaching situation. In a class of around 15 participants, he gives time and attention to every person in an individualised way that suits them perfectly. He gently leads everyone through a range of music and movement activities which are often sparked by the participants themselves. It may be a word or a sound that a participant makes which morphs into a song, or a movement which creates a dance. Each person in the room is made to feel valued, appreciated and validated during the hour together. It is truly a marvel to witness, and an absolute privilege to attend.
Of course the other big adjustment is the utter ridiculousness of being here. I can see Gaisberg (the local mountain in Salzburg) from my window. I see Untersberg, (the other mountain close to Salzburg) every time I leave my unit. I ride my bike along the river towards the most picturesque mountain range at any chance I can get. I caught the bus to Germany to go for a hike at Konigsee lake, and sometimes I catch the bus to Germany just to go grocery shopping because it’s considerably cheaper. A few weeks ago I woke up in Salzburg and then was in London by lunch time to go and see some old friends. For an Australian, these novelties of mountains and lakes, and being able to travel so easily are not wearing off any time soon. At least ten times a day I have to shake myself and remember that this is all real, all beautiful, and all just beginning.
As the weather has well and truly turned, with the autumn leaves mostly now returning to the earth, it is clear that this is not an experience that I will easily be able to share. Not that I don’t want to, it’s just that it is so unique, so creative, so out of the ordinary and so incredibly special that the words fall short. I guess that’s why it’s called The Special Course.
Business opportunity
For ANZAC Day
A song for Harmony Day...
Song: In the Playground
(Rhonda Macken)
‘Orff Schulwerk International’
The latest issue of the IOSFS journal is now published online at www.iosfsjournal.com
Song: In the Playground
(Rhonda Macken)
Audio: Vocals
Audio: Backing track
Song: I'm Not Talking to You
(Rhonda Macken)
Audio: Vocals
Audio: Backing track
Song: George, The Fish Who Couldn't Swim
(Rhonda Macken)
Audio: Vocals
Song lyrics:
Song: Bobbing Up, Bobbing Down
(Rhonda Macken)
Audio: Vocals
Audio: Backing Track
'Advanced Studies in Music and Dance Education
- Orff Schulwerk'
(aka the Special Course)
- Orff Schulwerk'
The 9-month postgraduate university course
‘Advanced Studies in Music and Dance Education – Orff-Schulwerk’
will be offered (in English) at the
Orff Institute in Salzburg
from
October 2024 – June 2025.
Are you are an experienced music and dance teacher and want to deepen your practice?
We offer an intensive and concentrated course on one of the world’s most well-known integrative concepts
in music and dance pedagogy in a wonderful setting – the beautiful city of Salzburg!
All information about the Special Course can be found at:
https://www.moz.ac.at/en/advanced-studies-in-music-dance-education
Course directors:
Andrea Ostertag and Doris Valtiner
Song: Boo! Spooks on the Prowl
(Rhonda Macken)
HURRY! Register Now...
Song: Get Up! Get Up!
(Rhonda Macken)
Song: My Family's Cat
(Rhonda Macken)
SAVE THE DATE!
What? Doug Goodkin is coming to Sydney
When? 15th – 19th January 2024
Where? Queenwood School, Sydney,NSW
Song: Round and Round and Round
(Rhonda Macken)
Song: Sit a While
(Rhonda Macken)
Meet Rhonda Macken...
Rhonda was the coordinator of the ABC Sing! Project for 21 years, giving workshops for primary teachers in Australia and New Zealand.
Now retired, she was also a music specialist teacher, teaching music in primary and secondary schools and in tertiary teaching degrees.
She believes that music is for everyone and is an integral part of our human development. Music needs to be enjoyed and it needs to be fun.
Rhonda writes educational resources and is a children’s songwriter, choral and chamber music composer.
She is very happy to put her children’s songs out there for teachers to use and has generously provided these without cost through our Orff Blog.
In the next weeks, we will be posting songs and activities that Rhonda has created and we hope they will be of use to you.
Please enjoy…!
2 Day Conference
May 5 & 6 2023
MEET THE PRESENTERS:
Audrey Fine
Michelle Rollins
Evan Britanico
Paul Myatt 
Werner Beidinger
Katie Hull-Brown 
Kristie Fudge
James Madsen 
Bronwyn Cleworth
REGIONAL LEVEL 1 - HURRY!!!
INTERNATIONAL SUMMER COURSE
“Elemental Music and Dance Pedagogy Orff Schulwerk”
9 – 15 JULY 2023
Regos are now open for the Summer Course at the Orff Institut in Salzburg.
Please see the link for detailed information:
http://orff.moz.ac.at/media/Summer_Course_2023.pdf
“Orff – Arts and Education”
REMIX 2023... Don't miss out! Register now.
'Chicken on a Fencepost' - Danielle Abbott
Danielle has kindly offered to share the lesson notes from her presentation at the Orff Mini conference from May this year. Try it out with your class!
Danielle Abbott OSANSW Mini Conference – Lesson Outline 2022
HURRY... Register for REMIX 2022
January 9 – 12 2023
Past. Present. Future
The 21st National ANCOS Music Education Conference
DON'T MISS OUT
Levels 1, 2, 3 and 4
Orff Schulwerk Teacher Training Courses 2022
MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION: Click here.
Venue: St Catherine’s School (26 Albion St, Waverley NSW 2024)
Date: Monday 26th September – Friday 30th September 2022
Time: 8:15am – 5.00pm daily (Registration from 8am on Monday)
Fees Include:
- 36 hours of active embodied learning
- ANCOS nationally accredited courses
- Comprehensive course notes
- Professional Development Certificate
- Morning teas every day (we suggest you bring your own lunch each day as the shops are not within walking distance)
- Maps of the area, and site, will be sent once payment is received, approximately one week before the course
Editions of our Bite-sized Bulli from 2020
During 2020 we put together some small editions of the Bulli to help our members navigate their teaching during homeschooling. Here are all five issues, in case you can’t find them!
Orff Arts and Education
The latest issue of the Carl Orff Foundation’s publication, Arts and Education.
Click the picture to access.