Education Kits
Pre-School & Primary Resources
Classic Kids: Music for the Dreaming
Go on a journey through the sounds of the seasons on special Aboriginal land, Wreck Bay.
Discover how music can tell stories and create atmosphere, hear stories from Yuin Elders about living in harmony with nature, and learn new words from the Dhurga Language of the Yuin People.
Bilby’s Bluegum Melodies
Bilby’s Bluegum Melodies was created by Ensemble Offspring as an introduction for young audiences to ‘living’ Australian instrumental music.
The activities in this kit were designed with pre-schoolers and Stage 1 primary school students in mind, but can be adapted for older children too. All the music performed in Bilby’s Bluegum Melodies was written by Australian composers, most of whom are still living and creating music.
High School Resources
Celebrating Ngarra-Burria: First Nations Composers Initiative
An Educational Resource on works for small ensembles by Christopher Sainsbury, Brenda Gifford and Aaron Wyatt / Dr Joanna Drimatis.
This resource is to assist educators in accessing, understanding and teaching Australian ensemble music by our First Nations composers to students in the classroom environment. The resource is for primarily secondary school students and can be incorporated in classroom programs at the senior level, Years 11-12 and from Years 7-10. However, the selected works could be played for students at the Junior School levels.
Dance with nature : the chamber music of Ross Edwards
Ross Edwards is one of Australia's best-known composers, both nationally and internationally. His music has found a welcome audience in Europe and the USA, as well as in Australian concert halls.
Dance with Nature - the chamber music of Ross Edwards by Philip Cooney, has been especially designed for secondary and tertiary level study. Activities have been prepared for seven short works by Edwards. The kit contains easy-to-use question and activity sections, musical examples, classroom arrangements of music, an interview with the composer, and is accompanied by a CD from the performance at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre.
Australian Marimba Composition Kit by Claire Edwardes
“In 2021, I created The Australian Marimba Composition Kit is designed to help composers understand and write effectively for the 5-octave marimba, my all-time favourite percussion instrument. As a percussionist dedicated to the creation of living new music, my work revolves around composer-performer collaborations, and I’ve noticed that many composers, regardless of their experience, age or stage, often struggle to write for the marimba. This is likely because it isn’t an orchestral instrument but also because people often assume they can treat it like a piano.”
Stepping stones
A teacher resource kit by James Humberstone and Damien Ricketson.
Stepping Stones is an education resource for senior secondary and tertiary music students. The kit is comprised of in-class and take-home activities including listening, performing, composing and analysis. The recordings are made by Ensemble Offspring, an ensemble dedicated to innovative music and one of the country's most active promoters of new Australian composition.
Voyage of Musical Discovery
No. 3, August 2023. Topic: Musical Identities.
The Voyage of Musical Discovery presents musical works of different times, places and styles along with spoken explanations. The first half features orchestral and chamber music from the Classical and Romantic eras performed in a historically-informed style. The second takes recently-written Australian works performed by Ensemble Offspring.
HSC Resources: Australian music of the last 25 years
Diminishing species - Jessica Wells
This resource explores the work 'Diminishing Species' by Australian composer Jessica Wells, performed by Australia's leading art music ensemble, 'Ensemble Offspring'. This engaging work for marimba, two guitars, bass clarinet, violin, piano, double bass and percussion represents the extinction of animals in the 1990's through the manipulation of musical concepts including pitch, texture, tone colour and dynamics and expressive techniques. This resource contains sequenced learning activities in performance, composition, aural and musicology, and explores the musical features of the work through the concepts of music.
Bend/Boogie/Break - Holly Harrison
This Stage 6 HSC music 2 resource for the mandatory topic explores the work 'Bend/Boogie/Break' by Holly Harrison performed by Ensemble Offspring. This resource contains a variety of aural, musicology, performance, and composition activities suitable for study. Scores, worksheets, and answers for the teacher are also included. The activities contained in the resource provide students with opportunities to explore the musical concepts and compositional techniques that Harrison has utilised to represent the context of the work.