I grew up terrified of singing. My mother was a wonderful singer and she would blanche in horror when I sang out of tune. It took a wonderful musical educator in Michael McCarthy to fix my reluctance to sing.

He was totally unfazed by my reluctance. He was teaching me at WAAPA and it would always be assumed I had fundamental aural skills if I ever graduated. When I approached him after my first Aural lesson singing with trained operatic singers, with my fears, he just told me I would get it. My brain, my larynx, and my lungs would start to work together, he assured me.

I am currently working for an international education company called ‘Hey Dee Ho’. They send me into Early Learning Centres to teach music to pre-primary children. Sometimes I take the kids into aged care facilities to sing with the retirees. I love doing it. Very hard work, since it often involves singing and dancing continuously for a couple of hours straight, but it’s doing wonders for my voice. Hey Dee Ho welcomes new material, and I plan to write the next ‘Rock-A-Bye Bear’. That’s a banger amongst 4 year-olds. I’m still not a great singer, but I have no fear.