Violin teacher

Crashendo, a free after-school music program for students who experience disadvantage in accessing quality arts programs, is seeking a violin teacher for a Term 2 start. The role is for Wednesdays and Thursdays 3.30-5.30pm and includes working with a mixed string ensemble of beginners. We are open to share the role between two teachers.

We are looking for a highly motivated music teacher with appropriate skills and experience who is looking for a way to give back to the community, and help nurture the next generation of diverse music makers.

Crashendo is based at Laverton P-12 College (91 Bladin St, Laverton) on Wednesday & Thursday afternoons 3.30-5.30pm.

Crashendo is based on the principles of El Sistema. El Sistema was founded by economist and musician Jose Antonio Abreu forty years ago in Venezuela, offering musical training for young people as a vehicle for positive social change. It has been shown to have a positive effect on participants, both socially and economically. Crashendo was established with the El Sistema principles at its core, to provide a music program for Victorian children, particularly those within communities experiencing disadvantage and disassociation. Crashendo particularly invites students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. 90% of our students were born overseas.

The program is free for students and instruments are available for them to hire free of charge.

If you are interested in the positions, please contact Erica here

We are hiring!

Come join our team!

Crashendo, an after school El Sistema-inspired music program at Laverton P-12 College, is seeking both a violin and cello teacher. Experience working with groups is preferred.

Violin: Wednesdays & Thursdays 3.30-5.30pm

Cello: Wednesdays 3.30-5.30pm

Casual position $80/hour

Please contact Erica Rasmussen for more information.

Crashendo is an after-school music program based on the principles of El Sistema. El Sistema was founded by economist and musician Jose Antonio Abreu forty years ago in Venezuela, offering musical training for young people as a vehicle for positive social change. It has been shown to have a positive effect on participants, both socially and economically. Crashendo was established with the El Sistema principles at its core, to provide a music program for Victorian children, particularly those within communities experiencing disadvantage and disassociation.

Laverton College Welcome BBQ

Last week Crashendo students performed at Laverton College’s Welcome BBQ for 2020 students and their families. It was a great turn out, and a very enthusiastic audience! A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon!

Crashendo at The Channel

Crashendo! visited The Channel at Melbourne Arts Centre today to create their own music using Ableton Live. Students worked in pairs to record their own drum beats, then mixed them with pre-recorded samples to make their own pieces. Students were then able to listen to each other’s music creations. Thoroughly enjoyable workshop! It’s great to be back at The Channel after a few years, and also to continue our fabulous year of student composition!

Loud Mouth (The Music Trust) article

Thank you to Mandy Stefanakis who has written an article for Loud Mouth (The Music Trust) about Crashendo! and our Creative Victoria project, Compositions in Crashendo!. You can read it here!

AMEB exams

Two of our very talented Crashendo students sat an exam with AMEB (Australian Music Examinations Board) this month. They have worked extremely hard all year to be ready for the exams, and we were all particularly pleased with their results! Thank you to their teacher Daniel Tedford, accompanist Julia Hastings and their families for supporting them in preparation and on the day of the exams.

The students feel so positive about what they have achieved that they have already asked for the next grade books! Very happy to oblige!!

Compositions in Crashendo! Week 2

On 4 & 5 September, Crashendo! students from the Elgars group had their turn to work with sound artist Nat Grant. Working in pairs or trios, students wrote their own sound bites which they then repeated and layered over each other’s ideas. Inspired by Terry Riley’s In C, students were challenged to keep their place on the score and keep time with each other. Students gave a mini performance in front of other Crashendo students to great applause!

Nat has now taken their compositional ideas and written a brand new score called Choose Your Own Adventure for Elgars to perform later in the year. Come to our concert on 5 December to hear it!

It was great to see the students so engaged and confident to present their own musical ideas.

Thanks to Creative Victoria for making this project possible, Nat Grant for her inspiring workshops, and Teaching Artist Stephanie Arnold for all her assistance. Check out recordings from the project on SoundCloud.

Compositions in Crashendo! Week 1

On 14 & 15 August, Crashendo! students from the Beethovens group worked with sound artist Nat Grant. They had a great time creating their own soundscapes and drawing what sound means to them. Then they worked together to perform their sound ideas in performance in front of their friends. 

Students were challenged to explore extended techniques on their instruments and find the courage to make music up on the spot. 

Thanks to Nat for inspiring the students to reach outside themselves. It was a fun, creatively safe space for students to compose and improvise.  

Thanks to Creative Victoria for making this project possible, Nat Grant for her inspiring workshops, and Teaching Artists Miranda Hill, Kristen Perry & Jennifer Timmins for all their help. Check out recordings from the project on SoundCloud.

Letters to our supporters

Our Crashendo kids showing off their letter writing and drawing skills! Thanks to Bendigo Bank Altona, Laverton and Point Cook Community Bank Branches for their generous support of our woodwind program this year.

Australian String Association VIC donates to Crashendo’s lower string program

Thank you to Austa VIC for featuring us in their latest newsletter & for their generous donation towards our lower strings program. Also proud to be sharing the page with our good friends Bows for Strings!

Final Concert 2017

Rossini flutes, clarinets & strings all performing together.

A LOT of excitement had built over the weeks running up to our end-of-year concert on Thursday 7 December. It would be the first major concert for our Rossini students who started with us in July - and they were jumping out of their skin! It was also our first concert featuring our new woodwind section. Students playing flutes and clarinets for the first time wowed our audience. How far they had come in only six months.

All our Crashendo! groups performed - Elgars, Beethovens, Mozarts and Rossinis. Pieces included Dragonhunter (Richard Meyer), Jingle Bells, Merrily We Roll Along, Rainbow (Stephen Chin) and much more.

We are so proud of what all Crashendo! students achieved in 2017 - what a year! We expanded to include woodwind instruments and performed two or more concerts every term. We look forward to 2018 being just as fabulous!

Laverton Festival

Elgars & Beethovens performing at Laverton Festival

Crashendo! students - our largest group to play in the community in 2017 - performed at the Laverton Festival on Sunday 19 November. It was a hot day and we made our best effort to huddle in the shade to perform for a large and enthusiastic audience. Well done to all students - some of our students had never performed in public before and were unphased by the challenges of outdoor gigs (wind, sun, heat etc!).

Blockumentary Film Premiere

Crashendo! performing at the premiere of, Blockumentary.

On Thursday 28 September, our Elgars group braved the dark skies and performed at the Lohse Street Reserve in Laverton. The event marked the end of the month-long Art in Public Spaces festival across Hobsons Bay and the screening of Blockumentary, a film about locals living in Laverton. Crashendo! students performed a variety of songs which they have been working on with teaching artists, Steph and Natasha, during the term. We love performing for our community and we look forward to the next one!