National Braille Music Camp

00:06 S1

This is Studio 1 on Vision Australia Radio.

00:23 S2

Hello there. I'm Lizzie...

00:25 S3

And I'm Sam.

00:26 S2

And you're listening to Studio 1, Vision Australia radio's weekly look at life from a blind and low vision point of view.

00:32 S3

On this week's show...

00:33 S2

We are off to the National Braille Music Camp to hear what it's all about and the benefits of the camp and how it's run.

00:40 S3

As we always say at this point, please do get in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of any of the issues covered in this episode of Studio 1, or if you think there is something we should be talking about, you never know. Your story and insight may help somebody else who is dealing with something similar.

00:53 S2

You can email us at studio1@visionaustralia.org ... That's studio number one at Vision Australia dot org.

01:00 S3

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01:05 S2

Well hello Sam, how are you this week?

01:08 S3

I am good and my things are peeing for some reason, but oh well, that's that's me. I forgot to turn my phone off as I was coming in. I'm a naughty boy.

01:15 S2

That's because you're popular.

01:16 S3

That is right. That is right. So, anyway, we are in a specifically good mood because it's July and we're still here.

01:25 S2

We are. Yep. We have received funding to continue Studio 1 for the next 12 months, so you can't get rid of us just yet.

01:33 S3

So there will be more and, hopefully some more changes coming about as well. So please do email us if you think there is, things that we should be talking about. I mean, we do constantly say that, but we do listen, when someone sends us a suggestion or something like that, we do listen. And, often we'll read the emails out on air or we will take your suggestions to heart, of course.

01:56 S2

And we have done so recently as well. And of course, watch this space for more exciting things to come. But this week we're off to the National Braille Music Camp in New South Wales at Frensham boarding school. I mean...

02:09 S3

Occasionally when we've been talking to people and there's been this interesting pause across the other side of the panel as Lizzie's sort of thinking, I know this person. Did we meet at Braille Music Camp?

02:21 S2

Yes, actually. We have spoken to a few guests and I have recognised them from my time at Braille Music Camp. I actually attended the camp from 2005 to 2013. I really enjoyed my time there. I met a lot of people, as you can testify to or attest to, I should say, and I actually got a role as a teacher there for my last year, and unfortunately I wasn't able to keep going. But if I did, I would have been a senior staff member. So that was quite exciting.

02:51 S3

So okay, apart from being about music and Braille and Braille and music, what is this camp thingy about?

02:58 S2

Well, it's just that, bro. And music. So the Braille music camp or National Braille Music Camp is obviously held every year in the last week of June at Frensham boarding school, which is in regional New South Wales in Mittagong. And it's basically a camp where young students go to enhance their Braille music reading skills. But also they have a choir that meets,  multiple times a day. and we get choir books embossed and transcribed and all sorts. I believe Vision Australia is actually helping out with that, which is really cool because I don't know if they were back in my day, they probably were. But yeah, they do a lot of the transcribing and embossing of Braille, and the choir actually performs a concert for the locals, in that regional area on the Friday night. So it's a lot of performing, a lot of singing, a lot of learning. It's quite fast-paced and quite exciting week really.

03:55 S3

So, dear listener, if you're thinking about a certain movie franchise when we're talking about Braille Music Camp, wipe this from your mind, because this is for young people and young people alone. What's the age groups we're talking about here?

04:08 S2

Well, actually, Sam, it's, I think, the youngest person to attend was probably eight and the oldest are in the 80s. So it's it covers quite a wide demographic. Like I said, I went from 2005 to 2013. So from the age of 11 to when I was 19 my last year. And yes, I think the oldest camper back in my day was in their late 80s, and I think she's still attending and she's a major, integral part of the camp helping to run things. And, yeah. So it it's a lot of people usually the camp gets about 70 people a year, I would say, or at least back in my day, it did. And I think the camp is still generating a lot of interest.

04:53 S3

And I'm presuming there'd be a lot of different skills, skill sets as far as musical instruments go. And I'm just trying to think, I mean, what can you actually play single handed though? That's the thing. So if you're reading, you either have to memorise what you're playing or you'd have to pick some play the piano with one hand. I don't know what's the go there.

05:13 S2

So actually there are a lot of different sort of projects and ensembles that are formed at the camp or before the camp. For example, I was in the orchestra, Which was run by Joan Heckman back in the day. Oh, he was amazing. So we'd all get a tape actually a couple of months before the camp, and we'd also get a music score, so we'd get to listen to the tape and learn the music score before attempting to play it on our instruments. I play double bass, so I can't read and play, but you know, I had the chance to listen to the tape and memorise it and read along. 

But also, you know, because we have the choir that goes every day for a whole week, you learn how to sing and read at the same time and learn on the go. So it's it's a skill that, you know, needs to be enhanced for anyone that's interested in getting into music in a more advanced sort of way. But yeah, we have a lot of time and preparation goes into the ensembles and performances that come out at the end of the week as well.

06:14 S3

Enough talking. We have a plane to catch. So have you got your bag there?

06:17 S2

Oh, yep. And, got Lacey too.

06:19 S3

No worries. All right. Leaving on a Jet Plane.

06:22 S2

Off we go. So I'm joined now by Bianca Petrick - and Bianca, I believe you attended the camp some years ago. Is that correct?

06:49 S4

Yes. I attended 1992 to 97, all consecutive. And then I had a break and I attended again in 2002.

06:59 S2

So how old were you when you attended the camp?

07:01 S4

So the first year I was 11. nd then I was I was 16 when I stopped, and then we had Year 12 and all that jazz. And then after that, in 2002, I had just turned 21.

07:14 S2

Okay. So did you did you go as a staff member or...

07:17 S4

Yeah, yeah I did. It was very different.

07:20 S2

Yeah. See, I went as a staff member for one year, after being there for a number of years as a student. And it is so different. You have to write reports and all that sort of thing.

07:30 S4

You sound like the magic went away.

07:32 S2

A little bit. Yeah. So we spoke to a couple of people yesterday who are currently on the camp as of this week. Yep. And they were telling us about how there's now like a rock band and a songwriting workshop, and there's no longer a mailing list. They now do things digitally. So tell us what it was like for you back in your day. Like what sort of activities were held at the camp?

07:55 S4

Well, back in [?Mali]. But anyway, so okay, so basically it was quite structured. We had breakfast at a certain time, and then we'd go to the singing room and we would do some choir stuff, like the first bits of of the pieces we knew, and then we'd go into our little groups and do sectional rehearsals. So, you know, the altos, I was in the altos. So we'd go somewhere and we'd do that, and then we would... go and have one tea, and then at after morning tea, we'd have Braille music class. Right. So we had a teacher that would teach us where we were, what levels we were at in Braille music. And then after that we'd had lunch and then we had the little groups would do their thing. 

So you'd have like the children's choir and then like there was a group of sort of teenagers that did some sort of peppy arrangements with Roger Creed. And then after that, Sally Whitwell, the composer, Sally Whitwell, a cab. Oh my goodness, that's amazing. Yeah, that's where I met her. I met Sally Whitwell and then, you know, now it's all compositions on ABC classic FM including works by Whitwell. It's like, oh my god. Oh, jeez. All right. Okay.  Anyway, so. And then, we'd have afternoon tea and then there'd be more singing, and then there'd be dinner, and then there'd be a mini concert. And all of the stuff in the mini concerts was kind of collated to see which were the best acts, and they would all go into the big concert at the end of the week. It was mostly like that every day. 

The only differences were that on Thursday night there was a disco, and on Friday afternoon, yeah, a disco, a disco. There was a there were people that always got together to do a rock band, and there'd be a disco in club ball. Wow. Yeah. This. Guys.

09:52 S2

That's amazing.

09:53 S4

Yeah, it was pretty cool. And then we had on Friday afternoon because, you know, there was sometimes a little rehearsal or whatever, but we'd have an afternoon concert because we didn't have a little concert on the Friday night. No, because we had the big concert and all of the stuff would go into the big concert. There was like, I've heard that there's been a lot of stuff to do with, you know, independent living stuff and that at the camps now, but there was none of that. You had everything from I've lived on my own for ten years to my mummy does everything for me. And it was all there. Everything was there. Yeah.

10:27 S2

So I remember, when I was joining the camp, when I started, which was 2005, they had started introducing some of that independent living element. So, you know, we'd have to go up and get our own dinner and we'd have to take our own plates and forks and knives to the trolley. We were basically in charge and responsible of all of our daily needs. We didn't really have I mean, the younger kids, like, I was 11 when I started. So, you know, I did have that little bit of leeway of having a teacher that had accompanied us. And, you know, she just made sure that everything was, was fine, but we essentially we had to fend for ourselves a little bit. And I think it's even more like that these days. They're really encouraging and promoting that independence. So I think that's an important element to the camp, as long as it doesn't take away from the music, which I don't think that it did.

11:24 S4

It's different. It's it's extremely different. And, yeah, I don't know how I'd feel going now, but music camp was the one place I could be myself.

11:35 S2

Yeah. And I think everyone feels like that, don't they? Like, everyone feels it's a place for them to be themselves. It's a place for them to be with other like minded blind people.

11:45 S4

Yes, but I actually met someone. I had a friend who had the exact opposite happened to her because she was very, like, she's very sporty. She was very she loved her 60s music and all sorts of things. And when we went, all of the like, there was a lot of classical music and there was a bit of a thing of like, if you don't understand classical music, if you're not the kind of musical that we like, then you don't fit. And and this... poor person, she just didn't fit. [?Can't] was not her thing. She was more into techie things. Sporty things. She was... not your quintessential blind musician. And she felt that a lot of people were trying to squeeze her into the role of quintessential blind musician and didn't like that. So camp, she went a couple of times, met people, made friends, networked, but really didn't like the atmosphere there for herself.

12:43 S2

It's really funny that you should say that, because I think that was... even in our day, that was a big issue that a lot of people had was this whole, you know, If we don't understand jazz or classical, we feel like we're being excluded. And so I think they're starting to include things like songwriting workshops... they're allowing that. Yeah, they're allowing more of their older students to make compositions for the choir, things like that. So there's definitely a lot more inclusivity, because I think that they could see the writing on the wall that if things were to remain the same as they did in 1986, the camp just wouldn't grow. Plus, I think there's different people in charge now.

13:27 S4

The other thing that a lot of people, I'm not sure how well they know this, when we were there, like when I was at camp, you had a lot more grandbabies that went blind, so you had a lot more just blind or blind and undiagnosed autistic, which is a lot of blind people. Right. Yeah. Now you have a lot of Blind Pluses - and Blind Plus is they're blind, but they have so many other disabilities, you don't have a lot of just blind or, you know, blind and neurodivergent anymore. You have Blind Plus, and Blind Plus has a lot more needs than just blind. And there are a lot of intersections that people did not think about when we went to camp. You couldn't cater to the Blind Pluses. They were sort of left at camp. 

So camp right. You know, parents all camp, right. But no, it was not a place for respite for for the people who, who came and like, didn't have the skills or whatever. And some of the people that were there that were there as like support staff side and support staff, they probably got a lot of their ways of dealing with recalcitrant people from the ABA school of... education. Yeah. And that was not great. I saw that I actually, like, took someone to task once about it. I was like, No, you don't do this.

14:56 S2

Well, I think that's the thing. I mean, there's been an acceptance that, you know, there's a large cross-section of the blind and vision impaired community that also have other disabilities.

15:06 S4

Yeah. Oh yeah.

15:07 S2

And I think because when I started going there was definitely starting like I remember as a kid meeting people who had more acute or severe, um, disabilities as well. And, you know, I think they were just starting to include people. But, you know, I think there's a new, there's new management of the camp. I believe Ashley Malone is running.

15:29 S5

Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, yeah. All right. 

15:32 S4

I know that Ben Clark goes and does the music stuff because he's wanted to do that since he started going. He went the year I went for the first time because we we grew up together in Perth. And then, you know, he he started going to camp. And I think that sort of became his mission, you know.

15:47 S2

Yeah, I think he's still there. He's definitely still there.

15:50 S5

We are.

15:51 S2

Yeah. People yesterday and he's still there. So you wouldn't know how you'd find camp these days.

15:57 S4

Because I'd be a staff member and it would be very different. Mm. But you have a lot less people who have done music the way we used to. From early on. So you had to sort of make it less. I mean back, back when I was doing it, you had soprano, alto, tenors and basses, and then it went to three parts because you just didn't have any tennis. And you like, you're getting less people and less people that come to camp with an understanding of what it is to do music. In a group like that, I'd feel like I was, you know, a marathon runner that's being asked to walk slowly can't for me was my place to unmask. 

Camp for me was my place where I knew my needs were going to get met. I knew that I was going to be able to bathe and roll around in music and just cover myself in the musical essence of the whole thing, and I can't do that if I have to wait for people. And so it would not be the regenerative exercise that it was for me when I went.

17:10 S2

Yeah, I think you put that so well. And I think, like when I started going as well and... as I progressed through camp, that was definitely more being addressed. You know, the theory classes, there were so many different people teaching music theory. We were split up into groups of like two people. Maximum.

17:30 S5

Yep yep yep.

17:32 S2

Because they knew that everyone was at a different level. Yeah. So I think that's starting to be changed. Because they realised that not everybody is at the same level. So last sort of question I guess I wanted to ask is what are you doing with music these days? What is your involvement with music and how do you express yourself through music?

17:52 S4

I have started taking piano lessons again. and with a lovely lady called Kylie, and she has never taught a blind student before. And I am a bit subversive and I'm like, I do not want to use notation. I'm the sort of person that if you give me a manual, I will not understand what's going on. And apparently that is an ADHD thing. I did not know that I was told off for it for so long, and then I was like, when I found out that is an ADHD trait. I was like, well, wow, okay, cool. I'm glad that this is addressed somewhere. And I'm like, okay, I'm going to learn music. I have choice and control now. I'm going to she she basically I'll play, I'll get a just press record and she would like tell me the notes and I will learn a piece within hours because I can do it the way that I learn best. I understand mutation, I understand that Braille music is amazing, and for singing it's great. 

But for me, for my mental processes, it's cumbersome and it is going to decrease my ability to learn rather than increase it simply because I don't function well. Learning from written I need a person to teach me things, but that does not negate the value of Braille music. That does not make it less. You know, we should get rid of it because people don't use it. No, lots of people use it. It is a benefit to the people who can do things using the written word or the written note. Other thing is take a look for Bianca Peterik on your music streaming services. I have written and arranged and recorded scenes and you can see my music on all the places.

19:45 S2

So we are talking to Ashleigh, Shianne and Neveah - and they are currently at Braille Music Camp as we speak. Hello to all of you! Hi. Tell us a bit about what's going on. 

19:59 S6

So we've been doing a lot of choir. We just came back from senior choir, and there's a lot of Braille music theory lessons. It's been pretty fun.

20:06 S7

Yeah. Got a lot going on at the moment. There is an orchestra happening and a songwriting workshop. We're going to have another another full choir practice after afternoon tea. And then after that we have a rock band. So there's definitely, definitely something for everyone here.

20:25 S2

Yeah, it sounds like there's a lot more going on than when I was at camp. Wow, a rock band. That is amazing. I think we had a jazz band, didn't we, back in our day, but I don't know if we had a rock band.

20:35 S7

Yeah, I think it's great to give. We've got an incredible number of guitarists and drummers and people who have incredible talents in contemporary music as well. So they definitely, definitely put something pretty amazing together each year.

20:52 S2

So, Ashleigh, could you tell us how is the camp run, for example? Could you tell us how all of that Braille music is created and brought up to the boarding school at Mittagong? And who's involved?

21:04 S7

Sure. So something like this doesn't run without a lot of incredible people. All of our staff are volunteers. Your question about music - so we have Peter Lee and actually the entire Vision Australia transcription staff have joined us this year. So we have a wonderful catalogue of music that's already been put from print into Braille. And we draw on that for a lot of our choir, our full choir stuff. We're also incredibly fortunate to have both staff and students who who are arrangers and composers in their own right. This year, one of our students, Anthony Abbraccio Vengo, has arranged a piece for the choir, a couple of our, a couple of our staff and music directors, Nelson Rufat and, Ben Clark have also arranged. 

So, the short answer is that Peter and his team put everything together, embossed everything into into booklets up in Sydney, and very generously drive it and all their equipment down and basically put themselves at our disposal for the week, which is very kind. But, yeah, there's an incredible cohort of staff here doing everything from from supervising, supervising kids, people, people like myself who are, you know, disability support workers, working on independence building. And then we have our, we have our music team, our transcription team. And it's definitely a big team effort.

22:35 S2

That is fantastic. Now, you know, you got to spending a week up at Frensham boarding school there. So what about things like catering and food? There must be a lot that goes into that. And how is that all organised?

22:47 S7

Definitely. So we've had a wonderful relationship with Frensham School for girls for 37 years. The kitchen staff who keep us fed and happy and in dessert and afternoon and morning tea all week. You know, they say it's it's their favourite week of the year, but it's also our favourite week of the year because the food here is pretty superb. And you know, some myself and a few of the other logistics team have been liaising liaising with French and as we do every year since about March or April, and they've always been incredibly generous and accommodating. We've got such wonderful, wonderful facilities here, both in the boarding house and in the sort of music buildings as well.

23:35 S2

So we'll move to Shianne and Neveah here. What's been your favourite part of the camp so far? I know we're only halfway through, but if you could give us some insights into what your favorite activities have been.

23:47 S6

There's a lot, but I really enjoyed choir and just getting to see all the people who I haven't seen in a while, like all my friends back at camp. And it's just the best thing ever.

23:57 S5

Yeah, I think for me, I've enjoyed choir as well. I probably, my highlight has been band because it is, you know, it's a bit of fun and... an opportunity to socialise and see friends as well.

24:08 S2

So I'm guessing you play another instrument then.

24:12 S5

Oh, drums, a little bit of drums.

24:14 S2

Oh that's amazing. So cool. Do you still do the concerts? Ashley, do you still do the concerts on Friday night at the end of the camp?

24:22 S7

Yeah. So we've got we have small nightly concerts... for the staff and students of the camp each night and from those nightly concerts, as well as what we've been preparing in our ensembles and our full choir, we have, we call it a showcase of of the work that we've done throughout the week. And that takes place in... Club Hall at Frensham School on... Friday night. And anyone who's in, or around the district of Mittagong, I would highly recommend - not because I'm helping out, but because these these young people are incredibly talented in their own right - I would highly recommend if you are in the Southern Highlands area or even down from Sydney, to come down to Club Hall at Frensham School in Range Road, Mittagong at 7 p.m. this Friday for a wonderful concert.

25:15 S2

Are they going to be broadcasting the concert digitally or will it be streamed, or will there be, will it be available afterwards?

25:22 S7

We are straggling into the tech age. I must admit we do record the concert and distribute it afterwards, but at the moment, unfortunately we don't have any live stream capabilities. It's on my to do list, but my to do list grows by the hour, so we will get there, of course.

25:38 S2

And as far as the actual teaching of the Braille music goes, who's involved with teaching the younger students? Is it people from Vision Australia or is it older, you know, students or staff members who does all the music theory?

25:55 S7

We have a mixture of of teachers who make up our braille music staff. Some of them are people like myself who I, I started, I think this is my 16th Braille Music Camp. I started as a student, and now I've come back as a teacher. So it might be it might be some of our... blind staff, most of who are professional musicians or educators in their own right. We also are very fortunate to have Braille teachers from several states who teach Braille. Some of the Vision Australia transcription team are also teaching basically anyone with an aptitude, and the knowledge of Braille music who we've worked with is tasked with with the privilege of teaching these young people and being taught by these young people, which is very often the case in the teaching, in the teaching relationship. Like this.

26:48 S3

Now, one of your former teachers, I am reliably believed, is sitting across from me here. So you can tell us honestly, because no one's going to know that you said this to me - what was Lizzie like as a teacher?

27:00 S7

To be honest, Lizzie and I were a little bit like ships in the night. I remember Lizzie as a student. I didn't have the pleasure of teaching Lizzie as a student, but... I stepped away for a few years during my uni studies and to be honest, I can't remember. But all our staff are exemplary and I'm quite sure that Lizzie is no exception to that rule.

27:22 S2

I want to come back, I must admit, like I really want to come back and teach again. That would be amazing.

27:28 S7

So it is very cold in Mittagong this week, even for Mittagong. I love the white white bubbles.

27:35 S5

So it's one this morning.

27:36 S2

Yeah, back Back to Shianne and Neveah. How... so I'll ask you this: how many camps have you been on so far? So, what camp are you up to? Is this your third, fourth, fifth?

27:47 S6

My fourth.

[?] S7

My fifth.

27:49 S2

Wow. That's amazing. So how old were you when you started going to camps?

27:54 S5

I was eight.

27:55 S6

And I was nine. 

27:56 S2

Wow. So it must have been quite daunting for you going. And I'm imagining it was the first time you'd spent any extensive time away from home, and especially going interstate. Talk to us about what that's like, you know, leaving the family environment and coming to such a wonderful place full of blind people. 

28:13 S6

It was, yeah. So it was pretty scary, like, because it was my first time on a plane and my family were sort of clingy, you know, how they go. But it was so amazing. I got to, like, meet so many people that experienced the first camp. You... it's just the best. You get to discover so many things. Being around blind people and only blind people for a whole week is like insane. It was so fun and I barely missed my family, which is sad, but you know.

28:41 S2

Of course. And what about you, Shianne? What was it like for you?

28:44 S5

It was very daunting for me... I probably, yeah, I really enjoyed being able to meet new people as well and, and having that thing in common with them that we were all blind, vision impaired and we all loved music. So that definitely made it a little bit easier for me. So I was... yeah, probably didn't really miss my family that much either.

29:04 S2

No, no. And I've got to ask because this was a common practice for us young ones. Have you had any cane fights? You know, one person's going one way and another person's coming the other way. 

[?] S 5/6/7?

Yeah. Yes. 

S2

Oh, fantastic. It's good to know some things never die. I remember that we used to have the old mailing list, which used to get sent out every year after camps. Is that still happening?

29:26 S5

Did have that.

29:27 S7

No. We we sort of bought that into the digital age as well, but also felt that it was, you know, really important for, for the students to, to make those connections and, and organise. You know, I know some some students have caught up with each other outside camp or talk on talk on WhatsApp or over the phone. So we've left that in the hands of our students who are who are very capable of doing that themselves.

29:54 S3

So before we leave you to do your thing, maybe you can all tell us a bit about what got you into music and what you love about playing music.

30:06 S6

I got into music because my my family were always playing music they're not very talented at, but they love music. And I just started singing. One day I would've been about three and I just really, really loved it. I just it was the best. And so I've been a singer for a while, I love it. Music is just about expressing yourself and I think that is so important for me.

30:30 S5

Yeah, pretty much the same. I started singing when I was really little. I don't remember how old I was, but I also really loved it. And, um, I went to a primary school for the blind back in South Australia. And um, my first piano lesson was when I really kind of got into music and started thinking, you know, there's endless possibilities here. Like, I could become a composer and I do now. And yeah, so pretty much the same as surveyor.

30:59 S2

So do you get to keep your music books at the end of camp? Do you get to take them home with you? Yes. Ah, great. Yes. I don't have mine anymore, unfortunately. If I could go back into the archives and somehow find those, that would be amazing. But that was always a major point of study for me, because I could go back and refer to that and learn different notations and things like that. And I feel like spending a week with other blind and vision impaired musicians sort of inspires you to do better as a musician when you leave. Do you feel that that is the case?

31:31 S6

Definitely. Definitely, yeah.

31:33 S7

It's been lovely to see, you know, year on year. You sort of saying about about catching up once a year, the growth and development in, in all aspects of these young people, but particularly their musicianship and, and sort of performance are year on year is is lovely, in our sort of mini concert last night, we had quite a few, quite a few campers who this might be their second, third, fourth camp. And it's a real joy to see, to see the the improvement in in these young people. I mentioned Anthony about evento before and, you know, he was a beginner when he started. He was quite young and now he's at the stage where he is composing his own work, arranging work, but even even just for that, that's not the... gold standard by any means being comfortable to, to perform in front of other people there. 

There are so many different things, so many different journeys that people can go on, go on here musically.

32:36 S3

Is it easier to form to perform in front of a crowd when you can't see them? That's a something that I've always wondered. I mean, does does it just mean that your imagination suddenly says, oh my God, there's all these people looking at me or, what you can't see can't hurt you?

32:52 S5

I don't know.

32:53 S6

I've never seen.

32:54 S5

Yeah, I can't tell the difference.

32:56 S7

For me, my mind pretty much triples the amount of people in the room. I'm not much of a much of a performer myself.

33:03 S5

Yeah, mine does the same thing. Yeah.

33:05 S2

I get the same thing. Also, I feel like people are staring at me and they might not be, they might just be looking off into the distance. But you get this feeling like people are hyper focused on you. And I think it's because you're hyper focused on yourself. Yeah.

33:19 S5

So especially when the room goes dead quiet, cut like silent and you can literally hear like a pin drop and they're waiting for you to start. And I'm like, Oh my god, they're staring at me. Yeah.

33:29 S2

So I actually have a funny story. And you can ask Ben Clark about this, if he remembers. But one year I was doing piano, accompanying an ensemble who were singing a song. And, anyway, I was sitting at the piano getting ready to start, and I thought, someone will give me a cue. And Ben Clark, as loud as anything, says, you can start now, Elizabeth. And I thought, Oh dear. Okay, so I was pretty embarrassed about that. Yeah.

33:55 S3

All right. So before we let you guys go, what are you up to next? Where, what have we stopped you from doing or what are you heading off to now?

34:01 S7

I think it's a songwriting or a little bit of a little bit of downtime before we have our sing in the afternoon and not forgetting that most important of engagements, afternoon tea.

34:12 S3

All the most important one.

34:13 S2

Enjoy. I hope they serve you pikelets and jam.

34:17 S7

I'm manifesting scones, so we'll see what happens.

34:22 S2

And a warm cup of coffee. Well, I really do wish I was there with you guys. And maybe I'll be able to join again. At some, you know, maybe next year. I don't know, I hope so, but, you know, from us here at Studio 1, we hope you have a fantastic time and enjoy. And by the way, just before we go, how can any of our listeners get in touch with you, whether they want to supply support or whether they want to get their children into attending the camps? What's the go-to?

34:49 S7

Certainly, if you want to, if you're a parent or student or teacher, the best way to get in touch with us is to send us an email. That is NBMC - as in National Braille Music Camp - at gmail.com. We have a social media, a social media group where we publicise bits and pieces about camp, and that will... probably be where the link to the final concert is distributed. And we are sort of thinking about other ways, other ways of engaging people and keeping them in touch with us. So we'll... make sure we circulate them when they're available as well.

35:34 S3

We will, of course, include those on our podcast notes and on the Facebook page when this comes out on... Wednesday. So yes. Anyway, happy camping, people! Thank you so much.

35:45 S2

Bye.

35:48 S3

That is a wrap for this week. And who have we got to thank for this week's episode?

35:52 S2

We've got to thank Ashleigh, Bianca and Shianne. And of course, thanks to everyone for listening.

35:58 S3

Next week it's NAIDOC week and we're on a promise. We're going to hear from a few friends over in Alice Springs.

36:05 S2

But between now and then, please do get in touch with the show. Whether you have any experience with the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio 1, or whether you think there's something we should be talking about, you never know. Your story and insight may help someone who's dealing with something similar.

36:19 S3

You can email us, studio1@visionaustralia.org - that's studio number one at Vision Australia dot org.

36:25 S2

Or you can drop us a note on our socials. Just search up Vision Radio Networks. And if you did attend the camp at the same time as I did, I would love to hear from you.

36:35 S1

Vision Australia Radio gratefully acknowledges the support of the Community Broadcasting Foundation for Studio 1.