IFO 2025
In our ninth year of reaching remote Aboriginal communities, the IFO team are headed back to Alice Springs to make music in Australia's breathtaking Northern Territory.
This August we will be departing for a week long visit to Yirara College, donating instruments and working with Indigenous high school students from remote parts of NT. Our team of music mentors features specialists in Bass, Drums, Vocals and Guitar, who will also be teaching digital music production, showing students how to utilise technology to make music.
Its an exciting opportunity to be in the heart of the country, working with talented young people to help achieve their musical goals. We were excited last year to see the dedication of the senior school band, rehearsing daily their original songs and starting to record some demos at the local radio station.
We'll have 5 days to prepare students for a major performance in front of the whole school, showcasing percussion groups, singing ensembles and rock bands with the in house media team filming as we go. Yirara welcomed us with open arms last year and the team is excited to continue building strong connections with both staff and students.
We'll be visiting local musicians in Alice Springs, connecting with organisations and learning more about the red centre, its culture, languages and customs. We're honoured to be visiting this part of our nation and doing what we can to support the Indigenous art in Australia.
Music Give Life would like to thank our major donors
YV Financial Services and
UniHill Church in Melbourne, who have been incredible supporters of Instruments For the Outback and the communities we serve for many years.
ABOUT IFO
Instruments For The Outback is a project launched out of a desire to tackle youth suicide, depression and crime in remote Australian communities. After years of touring and performing across regional Australia, founders Andy and Levi saw the hunger for music in remote communities and realised what a difference it could make.
Through years of fundraising and travel the IFO team has been able to provide multiple Indigenous communities across the Northern Territory, South Australia and beyond with musical instruments, recording equipment, sound gear and music education resources. Trips are held yearly taking teams of professional musicians to work with kids and adults who want to learn to play guitar, drums, write songs or have a chance to perform.
BACKGROUND
Beginning in 2017, Instruments for The Outback has taken teams of professional musicians to run music workshops and engage with indigenous communities in Outback Australia. With the help of generous supporters we've raised more than $70,000 to get musical supplies into Outback schools and community organisations. Our aim is to develop the skills of young indigenous musicians by providing opportunities to perform, record, and be mentored by music professionals.
After succesful trips in 2017 and 2018, this year we will visit two locations. In Woolaning, Northern Territory we will be continuing to support the establishment of a music camp with local music teacher Roger Latham. The camp offers music tuition and performance opportunities for indigenous young people, neighbouring community groups and school camps.
As a team we are excited by opportunities to learn from aboriginal elders through song, dance and story and to see students talents expressed as they perform and create songs in their own unique languages.
Our aim is to build strong, ongoing relationships through shared cross-cultural musical experiences for both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
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