Endless Song

I am a composer, choral conductor and music educator, now in my mid-seventies, and I am keen to leave my compositions and arrangements in a fit state for choirs, schools and others who could enjoy them. I have 55 years worth of compositions and archives which need to be sorted and catalogued - and the works composed before I was computer literate need to be typed into the Sibelius music program. I am a pensioner, and am unable to afford to pay for this work to be done. There is an urgency - it is likely that soon, possibly by next year,  I will need to move from the flat I currently rent. It is unlikely that I will be able to take my multitudinous boxes with me. Over the next six to nine months I aim, with the help of one or two paid assistants, to go through all of my boxes, to prepare collections of my compositions in preparation for publication eg a book of songs for solo voice, three books of songs for school and community choirs (SSA, SAB, SATB), and the more than 100 play scripts with songs and instrumental music which I wrote mostly for Imagine Music Theatre workshops across almost 30 years. There are also several huge works of music theatre for full orchestra, solo singers and chorus which need to be typed. Many of my compositions were written with the financial assistance of the Australia Council - it would be a sad waste if the works were not made available to those interested. Nowadays musicians are only prepared to perform from typed scores - handwritten scores are no longer acceptable.

I aim to pay a general assistant $25 per hour, and a musician with Sibelius skills $50 an hour, to get this work done. $10,000 would give me 20 weeks of a general assistant working for 10 hours each week, and 10 weeks of a musician working for 10 hours each week. 

I believe that music, especially singing, is a vital, joyful part of life, which we should endeavour to make available to everyone. I have seen countless peoples' lives changed for the better through their increasing exposure to music-making. This is especially true for children and young people. I have done my best for more than 55 years to share my love of choirs and music in general - but if I die or lose my sight before my vast collection of scores is dealt with, much will be lost. I will be immeasurably grateful to anyone who is happy to contribute to this endeavour.