Episode 8: A Chat with a Renowned Orff Schulwerk Teacher - Christoph Maubach, Part 2
Introducing Christoph Maubach
Christoph Maubach's Bio
Thanks for joining our ‘Welcome to Music’ Podcast, Episode #8 where I’ll be chatting with Christoph Maubach, who is an internationally recognized music educator, Orff Schulwerk Practitioner and community singing leader. He divides his time as workshop facilitator and music and movement teacher between Germany and Australia.
Christoph retired as a senior lecturer in music education from Waikato University, NZ and before that was lecturer in music education at ACU in Melbourne. In Germany he provides vocal workshops for Acappella groups and teaches music and dance at the Youth Music Organization ‘Verspielt’ (Playful) in Berlin. Christoph is an active Board member of the International Orff Schulwerk Forum Salzburg (IOSFS). He also conducts workshops in Taiwan, Europe, Australia and New Zealand where he leads the 2024 North Island Singing Tour.
Let’s start at the very beginning…
Susie
Hello everyone, and it's so nice to have you here at the Welcome to Music podcast for music, and classrooms in Early Childhood and Primary/Elementary schools, music therapists, studio music teachers, parents, and anyone who uses music with kids to support their well-being and development from zero to 12 years. My name is Susie Davies-Splitter, and I've been teaching music to all ages in early childhood, schools and universities over many years.
With my husband Phil, we run Welcome to Music where we create music resources, we have a membership community, and present training and programs for kids and educators. Our goal is to help build confidence and creativity and enrich lives through the joy of music. I hope that this podcast can support and inspire you and maybe even make your job a little easier through sharing tips, chats, lesson plans, interviews and great quality music resources to use with your children. I use an inclusive multi modal, multi-sensory and Orff based approach to help make the learning stick. Please enjoy the Welcome to Music podcast and find us at www.welcometomusic.net
Information about the IOSFS – International Orff Schulwerk Forum Salzburg
Susie
So Christoph, Orff Schulwerk has been a passion for you, hasn't it? I mean, it is for me too. And I know that you are very involved in the IOSF International Orff Schulwerk Forum.
I’d love you to just explain what kinds of things the IOSF are working on and working towards?
Christoph Maubach
Yes, thank you, Susie. Yes. And you are right. I'm still passionately involved in the board of the IOSF. And there's actually an extra ‘S’ there as well, at the end IOSFS, the International Orff Schulwerk Forum Salzburg, they call themselves officially, it's registered as an association, like VOSA in Victoria. It's registered in Austria as a not for profit Association. And we are an umbrella organization that helps assist. And if you like, can I use the word curates, looks after 45 national Orff Schulwerk Associations around the world.
Website for IOSFS: https://www.orff-schulwerk-forum-salzburg.org/
Susie
So that's interesting. 45, I always wondered how many there were
Christoph Maubach
Yeah, so look, of course, it fluctuates, you know, some drop off, some new ones come in. I mean, just recently, we had an inquiry from Ireland who are trying to establish an Orff Association. And this brings me to something that we are doing. So some people, some teachers in a country say - I've been to courses in Salzburg, or in Melbourne or Sydney, and I'm really touched by this idea of music and movement. How about I get another five teachers and we want to establish an association in our country, let's say in Ireland, how do we go about it? So that's where we get an inquiry and the board receive an interest call, somebody writes in and says, What shall we do? We would like to do this. So then we can help to serve their needs. And how do we do this?
Let me explain to you a little bit how we do this. First of all, of course, we have a large website with many different pages. Obviously we have an email address info.iosfs@gmail.com People write into us and we can serve their needs. We are an umbrella association that is not designed to tell people from the top down what to do, but rather to listen to what their needs are and to find out how can we serve their needs? What is it that we can do for you so that you can successfully create a Music and Movement Association in your environment for your people in your cultural context in your language? That's what we're trying to do.
We have a website with many pages. Our Website includes ideas for teaching in the English language, we have a magazine in the English language, we have a yearly convention, usually in July. And up until recently, it either took place online, or in Salzburg. Next year's convention will be already earlier in June, it will actually take place at a university in Prague in the Czech Republic. Yeah, we've decided to move it around.
Yeah, we have a publication called Orff Schulwerk Today, and we have this publication online going back to something like 80 editions, right back to the 1980s. So you can browse these documents that are largely in German, but always with some English translation. And lastly, can I say, we have a subcommittee on which I work on very hard as well. It's called the ASI subcommittee that is Associated Schools and Institutions, we have something like 18 schools or institutions around the world, between Munich, Bangkok, Western Australia, San Francisco.
There are always some personnel who have studied at the Orff Institute or elsewhere, in music and movement education, and they are dedicated to this style of teaching. And they have decided to be part of our family, the associated schools and institutions. So these are some of the services that we have. And you know, it's part of my character, particularly in my retirement that I would like to be like every person you want to be useful and make a difference.
We are doing that. I mean, my time at the board will come to an end, next July. Because we have decided that each board member has a period of time, let's say 10 years, and then we hand over to somebody else. And lastly, can I say to that topic, Susie, we are in the middle of a process of big turnovers there where the vote for new board members will start next year in July, or shortly after. And that is a lot of extra work, because you have people like Barbara Hasselbach, and others who are first generation co-workers who have been invited to teach on Carol Orff’s behalf. They are retiring like myself or have already retired. And they will possibly in the future be advisors here and there.
But we need to hand over all the history, all the things that you and I are now talking about and all of this data, if you like all these information pieces, they need to be handed over where it is sensible and how it is sensible to the next generation of teachers who want to serve this idea.
Susie
It's wonderful that you're looking after all those associated schools. And of course, we know some well. You mentioned Western Australia, Mary Walton, who has changed her name now, but she has a school that very much adopts the whole Orff approach and philosophy over in Perth. Yes. And we also have mutual friends over in China - Xu Mai. She has IMMEA - Institute of Music and Education Association in South China, so it's been really good to hear that whole Orff journey and how you're really involved.
What I'd love to ask you now Christoph is to share a couple of songs with us. And I know your repertoire is so wonderful and I just love so many of the songs that you come up with, you know, and you have come up with over the years and that have a beautiful world music multicultural slant - so what have you got for us?
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Christoph shares 4 beautiful canons (rounds) of love, peace and hope.
The need to intensify our hope, and meditate for peace in all parts of the world is needed ever more.
Christoph Maubach
Thank you for inviting me to do this. And you know, in this medium as best as I can, in a little Airbnb room, let me say, the Orff Schulwerk, an approach in Victoria and elsewhere often takes its cue, from what happens around us. What happens around the families, the children, the teachers, in everyday life. And coming from Europe right now, I've only been here two days in Taipei, you know, coming from Europe right now I have to tell you, the place is on fire. And it is absolutely terrible.
And, you know, I could simply not talk about it. But it's important to talk about it because people in Europe are more affected by this. People in the Middle East near Israel are more affected by this than we are in Australia or New Zealand. So it's important for me to think about that and teachers in Germany would think about that people and teachers in other parts of Europe would think about that maybe in Australia as well. So the idea of peace, and keeping peace and acknowledging the terrible things that have happened and are happening in the Middle East.
‘Shalom’ Canon – Nick Prater and arranged by Julian Raphael
Christoph Maubach
That could be a jump off point for a song on not only a song, an engagement with the words of a song and engagement with the situation, a talk that might be difficult with children, but it is necessary to have and to that context, I would sing and have sung and send to you the song ‘Shalom’ which is simply one word with five different voices. Here is the bassline whereby the last tone is actually an octave lower. But since I'm a tenor, I can't reach that. Yeah. And then the main melody that goes over the top.
‘Shalom’ was conceived and written in about 2000 by British community musician Nick Prater, who sadly passed away in 2013. He was and still is very well respected in the community music field. Colleague and friend Julian Raphael from Wellington, New Zealand, originally from the UK, rearranged the song, added a fifth voice (a descant Soprano line) and placed it into a new key, instead of e-minor into f # minor, a tone up. Together with other teachers in the NZ Singing leaders Network I acquired a copy of this song; we sang it also during our Kawau Island (north island of New Zealand) music vacations.
I'm sure you can share this happily. But it also brought home to me that maybe children and teachers and we as families need to also learn what we can do?
Susie
I couldn't agree more Christoph and you hear all of these awful, awful things that are happening. And that's again another reason I wanted to do this podcast because I sort of feel well at least as musicians and music educators we can make a difference just through sharing some beautiful songs about peace and love and healing.
‘Peace Begins’ Canon – Text – Dorothy Day, Music - Wolfgang Hartmann, 2002
Christoph Maubach
So it occurred to me as you say that one of my colleagues and friends indeed we studied together at the Orff Institute in the 1970s, Wolfgang Hartman wrote a little canon that I'm sure he gives permission to use. I've already asked him that once before - he wrote it in 2002 on the occasion of 9/11 in New York. It tells us that peace can happen when people actually get fed, when they have food when they have safety when they have opportunity to live. And you know, I think it's worth shining a light on that it doesn't happen by itself.
Susie
Yes, it's that the basic needs need to be met before we can do anything. Really? Yes.
‘Keep Peace’ Canon – Christoph Maubach
Christoph Maubach
And since you've invited me about songs, it also occurred to me, you know, I should write something not only about shalom, but also the equivalent word in Arabic. Yeah, so because we all know that there are so many people involved in the whole region. And the whole terrible situation reminds me of what Daniel Barenboim, great conductor does in Berlin with the East West Orchestra where he has invited for decades now musicians from Palestine and from Israel to work together in an orchestra. So you know already in 2001 I created this song – Assalam, Shalom, Peace.
‘Salaam’ - Od Yavoh Shalom Aleinu – Hebrew & Arabic Song – hear in Episode 2
Susie
There's also a beautiful song that I've shared in episode two which is called ‘Salaam’. So, Salaam being Arabic for peace and all the other words are in Hebrew - return us so that we can have peace. That's what we can do to try and make a small difference, at least, and teach these beautiful songs.
Christoph Maubach
And in the end, the small difference might become bigger and bigger. You're so right. I do agree with you. We add our voices to our voices, more and more voices chime in it is music that we're making, but we will be heard, and more people hear it and yes, it makes a difference. Thank you for that song, too.
Susie
Yes, very, very beautiful, written in Israel by a band called Shiva something like in 1997.
Christoph Maubach
So look, maybe just one more point briefly, I mentioned before what a challenge it was for me after COVID. Towards the end of COVID, to actually move back to Germany for several months for half a year. And then trying to dip into the cultural life there, the musical life, meet other music pedagogues, and get involved having not been involved in German language on a cultural level for 40 years. Well you know, my neighbour’s next door has a two year old child and I'm trying to sit down with him to sing children's songs. Oh my god, there's something I need to learn. So I’ve learnt songs from colleagues and I learned some lovely German songs.
‘Singing is Like a Warm Summer Wind’ Canon – adapted from Uli Fuhre, lyrics and arrangement by Christoph Maubach
I'm gonna sing you one more song that I learned as a German song and translated it into English in my way.
‘Singing is like a warm summer wind, it brings joy and moves our hearts. Do do do do do… The winds are moving, our voices are soothing all across our waters and land’ And on it goes as a canon
Susie
Oh, that's beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing those songs. Of course, a very special gift.
What's in store now for you? What does the future hold for you Christoph?
Christoph Maubach
Thank you. Look, this is a great question too. Obviously, there are personal reasons that I come and visit my daughter Amelia and her partner and I visit my friends who head a trio with Georgian music, or visit you or visit other friends or so. I hope and you know I spent considerable time in Melbourne in Australia and Victoria and I spent considerable time in New Zealand. So having the opportunity to participate in the Orff Schulwerk teacher education courses level 1 in January is great, it's fantastic. I enjoy that there will probably be other opportunities, possibly in Canberra or somewhere where I can contribute to this.
But for Victoria and Australia, that's enough for December and January. Then in February from the 17th to the 28th of February, I will actually lead and accompany a group from Victoria, who does a singing tour in New Zealand in the North Island of New Zealand. The Heart choir, as it was called, is moving to New Zealand, you know, on a 10 day tour, and together with Lola Simpson from Wellington, I will lead that choir from Auckland onwards on a bus every day to a different place. We sing there every night or every second night and do sightseeing in between then arrive in Wellington round about the 28th of February, whereby my time there is finished.
So the Orff Association in New Zealand is cooking up other things for me in March over there possibly April as well. After my daughter's birthday, that's a personal comment here, then towards the end of April, I will actually move back towards Taipei. And in May of next year, I will return to Germany. So that's the plan so far. Life has taught me you know, be careful with all of that, you know, these are nice ideas, and I'm very much focused on having it happen. But I'm also fairly relaxed about how things pan out.
Susie
Sounds very exciting. Christoph, it really sounds exciting in your retirement. Well, you're not really retired, you're still working a lot.
Christoph Maubach
We all are trying to make a difference. And I'm trying to do that too. Yes, absolutely.
Susie
That tour in New Zealand sounds like so much fun. Wow, you're going to love that. You're going to absolutely love that. Well, we're kind of getting to the end of this interview. And there's so many more things I want to ask you. But yeah, I'll just have to kind of choose a couple of things.
One thing that is so difficult here in Australia is to advocate for music and movement, education, sport is so important. And so much money is put into sport. And often schools don't even have a music program. So please share your wisdom with us.
Why is music and movement so important for our souls? And what can we do to advocate?
Christoph Maubach
Thank you again, for the question. Of course, it moves me a lot because in Europe it is also an issue. Yeah, the Europeans, the central Europeans have an advantage in that they have, rightly or wrongly respected an enormous tradition in music, an enormous cultural tradition, it's almost like, if you grew up in a family in Germany, and you don't play an instrument, or you are not somewhere touched by this, your family, this cultural tool, then something is not right.
And even if you have moved from Turkey to Germany and live in parts of Berlin, then you have your Turkish ways with you, or some kind of Turkish music as well. So I guess what I'm trying to say here for participants is let's keep creating family culture. Yeah, let's keep creating the music culture and our families amongst our friends, amongst birthdays, amongst parties, weddings, even normal social gatherings. Don't be shy to pull out your ukulele and just go for it. Yeah, so that's a basic starting point.
Secondly, for teachers, to make it work, to get the recognition that in the end, also get the dollars into the music program in your school is try and connect any life topic that is pertinent in the school on this particular day, try and connect that with your music. If they something that has happened in Victoria right now, that moves the community that moves the families, see whether you can find a musical item that links up with that.
So for children, it is so important to see that what we are doing is completely related to the reality that we are meeting every day. So if my family suddenly talks about vegetarianism, okay, I will create you a song about eating no meat at all. Yeah. Or some. I mean, look, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but you know what I mean, it is essential that we connect, you know, to everyday life.
And can I say further there are examples like I've seen that in New Zealand, where we got some help from people who are very good at writing applications for funding. We got them roped in and said listen, can you help us write an application for fun? We know there is money around the government is looking to hand out money. We just need to have the right application that fits this funding. This funding criteria. And we found somebody who did that for us. And suddenly, we ended up with a fair amount of money that allowed us to do a whole lot of workshops in, in isolated areas of, of New Zealand.
So that's one other way of getting connected. But yes, I do agree it's a difficult issue everywhere. You know, connecting music to the football Grand Final, as it's done is a really good idea to connecting music to, you know, the, the Melbourne Cup day, if that is the case, connecting music to that and pointing out to the children. Look, did you hear that? What happened? What did they sing there? What you know, making that connection to real life events?
Well, my very last question to you is, if you had a superpower, what would it be? And what would you do with it?
Christoph Maubach
Yeah, thanks. Thank you. I thought a bit about that question, too. And it occurred to me that I'm so passionate about listening to music, listening, particularly to diverse music, you know, from Renaissance, to jazz, from rock, to DJ, kind of digital music, what I'm trying to say is great diversity.
If I would have a superpower, I would want to make sure that particularly early childhood places and schools would have listening to music activities on a regular basis during the week that shows the great diversity of music. And that allows the children with the help of teachers or other guiding figures, to close their eyes at times. Have a listen to this pattern. What happened here? Can you tell us what you felt? Can you tell us what happened here? Can you recognize any of the instruments that are in there? Can you recognize any of the voices? What are they singing about? So in other words, if I'd have a superpower, I would compel people to listen to music more deeply, and listen to music in more diverse ways.
We get so easily drawn into a particular style of music also, because the world is so full of imagery is so optic, you know, like we listen to music often now with some images behind it. And that places us into a particular direction. No, no, let's be really diverse. You know, I wake up one morning and often in mornings and I listen to Baroque music, it really gets me out of bed. And then you know, I find myself a couple of hours later, thinking Blind Faith was a really interesting band in the 1960s and 1970s. When I went to disco dancing, I want to listen to them again. Yeah, you know, is the great diversity that music offers is magical. I’d like more of that.
Susie
Christoph, thank you so much. Oh, my goodness, you've just shared so many wonderful things about your journey about music education, about Orff education. I hope that it's been really inspiring for our listeners. Thank you. Thank you.
Christoph Maubach
Great pleasure. Thank you, Susie. It's so delightful to be able to speak with you and to hear from you. And the way you invite me in is wonderful too. Thank you, Susie.
Closing
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