Susie Davies-Splitter & Phil Splitter
Music educators, songwriters and performers. Founders of Welcome to Music, 1992.
Their story
Susie and Phil started Welcome to Music in 1992 with one aim: make teaching and learning music easy and fun for everyone. More than thirty years on, their songs, teacher manuals, choral arrangements and musicals are used in early childhood centres and schools across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, the UK and Canada.
Everything they create is inspired by the Orff Schulwerk approach, a creative, playful, inclusive and holistic way of teaching music that encourages children to explore, discover and make music through singing, speech, movement, body percussion and instrumental play. Improvisation, creativity and collaboration are at the heart of the process, allowing all children to develop musical skills naturally through active participation. At its core, Orff Schulwerk is an inclusive approach that celebrates every child's abilities, providing opportunities for all children, regardless of their experience or ability, to participate, contribute and experience success in music-making.
Every activity has been tried and tested in real classrooms and designed to be accessible, engaging and enjoyable, giving even teachers with little or no musical background the confidence to bring music to life in their classrooms.
What they've done
- Songs and recordings: the Welcome to Music series of children's albums with books for teachers and carers, an extensive choral range, and musicals including Down Under in Australia and The Secret of Erehwon. Many of their songs were published in the ABC Sing books from 1995 to 2009.
- Commissions: Hearts in Harmony for Playworks; Island in the Sky for the Dandenong Ranges Music Council, for families affected by the 1997 bushfires; Strive for the Highest for Penrhos College's 50th anniversary, performed at the Hillsongs Choral Festival in 2004; school songs, a literacy program (Little Learners Love Literacy) and the Mini Maestros music program.
- Children's shows: Rainbows, Trees & Tambourines, Welcome to Music, Razzamajazz and Funkey Monkey, performed for 3 to 13 year olds in Australia, the USA and Singapore. In 2009 they hosted ten Classic Kids concerts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
- Artists in Schools: since 1997, programs in more than 40 schools, from Haileybury, Melbourne Grammar and Caulfield Grammar to special schools in Melbourne and Bendigo, Hermannsburg in the Northern Territory, Seattle in the USA, and Lihir International School in Papua New Guinea.
- Community: founders of Hearts in Harmony Community Music, a not-for-profit association; parent workshops and family music events at festivals including the Port Fairy Folk Festival.
- Speaking: keynotes and conference sessions for educators across Australia.
