Who were the two women playing music on Crowdy's back beach this weekend?
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One of them was Julie Talbot, a sometimes weekend resident of Harrington, who opened up her holiday house from Thursday, February 14 to Sunday, February 17 for a ‘seniors band camp’.
The other is one of five other musical students and one teacher who participated on the weekend, all of them from Sydney. The students all have limited experience, having taken up playing an instrument in their senior years.
“We’re all beginner seniors. varying from one year to about six years’ worth of experience. And as you get older, it’s so hard to maintain that information,” Julie laughs. “It’s so good for the memory, to have to focus.
A lot of the people we come by say, ‘oh, I wish I could have played a musical instrument when I was younger’, and I say, ‘you’re not dead yet! Give yourself a shovel or a saxophone’, that’s the way I looked at it.
- Julie Talbot
“I took up saxophone at the age of 50 and I’m nearly 60 now. And the other woman I was playing with is 60 as well, and she took it up five years ago. A lot of the people we come by say, ‘oh, I wish I could have played a musical instrument when I was younger’, and I say, ‘you’re not dead yet! Give yourself a shovel or a saxophone’, that’s the way I looked at it,” she says.
The teacher was Rosie Bloom, a professional music teacher from Balmain, who donated her services for a fee of $100 per person for the entire weekend.
“It costs about $65 for a one-hour private lesson, but we had her 24/7 for three days. It was amazing,” Julie says.
“For the whole weekend (the others) just bought bits and pieces of food to share in the house. There was no cost for them to come and stay at the house.”
The weekend consisted of group and private practical lessons plus theory lessons with plenty of one on one attention. In between times were numerous walks on the beach and visits to the pub.
The musical getaway was so successful the participants are looking forward to another Harrington seniors musical workshop in the near future.
“I’m so surprised that they wanted to come and enjoy it and be part of it because I sometimes buzz with energy and I think, ‘oo has anybody got as much energy as me?’, but they have, they’ve got so much energy, these seniors!” Julie says.
We would love it to grow, even for locals to take it up, for anybody.
- Julie Talbot
“It was such a great bonding experience. My thing with the girls when we first started was, ‘I hope we’re going to be friends at the end of this’. We arrived on Thursday and we left on Sunday and I tell you what, the bond is so tight. It was a really good group.”
The workshop was held to coincide with Seniors Week, and Julie says this was just the inaugural one. While this first one focused on saxophone and keyboards, Julie imagines the scope will widen to other instruments, as Rosie is a multi-instrumentalist.
“We would love it to grow, even for locals to take it up, for anybody,” Julie says.
By anybody she means any senior who is interested in learning an instrument and/or music theory.
If you’re interested in taking part in one of the Harrington seniors music workshop weekends, phone Julie on 0402 245 738.