BY NATASHA LIN
More than 30 classical musicians from Sydney and Melbourne will this month perform as part of Tempo Rubato’s 16-hour Music Marathon Fundraiser for our Firefighters. Event organiser and pianist Natasha Lin explains why she wanted to unite the community and contribute to the fire efforts.
I spent New Year’s Eve 2019 reading the news and processing what was going on as I was doing some gardening. The written words, pictures, and photos about the bushfires were a concern for me, as I had friends around some of the affected regions.
During that time, I observed my sense of frustration as I wanted to do something to ‘help’ — but was unsure how. I felt limited, as I’m not in the industry of firefighting, healthcare, or transportation — areas which I felt were more accessible as frontlinters of help.
So I asked myself, what are my strengths? And what I can do do contribute based on my skills?
This was how the idea of a fundraiser came up. But I knew I wanted to do something bigger than the usual.
I started this initiative as a way to create visibility for the social power of music
I started this initiative as a way to create visibility for the social power of music. Historically, music has been a force for cultural, social, and political transformation; psychologically, music has been a tool for internal reflection, insights and therapy.
The result from the devastation of the bushfires has ignited the spirit of collectivism in the hearts of many. The years of isolated practice to our musical craft holds the key to help express and give voice to the voiceless, and I hope that this experience will be a powerful reminder — to not only musicians, but us as a community — of the meaning of what we do.
A tribute to the firefighters’ spirit of endurance, resilience, and strength
The first thing I did after I had this idea was to contact Tempo Rubato. I wanted to approach them based on our similarity in mission philosophies and values in music as a tool for social and community wellbeing.
The brainstorm involved the idea of a marathon — the presence of continuous live music performed by top musicians as a tribute to the firefighters’ spirit of endurance, resilience, and strength.
From then on, I began getting some expressions of interests from musicians and, soon enough, I had enough performers to fill out the 16-hour duration.
This wouldn’t have happened without the generosity of support from many people who also offered their time to give me advice, perspectives, and ideas in the logistics and promotion materials.
Aside from the financial support that I hope can continue to contribute to the efforts of the CFA, I also hope that this event can be a reminder of the spirit of collectivity and humanity that is in all of us in times of crisis.
Drop by during the 16-hour Music Marathon Fundraiser for our Firefighters on February 29 from 7am-11pm at Tempo Rubato, Brunswick. (Or, you could stay for the lot!) See the full artist line-up on Facebook.
The event goal is to raise $1000 per hour for the Country Fire Authority ($16,000). Visit the GoFundMe donation page for more information. All funds raised will be donated to CFA.
