Making music at Earlwood: MusicFest

Free music lessons a big hit at Earlwood

Earlwood Salvation Army in Sydney has struck a chord with the community by offering free music lessons to children. ESTHER PINN spoke to coordinator Luke Domrow about the Music Fest program.

A huge grin appears on the face of nine-year-old Amelia as I ask her, “Do you enjoy learning the piano?” Nodding her head, she replies with an enthusiastic “Yes”.
Amelia is one of 30 children aged between five and 18 who come away from The Salvation Army's Earlwood Corps every Wednesday night with a smile after taking part in the church's Music Fest program.
The children spend up to half an hour learning an instrument of their choice for free – whether piano, guitar, percussion or brass.
There is an atmosphere of joy at Earlwood Corps, located in Sydney's inner south-west, and it’s being brought through music. And it’s not only the children who are happy but the parents too.
Amelia’s mother, Marina, who also brings her son, Andrew, to learn guitar, says the free lessons are having a positive impact on her family.
“The best thing about it is hearing music at home. We love hearing her [Amelia] play. And she just loves it. If this wasn’t available we probably wouldn’t be doing it at all.”
Luke Domrow, the Earlwood Corps bandmaster, heads up the Music Fest program. Having grown up in The Salvation Army – Luke’s parents, Majors Bruce and Glenys Domrow are officers, currently serving at Campsie Corps – Luke is a talented musician who specialises in everything from brass to piano.
He works alongside five other music teachers who, he says, have freely volunteered their time and expertise to Music Fest.
Firstly there is his wife, Anna, who with Luke, teaches beginner's piano.
Luke says he is also blessed to have on board Major Christine Unicomb, who works at The Salvation Army Booth College as the Acting Head of Christian Practice. She also teaches piano at Music Fest.
Kem Pobjie, a Salvationist at Earlwood Corps teaches guitar and Ben Knight, who also attends the corps, teaches guitar and percussion.
Lastly, Ian Jurd who has university degrees in music and education, has spent the past 24 years teaching music at a number of schools including North Sydney Boys High School and has chosen to spend part of his retirement teaching children to play piano, guitar and bass.

Reaching out
Music Fest was birthed in May 2010 out of Earlwood Corps’ mission statement to “create meeting places where people could connect”.
Part of developing this mission was through consultation with Dr. Paul Borden, an American Baptist Minister who runs the “Growing Healthy Churches” ministry. This ministry seeks to identify skills within churches and suggests fresh ways to utilise these skills.
“He said we needed to focus more on our community, particularly children,” Luke explains. “And he encouraged us to hold events to have an impact.”
Taking this idea on board, Luke saw music as a way of reaching out to children within their community and began conducting research into music lessons. He was surprised by what he discovered.
“As I did some research I realised music is costly for a lot of families. If a family wants to get their kid tutored in brass or piano or any particular musical instrument, they have to invest thousands of dollars a year in order for that to happen.”
Armed with research, Luke and the leadership team at Earlwood Corps hosted a Salvo Festival at Earlwood McPherson Reserve. Overwhelming amounts of people from the Earlwood community attended and were particularly intrigued by the Salvo music tent advertising free music lessons.
“We had a tent with ‘Music Fest: free music lessons’ advertised all over it. We had a number of instruments – drum kits, guitars, brass instruments –where the kids could come and trial, have a play.”
With strong interest from the community, a few weeks later Luke held an information evening and was astonished by the large number of people who attended.
“We took down people’s names [at the Salvo Festival] and sent them an email but I was worried that nobody would actually turn up,” says Luke, laughing.
“But sure enough, right on time people started walking across from the road. We filled this front room the first night with people wanting to find out about music lessons.
“There are many people in our community, even though we are in an affluent area, that can’t afford music tuition. So we’re sort of providing a niche where people have the opportunity to learn.”
Since then, Luke says the ministry has grown rapidly to the point where there is a waiting list.
“It’s amazing. We did that initial little bit of advertising as part of the [initial Salvo] Festival and since then it’s been word of mouth.”

Connecting families
The Salvation Army has a rich history of teaching children how to play instruments so, according to Luke, Music Fest is not a new concept.
“This is something the Army did for years. They always taught kids music. We’ve just conceptualised into some program now but the Army has always been good at doing this. And we have the skills. There’s no reason why every corps can’t be doing something similar.”
During Luke’s research, he was amazed to discover how music can play a vital role in a child’s development.
“The studies show kids who learn music actually do better at school. Kids who have learning disabilities have improved their schooling through music. There’s clear evidence to show that kids benefit from music.”
Sam and Josie have been bringing their 10-year-old twins, Matthew and Sarah since September last year and have seen an increase in their development, particularly Sarah who has a medical disability.
“We are very appreciative that we have the opportunity for our children to enjoy music. Sarah has a medical problem and we thought the trumpet was good because she has lung problems. The breathing helps her as well and it’s something fun away from the medical treatment,” says Josie.
Teresa brings her three boys Pippin (4), Toby (8) and Oliver (10) to Music Fest every week and says she has seen an improvement in her children’s ability to concentrate.
“My boys are not the calmest of kids. While they have a good ear for music, I didn’t think they had the patience to sit through a traditional class. And whenever I’ve taken them to activities, they’ve only lasted a week. They’ve never stuck at anything. But they come every week quite happily and I think it’s because of the community here.”
Building a community is one of the main aims of Music Fest, says Luke. While the children are having their lessons the Earlwood Corps Officer, Major Chris Millard, serves coffee to the parents in the waiting room and spends time getting to know them. These times have also opened up ministry opportunities, says Luke.
Cesare Popoli and his five boys are just one example. For Cesare, Music Fest started out as a way for his kids to learn music. Now they attend Sunday church at Earlwood Corps on a regular basis.
“I came to the music lessons on Wednesdays first for three months. And then [someone] asked me, ‘why don’t you come on Sunday? It’s really good’. So we started coming on Sunday and we’ve never stopped.”
Luke and his team of music teachers have a bright future ahead. The success of their program has already caught the attention of Bexley RSL and Bendigo Bank, who together have donated $9000 to improve their music equipment. While Earlwood already host a Christmas concert once a year, the donation will also provide more opportunities to host concerts in the near future.
“I have a vision for each child in the program, that no matter their skill or level of performance that they will make us proud; that they will realise that they have the ability to achieve remarkable things.”

PHOTOS: Shairon Paterson