Testimonials
'Thank you for your kind invitation to hear Melbourne Sings. I was overwhelmed! What an amazing musical experience! Singing with the choir was most enjoyable too. The joy on your choristers’ faces still resonates.' Walter Rapoport, Chairman CCJ (Vic)
"We are extraordinarily pleased with the numbers to date and the success of the Choir. It has worked better than we had anticipated and the benefits to those involved are clear. For staff doing incredibly difficult, taxing and at times quite sad work it has been a wonderful opportunity to do something uplifting and positive with others involved in the service, it has resulted in greater awareness of different parts of our OYH communities work and experiences too amongst all the participants." Orygen Youth Health
"The choir offers an opportunity for people to extend their socialization and build relationships outside of their everyday routines. The positive benefits of this are multi-layered. … Opportunities to access such groups are often limited or restricted. Geelong Sings is a unique and valuable format to further socialization activities and extend relationships. Congratulations to Creativity Australia for continuing to find opportunities to increase our well-being through song." Kellie Stone, Encompass Community Services
"Your presentation "Creative Leadership - The Key to Success in Uncertain Times" was excellent, evidenced by the number and calibre of questions from the audience. You provided cutting edge public policy thinking for our Trustees. Feedback from the event has been excellent." CEDA
"Tania de Jong and her Melbourne Sings Choir played a wonderful part of our event. They struck at the core of what it means to embrace diversity and the innate creativity in all of us and the power of collective energy to create positive change. Their voices and enthusiasm opened hearts and inspired us all." Taren Hocking, Director SWB
"The event was a great success, and on a number of different levels. It was fun, built trust and shared experience amongst our group, and helped advance the leadership program we are workshopping. Your contribution was wonderful and you obviously have a winning set of products that are refreshingly different." BHP Worsley Alumina
"Thank you for your help organising Melbourne Sings to perform. It was a great end to an inspiring day; they had the audience up and dancing!" Breakthrough Conference on Women, Faith and Poverty for the Greenstone Group
"Melbourne Sings Choir was inspiring and a perfect ending to a very successful night." Diversity@Work Awards
"Tania’s a most inspiring person and I think you all realise she is so creative herself that she inspires us to make an effort to be creative; all of us." Dame Elisabeth Murdoch
"Creativity is important…in every aspect of society whether it’s business or Government or civil society. It’s undervalued in our society, creativity." Professor Alan Fels AO
"Tania’s brought it to the football clubs, the businesses, Government departments. Different groups of people find a common interest that actually loosens up the relationship within any small public group to enable this creativity to take place. I think it’s fantastic what she’s done." Hugh Morgan AC
"On 9th October at the opening of the Australasian Integrative Medicine Association Annual Holistic Health Conference, we were privileged to open this conference with the wonderful Royal Children’s Hospital Choir. It was most appropriate to have this great initiative of the hospital involving their staff from many departments come together in such skillful harmony, to perform at our Conference with its emphasis on health and wellness. The choir sang beautifully and with such passion and joy. The feedback from our delegates was excellent and they appreciated the conference opening on such a high note! Many thanks to Shaun Islip and Tania de Jong from Creativity Australia for organizing this." Anna Ryan, AIMA
"Your workshop at the Mind and Its Potential conference was inspiring and exceptionally joyful...My head was still buzzing with the harmony chord for a good hour after the workshop." Irene Tj, Thursday Island Primary Health Care Centre
"I write to congratulate you and your team and your facilitation of the Faculty of Law and Management's recent two day retreat at Werribee Mansion for 32 of our senior staff. I had wanted to do a serious team building exercise and canvassed a number of options deciding against the "rope climbing over water" type facilitators in favor of the creativity exercises that your team undertook. The exercises undertaken were certainly different, and innovative, creative even! I was pleased with your team's efforts to gel our group. The team building undertaken on the first day led to the excellent planning results we achieved on the second. While we have much to do, we have developed four very clear areas of focus to take us forward over the next decade. Our thanks for your role in leading us to that path." Professor Raymond Harbridge LLD, La Trobe University
"My name is Fiona Ballantyne and I have been a member of the RCH Creativity Australia Choir since its commencement. I have worked at the hospital in fundraising for a couple of years and really love my job, however the choir also provides me with an added incentive to come in to work on a Monday with our practise something to look forward to. As a complete beginner singer I have very much enjoyed the opportunity to learn a new skill. I had no prior musical ability and clearly no talent, I was even reluctant to sing in the shower because of the risk to shattering all the glass around me. However, I love the opportunity to sing in a group and I think this has been a great initiative of the hospital and I recommend it to other organisations." Fiona Ballantyne, Trusts and Foundations Manager , The Royal Children's Hospital Foundation
"Thank you for your presentation 'Creative City in uncertain times' and Panel organising and facilitation for the recent Business Event/Lunch as part of the Melbourne Awards series. The Creativity theme was excellently presented and well received by the audience - it was very engaging." Wayne Kayler-Thomson, CEO VECCI
"Melbourne Sings performed at the Opening Ceremony of the 2009 Social Enterprise World Forum. They were incredibly enthusiastic and performed an uplifting song that soon had the audience clapping along. Well done for all involved for a spirited performance!" Claire Kearney, Social Ventures Australia
"How they got here and what they’ve been doing here and back in China/Hong Kong. Lots are from the engineering trade and it’s good to find that in common and talk about it at choir." Anton, Chief Engineer, Sofitel Melbourne on Collins
"Tania provided us with an evening of entertainment and personal challenge. Her own history and achievements make for some captivating listening and the group exercise was challenging but was also a fun thing to participate in." Coates
"Tania is most effective with Management and Executive teams who wish to work more cohesively together, or have social dynamic problems within their respective corporations. Teams under pressure, stressed or suffering from communication challenges or executives who wish to be more creative in their leadership approaches would benefit from such an experience. Tania is an accomplished professional and delivered an immaculate performance with substantial impact in a short space of time, which in itself confirmed to the delegates how sustainable new behaviors can become when committed." PHA
'Melbourne Sings were able to get the audience going with their enthusiastic repertoire of uplifting songs!' InfoXchange Digital Inclusion Launch
"I really look forward to the choir it gives my week a focus and gives my day some structure....I didn’t realise it would be this much fun!" Orygen Youth Health
"It’s great to do something that is both challenging and uplifting right in the middle of the week… it certainly helps with managing the stress of our work." Orygen Youth Health
"I have downloaded the songs and am now practising them in the car… Not bad for someone who thought they couldn’t sing." Orygen Youth Health
'Melbourne Sings performed with relentless passion under the direction of music director Shaun Islip. Melbourne Sings is a testament to your commitment to community arts and the positive benefits it brings to passive and active participants.' World Parliament of Religions
'Thank you for your participation in ANZ's A Taste of Harmony Cultural Diversity Week. I commend your effort and generosity in the work of the Melbourne Sings. It was a moving and entertaining performance. We received very positive feedback from ANZ staff.' ANZ
'I had a lump in my throat and goosebumps!' Margo from Hiltons
'Words are not enough to express my thanks to the wonderful choir. Their performance was outstanding. Please pass on my, and the Lions Clubs congratulations for a most moving and fantastic performance. I look forward to watching as this choir evolves into the best one in Victoria!! If at any time the Lions Club is able to assist the choir please contact me.' Lions Club
