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Launch of national festival for senior singers

September 30, 2005

Hays.thumb.jpgA national celebration of older people’s involvement in music will be launched today. The launch will announce the inaugural Australian National Seniors’ Choral Festival, to be held in July 2006.

Dr Terrence Hays from The University of New England, the Artistic Director of the festival, said it would celebrate older people’s engagement with music and “give them a chance to interact while indulging their musical passion”. The festival is a joint project of UNE and the University of Newcastle.

The festival next July, and today's launch, will be at Newcastle Conservatorium of Music. Taking part in the launch will be Dr Hays himself, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Newcastle, Professor Nick Saunders, the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education, Health and Professional Studies at UNE, Professor Victor Minichiello, and the Head of Newcastle Conservatorium School of Music and Drama, Carmel Lutton OAM. The launch will be at 12.30 pm.

Dr Hays (pictured here), an authority on the health benefits of music, particularly for older people, has received a 2005-2006 Churchill Fellowship enabling him to organise the festival, and to travel overseas to study related movements and events. He will visit the UK, Ireland and the United States in February and March next year. “We have an increasingly ageing population, but an ageing population that is very active,” Dr Hays said. “Therefore this festival will be about engagement with music rather than passive appreciation.”

Anyone over 60 years old who can read music is eligible to participate in the four-day festival (5-8 July). The repertoire will be a variety of music ranging from classic anthems and choruses to spirituals. The festival’s patron is the leading Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe, and Dr Sculthorpe is composing a work to receive its premiere performance during the public concert that will bring the festival to a close. More information and a registration form are available at: www.une.edu.au/anscf.

Dr Hays pointed out that the festival would give participants the opportunity to work with two distinguished choral conductors: Heather Buchanan (Director of Choral Activities at Montclair State University, New Jersey, USA), and Christopher Allan (Lecturer in Voice and Academic Studies in the University of Newcastle’s School of Music).

“In my research I’ve looked at the meaning, function, and importance of music in the lives of older people,” Dr Hays said. “This made me realise the need for activities that would engage older people in music at a fairly high level, and that would provide opportunities for those who have a passion for music to connect and share their enthusiasm.”


Media contact: Dr Terrence Hays, School of Education, UNE, on 0410 562 452, or Jim Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE, on (02) 6773 3049.

The photograph of Dr Hays displayed here is at:
http://photodatabase.une.edu.au/albums/incoming/2005/press/Dr%20Terrence%20HAYS%20%20%20%20%20.jpg

Posted by Jim Scanlan at September 30, 2005 09:42 AM