Paul Barlow - July 2020 Artist of the Month
Our July artist of the month is the well-travelled and multi-talented violinist, tutor and Vice President of the Murrumbidgee Regional Conservatorium of Music, Paul Barlow.
Paul was born and raised in Ireland, first picking up the violin at seven years old. Originally wanting to play the trombone, his mother suggested he instead try the violin that once belonged to his grandfather. Paul subsequently discovered a love for it and went on to study at the Royal Irish Academy of Music for a few years as well as playing with an Irish folk group that toured local pubs. In the following years Paul lived, worked and studied in various countries including Spain, Italy, Mexico and the United States. During his time in Spain and Italy, he studied humanities, completing a Masters Degree in Philosophy and a Bachelors Degree in Theology and was part of an Italian ensemble that played for the Pope. Paul developed videography skills in America where he worked in patient education using interactive multimedia and animation work in the medical field.
After living abroad for many years, Paul met his partner, married, had a child, and moved to Australia, settling in the Western Riverina to be close to his wife’s family for the birth of their second child. It was Paul’s sister-in-law, a singing teacher, who first asked him to take on a pupil to learn violin. From that point his pupil numbers grew so much, he sidelined his business and focused solely on tutoring. Seeing the growing interest in music, Paul became part of the working group that started the momentous task of forming and legalising a music Conservatorium in Griffith, which was finalised in 2018.
Paul prepares for an online class.
Raina Savage, Griffith Regional Arts and Museum Manager, and Secretary of the Murrumbidgee Regional Conservatorium of Music notes Paul’s contributions to the organisation: “Paul Barlow has been involved with the Board of Murrumbidgee Regional Conservatorium since the idea was first developed in 2017. He is passionate about bringing the love and joy of music to the community, particularly giving children in the public education sector the opportunity to learn an instrument and have a musical education. He is a gentle, enthusiastic and creative teacher and over the past four years he has been the main driver of getting MRCM teachers into primary schools across the region, enlisting dozens of students in many schools. His efforts have increased the profile of MRCM in the community, and helped to ensure that regional children have the same access to a musical education as those in metropolitan areas.”
The Conservatorium student body has grown steadily since 2018, and they are always open for new enrollments. Paul now has between 40 and 60 students at any one time, which he teaches as he travels around the Riverina visiting schools and homes. With the arrival of COVID-19 and its social distancing restrictions, Paul has been able to utilise his extensive background in videography to convert lessons to an online format so his students can still receive first class tutoring.
Paul's home office set up to provide lessons for students learning via distance or self-isolating.
The Conservatorium contributes to the talent of many of the local bands including The Griffith City Band, Little Big Band, Griffith City String Ensemble and The MRCM Quartet. The Conservatorium also plays at weddings, recitals, school events and end-of-year gatherings, helps to get teachers accredited and has worked with the local theatre running jazz, Taiko drumming and musical theatre workshops. Paul sings the praises of having a Conservatorium in the Western Riverina: “It’s a school of music, but it also provides musicians to the town band and orchestra. It also lends itself to having musicians for the theatre. Music has become an absolutely vital part of education. It uses both hemispheres of the brain, which is extremely important. The whole brain lights up when you play music. Music is truly a whole brain workout!”
It’s not just Paul noticing these benefits either. He has been delighted with the response from parents who have noted changes and improvements in various areas in their children’s lives as a result of the lessons. “Music provides discipline for the kids. You can see how they’re really improving. It improves all aspects of their life. I have some kids who are hyper and it calms them down. There are others who have a hard time concentrating on their homework, and it brings them down to earth, it anchors them. Music has many benefits.”
The Conservatorium is currently seeking more tutors for their ever-expanding number of students and to add more variety to their musical repertoire. Paul explains: “I teach the violin and viola. We have another tutor who teaches guitar, bass guitar and keyboard. We also have a wind teacher and an operatic singer. We‘d like to have a resident cello teacher and another brass teacher.” New tutors at the Conservatorium will no doubt find the experience as rewarding as Paul has. “It’s doing something for other people, for education, it’s being altruistic. It has its own type of reward, teaching and seeing them progress.”
The Murrumbidgee Regional Conservatorium of Music logo, designed by Paul Barlow.
It has been a massive combined effort to establish the Conservatorium but the journey is not over. The Conservatorium is still in need of a permanent home base in Griffith where it can host performances, activities, music classes and continue to provide a valuable service to those living in the Western Riverina. Paul has put a call out to the community: “It’s hard yakka, but when you see other people working equally as hard, you keep going. All we need is a building. If we can get someone to help us, that would be fantastic!”
To get in touch with Paul and the Murrumbidgee Regional Conservatorium of Music, you can follow their Facebook page or connect via their website or send an email to admin@mrcmusic.com.au.
Images and story by Camille Whitehead, Tuesday 7th July, 2020.
