It’s been 24 years since opera-trained singer Tina Harris performed in the University of Wollongong Hall, but this time she’ll have her full backing band.
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The mum-of-two is better known as the stripy-socked, singing and dancing ABC TV star Lah-Lah with a Big Live Band, but she’s coming home to perform on Saturday.
The former Kiama High School student is also bringing helpers from the Wollongong Conservatorium of Music to her children’s show so the little ones can get up close and personal with instruments.
Harris said Con performers will have a “pre-show jam” while she and her band will also meet and greet fans after the concert.
“The kids will be able to get their hands all over a double bass, a piano accordion, a saxophone and drums,” she said.
“It’s really kind of reinforcing kids, musical instruments and getting your hands-on and having that real experience with a band.”
The Australian Children’s Television Foundation has recently teamed up with Harris and her husband Mark (aka Buzz the Bandleader) to create music lessons for primary school students in line with school curriculum.
“We are segmenting the Lah-Lah TV series, writing music lessons for ... kindy to primary school, linking it back to state curriculum and that’s going to be distributed to schools nationally,” Harris said.
“Music has absolutely fallen by the wayside and it’s really not focused on enough in our schools; it’s a real shame,” she said.
“It’s of no fault of the teachers because music is considered now part of ‘creative arts’ in the teaching syllabus ... so there’s all these different subjects inside creative arts which music is one of.
“The crazy thing is, research shows us how incredibly beneficial music is to our kids and not only helps them be better students in other subjects buy makes them better people.”
Harris believes the future for Lah-Lah and her Big live Band will be education in the virtual world and creating more digital resources accessible to everyone.
Lah-Lah ’Having Fun!’ Tour, Saturday September 16 at 10:30am, University Hall at UOW. For tickets, visit: www.lah-lah.com