WAOSA Committee

Committee

President

Anita Newhouse

Vice President

Anette Kerkovius

Treasurer

Silvana Ferrara

Membership

Jill Ailsa

Orff West Editor

Andrea Stewart

Levels

Helen Wilson

WAOSA Book Sales

Graham Local

General Committee Members

Jason Boron

Sarah Bowran

Jennifer Gaunt

Student Representatives

Stephanie Lewendon-Lowe

Natalie Tran

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Anita Newhouse

Anita was first introduced to Orff during her undergraduate degree in Music Education. Since then, she has enjoyed developing her understanding of Orff and implementing this methodology within classes and ensembles. Anita joined the WAOSA Committee in 2009 and became the WAOSA President in 2010. She is currently working as a Junior School Music Specialist at All Saints College

Silvana Ferrara

Currently I am the WAOSA Treasurer and have held this position for approximately 8 years. I am also on the ANCOS committee where I held the position of treasurer from 2008 - 2010. Presently I am the Music teacher at Illawarra Primary School in Ballajura.

Helen Wilson

Helen Wilson is an experienced music specialist. She taught classroom music for over 20 years at Christ Church Grammar School in Perth, and since retiring from full time teaching, has worked with pre-service students at Notre Dame University, as well as presenting at various WAOSA conferences and levels courses. Helen is the former WAOSA president, and was a founding committee member of WAOSA.

Jill Ailsa

Jill did her first Levels course in Orff-Schulwerk during her first year of music teaching in 2004. Her approach changed both in the classroom and in the piano studio, bringing greater focus, engagement and enjoyment of her students in the music making process. She went on to do her Level 2 course in 2009, the year she changed career direction and joined PLC as an Early Childhood Music Specialist, where she currently is still teaching.

Jason Boron

Jason is currently the Music Specialist at East Victoria Park Primary School. He studied music education at the University of Western Australia and aural pedagogy at the University of Queensland. Jason has completed Levels 1 and 2 in Orff-Schulwerk and has now completed the requirements for the Australian Kodaly Certificate. He is looking forward to the ANCOS National Conference to be held in Perth, January 2012.

Stephanie Lewendon-Lowe

Stephanie is currently a first year student, studying music education and music performance at ECU and WAAPA. She first became aware of Orff when she attended a WAOSA PD day at the beginning of this year. A keen believer in supporting something she is so passionate about, joined the WAOSA committee as soon as the PD day ended as a student representative. She currently teaches violin, music and takes children’s choirs around WA, which she loves incorporating the Orff way of life into.

Anette Kerkovius

Anette Kerkovius is the Director of Music at All Saints’ College, in Perth. She has completed Level 4 in Orff Schulwerk, (Sydney) and has attended the 2005 International Summer School at the Orff Institute in Salzburg. (Austria). Originally from South Africa, she has been in Australia for ten years, and has been involved with music education for many years, ranging from pre-school children, primary and secondary school to tertiary level. Anette has been trained as a piano teacher and singer at the University of Stellenbosch (1976), and B.Mus (Hon) in Music Ed. Univ. Pretoria, (1998) specialising in choral music. Anette is Vice President of WAOSA and convener of the Voices of the Swan Conference

Andrea Stewart

Andrea is a qualified Primary School Teacher. She has five and a half years experience as a full time class teacher and she has taken on additional responsibilities in her passion for music, directing and choreographing school productions, teaching choir and marimbas and teaching class music. Although Andrea has a young family of her own, she is frequently called to do Relief Teaching at various Primary Schools. Andrea currently plays the flute in the South Side Symphony Orchestra and is a pianist and vocalist. She has recently been introduced to the Orff approach and joined the committee as the Orff West Editor. She hopes to do her Orff levels next year.

Graham Local

After 10 years of performing as a freelance bassist Graham found himself in Glasgow, Scotland in front of a class of 30 Year 3’s. Thankfully the room also happened to contain a large collection of Brazilian percussion and a book on Orff Schulwerk. Graham is currently working as a Junior School Music Specialist at Swan Valley Anglican Community School where he is developing a programme that integrates Orff Schulwerk and Music Learning Theory.

Sarah Bowran

Sarah joined the WAOSA committee after completing her Level 1 course in 2009. She has since completed Level 2, and is currently teaching classroom music to secondary students. Sarah is also a part of the Voices of the Swan Conference committee.

Jennifer Gaunt

Jennifer has been a classroom teacher with a passion for music for the last 7 years. She is currently teaching music full time at Success Primary School. Jennifer enjoys playing a range of instruments, including double bass, piano, bass guitar, guitar, harmonica, penny whistle. Her favourite instrument is the voice, which is so versatile and transportable. Jennifer directs a Year 4 - 6 choir and a Year 3 choir at her school, who are looking forward to having Adam Hall and the VPs visit the school with MusicaViva. Jennifer enjoys a range of music and loved seeing Clare Bowditch, Paul Kelly and Cloud Patrol play this year. She is also looking forward to seeing Wicked: The Musical and the Schubert String Quintet.

Natalie Tran

Natalie is currently finishing her last year at the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts and Edith Cowan University, studying a double degree in music and education. She only recently encountered Orff at a WAOSA professional development conference. In joining WAOSA, she hopes to expand her knowledge of effectively teaching and engaging students through music.