Music educators show they are first class 

Singer and music educator Mara Kiek has worked for decades with primary-age children, teaching them the Welsh folk song Cyfri’r Geifr (Counting the Goats) and the Candle Song in Turkish and Kurdish. If you’ve never wiggled your bottom like a goat, or counted candles at a Kurdish wedding, you may wish you were nine years old and back in Year 3.  

Mara and her husband Llew Kiek are the core members of Music In My Suitcase, one of the 14 ensembles that tour nationwide for Musica Viva Australia In Schools, the renowned music-education program. Mara and Llew’s involvement with Musica Viva Australia goes back to 1988 when they first started touring for the schools program. To say they have entertained tens of thousands of school children across almost four decades is no exaggeration. 

‘In our society we’ve been separated from the performance of music,’ Mara says. ‘Many children in schools don’t have access to that. Their only access to music is what they might hear on television or in the supermarket. They have no experience of actually doing music. 

‘I want children to have that, and to have it as early as possible. We know through research that if children are not exposed to music by the age of seven, they will never fully get it. It underpins every other aspect of their education.’  

The benefits of music education to a child’s ability to learn are well known. Mara sees the evidence whenever Music In My Suitcase visits a school. It is less about identifying the virtuosos of tomorrow, and more about participation, learning through repetition, thinking creatively and working constructively with others. 

Every music group that joins the Musica Viva Australia In Schools program goes through a rigorous period of creative development, which includes training on how to perform for a young audience, and trial workshops to fine tune the show. The shows are designed to teach children different musical and cultural concepts, and are backed up with curriculum-aligned teaching resources, so that children can prepare for a performance in the weeks beforehand, and continue the fun long afterwards.  

After decades of giving concerts for Musica Viva Australia In Schools across the country, Mara says she has lost none of the joy that comes from performing for primary-age children. 

‘Sometimes they’re brats, but mostly they’re wonderful,’ she says. ‘Once you get them going, to see those faces light up is priceless. Then you know that what you’re doing has reached them and given them a wonderful experience. That can be the start of so much more.’ 

This is part of a series of Untold Stories celebrating the extraordinary people who make the music possible at Musica Viva Australia.   

To discuss making a gift to support our music education programs, please contact Matthew Westwood mwestwood@musicaviva.com.au