At our recent AGM, I reflected on what has been a fabulous, busy and musical year for WAOSA. We held a very successful workshop From Page to Stage at the end of July last year, which aimed to equip teachers with ideas for end of year items. This workshop was similar to our March 2012 workshop, as it featured presentations on Orff, Kodaly and Dalcroze.

However, the highlight of the year was the Voices of the Swan conference, which was held in January of 2012 at Wesley College in Perth. The conference focused on the different elements or ‘voices’ of the Orff Schulwerk approach, and participants experienced workshops by special guest presenters Kalani, Andrea Sangiorgio, Christiane Wieblitz, and Robyn Stavely. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the hardworking Voices of the Swan conference committee who worked diligently for the past two years to organise the conference.  The committee members were volunteers who also work full time as music educators, so I fully appreciate their time, effort and hard work that ensured the success of the conference.

The remainder of 2012 promises to be just as exciting! We are looking forward to our Orff Basics PD day at the beginning of Term 3, as well as Orff Levels 1&2 Courses in the first week of October-please check out the PD section of this website for more information on these fantastic learning opportunities.

Finally, I would like to formally thank the hardworking WAOSA committee for all their efforts over the past year: Anette Kerkovius (Vice President), Silvana Ferrara (Treasurer), Jill Ailsa-Taylor (Memberships) Graham Local (Book Sales), Andrea Stewart (Orff West Newsletter), Natalie Tran,  Stephanie Lewendon-Lowe, (Student Representatives) and Cathleen Otterman, Jason Boron and Jennifer Gault (General Committee Members).  It is fantastic to have such a dedicated group of people to work with. A special thank you to Silvana, who has stepped down from the roll of treasurer after 8 years!

Congratulations also to the 2012-13 committee: Anita Newhouse (President), Anette Kerkovius (Vice President), Natalie Tran (Treasurer), Elizabeth Campbell (Memberships) Graham Local (Book Sales), Andrea Stewart (Orff West Newsletter), Silvana Ferrara, Jason Boron and Jane Nicholas (General Committee Members).

Anita Newhouse
WAOSA President