HADAHUR

MUSIC IN TIMOR-LESTE
Timor-Leste is one of the world’s newest nations, achieving freedom from occupation in 1999 and declaring Independence on May 20, 2002. Despite centuries of occupation, under Portugal and then Indonesia, the Timorese people have developed a rich and unique culture,including an exceptional musical tradition. It is a source of identity, and fertile ground for the spiritual and cultural growth of the new nation.

Hadahur Objectives

General
Establish and maintain a premises with library, instrumental store and video conferencing facilities in Dili. Concentrate on the instruments currently played in Timor e.g. violin, guitar, keyboard, voice and recorder.

Early Childhood Music Program
Establish early childhood music classes, “Teke Toke Inan Muzika” for communities throughout Timor-Leste, training and employing youth to teach to mothers and children songs which have been translated into Tetun, and using children’s percussion instruments.

Traditional Music Program
Initiate and support structured methods of teaching traditional instruments, song and dance by master musicians e.g. the lakadou and its associated dances.

Western Art Music Program
Liaise with established music schools and teachers to organise a programme of intensive sessions for music teacher(s) with master teachers/ visiting experts. Work with other music schools in Australia who have a tradition of outreach music education programs to remote communities.

Popular/Contemporary Music Program
Encourage excellence in study and performance through liaison with popular music specialists and teachers. Facilitate visits of guitar makers (from Darwin) to teach to Timorese people the skills to maintain guitars.

Ros Dunlop:0418 802 757
http://www.tekeemedia.com
rosdunlop@tekeemedia.com

Susan Connelly rsj: 02 9623 28
http:// www.mmiets.org.au
sc@mmiets.org.au

A MUSIC SCHOOL IN TIMOR-LESTE

HADAHUR AIMS

1. To give Timorese people opportunities to learn an array of instruments and repertoire, including European, Timorese traditional and contemporary/popular;
2. To encourage the Timorese people to be proud of their musical heritage, to enjoy it themselves and preserve it for future generations through learning the traditional Timorese music and instruments.

Personnel and Institutions

The Mary MacKillop East Timor Mission was formed in 1994 at the request of Bishop Carlos Belo to devise, produce and distribute a literacy program in the Tetun language as a way of helping to preserve Timorese language and culture. In the course of the past 12 years the MMETM Literacy program has received wide acceptance and now forms a major part of the Tetun Curriculum recently published by UNICEF and the Ministry of Education.

Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva of Dili, a musician and composer, asked the Mary MacKillop East Timor Mission to establish a Music School in Timor-Leste. The promotion of musical culture goes hand in hand with mother tongue education as important aspects of cultural preservation.

Tekee Media Inc. is primarily a music-based organisation whose members, the internationally-renowned composer Martin Wesley-Smith and clarinettist Ros Dunlop, have travelled and performed extensively on the international concert circuit., focussing on social justice and human rights issues in their multimedia performances.

The Traditional Music recovery project of the music of Timor-Leste: Tekee Tokee Tomak – let’s get together, is a product of work in Timor. Tekee Media is committed to creating cultural exchanges and exploiting existing historical bonds between Australia and Timor.

António de Padua Martins Soares (Head of Western Art Music Program) of Kintál Boot, Dili, is a chorister and organist in St Cecilia’s Choir, Balide, the most prestigious choir in Timor-Leste. In 2005 António gained the Diploma of Performance and Pedagogy at the Australian International Conservatorium of Music. At the same time he passed AMEB 7th grade piano with honours under the tuition of Sister Marie Levey B.A., M.Litt., Ph.D., A.T.C.L., L.T.C.L.. António lives in Dili and is employed by the Mary MacKillop
East Timor Mission.

Manuel Pereira (Head of Traditional Music Program) is a gifted player of traditional Timorese instruments, one of the few remaining masters of the lakadou. He has worked consistently to promote and preserve his nation’s traditional music.

Eduardo Soares (Head of Popular/Comtemporary Music Program) has extensive experience working with NGOs in East Timor and is a committed musician and song writer of popular music.

Susan Connelly (Manager) is a Sister of St Joseph, the Assistant Director of the Mary MacKillop East Timor Mission. She organised the Australian tour of the choir Anin Murak in 2000 and has promoted Timorese music through CD productions and the support of Timorese choirs and musicians in Timor and Australia.

Ros Dunlop (Hadahur International Music Coordinator) has recorded, collected and transcribed East Timorese music and has conducted music workshops all over Timor-Leste. She has piloted a project for the school music curriculum in Timor-Leste on the lakadou. She has devised presentations about Timor for Australian schools accredited through the NSW Department of Education. Her work was the subject of a 2007 ABC radio programme called “A Musical Tais”.

Ros is also one of Australia’s leading clarinetists/bass clarinetists. She has commissioned many Australian Composers and premiered many new compositions by composers worldwide. Ros has performed throughout Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Timor-Leste and the USA. Her CDs have received international acclaim.

Contact Details

Ros Dunlop: 0418 802 757
http://www.tekeemedia.com
rosdunlop@tekeemedia.com

Mary MacKillop East Timor Mission
PO Box 299 St Marys NSW 1790
Phone: + 61 2 9623 2847
Fax: + 61 2 9623 1573
Website: www.mmiets.org.au
general@mmiets.org.au
ABN: 88 808 531 480
Tax deductibility is available through Mary MacKillop East Timor Mission

Institutu Mary MacKillop
besik Igreja Sagrada Coração
Becora, Dili, Timor-Leste
PO Box 427
Ph/Fax: 0011 670 3317 422