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Musicians playing their part to help Australian bushfire recovery

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Illustrated Australian native plants emerge from a violin. A possum sits on the side of the instrument.
Amidst the devastation of the Australian bushfires, musicians around the country have been finding ways to contribute to those affected by the fires.()

Catastrophic bushfires have been impacting Australia since early November 2019, with a devastating toll on people’s lives, homes, the Australian landscape and animals.

Amidst the destruction, musicians around Australia have been finding ways to contribute to those affected by the fires. Here are just some of their stories.

Replacing instruments destroyed in bushfires

How can I help bushfire victims?

Many musical instruments have been lost in the fires. The organisation Resound is working to match musicians in need with suitable instruments from donors.

The organisers believe that these donations help with recovery by providing a sense of normalcy for musicians. Donated instruments can help to support a musician’s livelihood and mean that students can continue their music education.

Through the Resound website, affected people can apply for an instrument, and donors can pledge an instrument so that matches can be made. People can also make cash donations that will be used to help purchase instruments that haven't been matched with a donation.

Resound was originally established following the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires and matched donated instruments with affected musicians, schools and music students. The appeal placed over 150 instruments worth an estimated $26,000.

Speaking to ABC Classic’s Russell Torrance, Resound Coordinator Rachel Hocking recalled a story from their 2009 appeal: "I remember someone who I delivered a guitar to and they said it was the first time since the fire that they had actually started to feel like themselves. I think that says a lot to the trauma that’s faced and what doing something that's familiar to you actually brings to it."
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Raising money for bushfire recovery

Musicians around the country are finding different ways to raise money to support those affected by the bushfire.

In December 2019, a group of young singers from Sydney Children’s Choir banded together to help raise money for their choir-mate Gabe, after his family home was destroyed by the Green Wattle Creek bushfire. So far, they’ve raised $23,000, between their fundraising site, bake sales and busking.

Many music companies are organising benefit concerts and dedicating performances to victims.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra will be raising money for the Australian Red Cross at their free outdoor concert on 5 February, with ABC Classic broadcasting the concert live to the world.

Some other benefit performances include:

  • 18 January: Sydney Symphony Under the Stars, a free outdoor concert part of Sydney Festival, will feature a light show in lieu of fireworks and will raise funds for the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund with donation buckets on the night.
  • 26 January: Music for fire relief features the Badinerie players and members of Soirees Musicales Quintette at Old Government House, Brisbane. All proceeds from the concert are going the Red Cross Fire Relief and the Animal Rescue Cooperative.
  • 27 January: The NSW Bushfire Fundraiser Concert Series is putting on two concerts in Sydney featuring some amazing NSW performers including Sydney Symphony principals Diana Doherty (oboe) and Joshua Batty (flute). All proceeds will be donated to the NSW Rural Fire Service
  • 30 January: City Recital Hall is working with the Sydney classical music community on a benefit concert, Music for our Country. All tickets and bar sales will be donated to the Australian Red Cross, WIRES and a selection of other charities
  • 1 February, 1:30pm: Adelaide Symphony Orchestra is putting on an extra performance of their family concert, The Bush Concert. Proceeds for the extra show will be donated to South Australian Veterinary Emergency Management
  • 15 February, 2pm: Trio Anima Mundi are hosting a concert at Deakin Edge, Federation Square in Melbourne. Profits will go to the Australian Red Cross Bushfire Appeal, Wildlife Victoria and Resound Bushfire Appeal.
  • 16 February: State Opera of South Australia and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra members led by Lachlan Bramble, Adelaide Chamber Singers, Young Adelaide Voices, Jess Dean & Greta Bradman (sopranos), Douglas McNicol (bass), Celia Craig (oboe), Aleksandr Tsiboulski (classical guitar), and Anthony Hunt (piano and organ) will perform at St. Peter's Cathedral. All proceeds will go the South Australian State Emergency Relief Fund.
  • 22 February, 2pm: Sydney Congress Hall Band are hosting a benefit concert featuring called Brass for the Bush. Proceeds from the show will be given to the Salvation Army Bushfire Disaster Appeal.
  • 1 March: Australian musicians living in London, England, are putting on a concert called Australian Bushfire Benefit at the Royal Academy of Music, conducted by Simone Young.

We’ll keep updating this list, so please get in touch to tell us about other classical music concerts raising funds for bushfire recovery.

Twitter-auctions through #AuthorsForFireys

A viral Twitter campaign with the hashtag #AuthorsForFireys has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for bushfire relief. The campaign invited authors, publishers, musicians and artists to donate items like books, illustrations and experiences for Twitter users to bid on, with the winning bids donated back to firefighters. Artists including Nick Cave, Cheryle Strayed and Liane Moriarty participated.

ABC Classic’s Dan Golding took part in the campaign, which emerged as he was already considering ways to use his book on Star Wars to generate some funds for bushfire support. The winner of Dan’s book donated $600 to the cause and even got to have a coffee with the author when it turned out he lived near Dan’s work place.

"Human generosity is powerful in the face of disaster."

"Auctioning a book is in the scheme of things practically nothing, but even the smallest of actions, taken en masse, makes a difference," said Dan.

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