The Crescendo Music Education Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome to Crescendo Music Education Podcast, where we dive into the stories, sounds, and sparks that inspire creativity and learning in the classroom and beyond. Today, we're taking a musical journey around the globe—and our tour guide is none other than world music children’s performer, DARIA!

For over four decades, Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou has been sharing the joy of music with families and classrooms across the U.S. and around the world. Her mission? To build bridges, celebrate culture, and create community through the universal language of music.

Daria’s music has earned numerous national awards for its cultural richness and educational value. You might know her as the voice behind the MLK Day “I Have a Dream” song or the powerful Earth Day anthem "We’ve Got The Whole World In Our Hands" that's sung by children globally. She's also brought us inspiring new classics like “Beautiful Rainbow World” and a special song for World Oceans Day.

But Daria’s impact goes beyond performance. She also creates incredible teaching resources that introduce children to world music instruments and traditions—like the chapchas, a unique rattle made from goat toenails and used in Andean music, which just so happens to be one of her favorite instruments!

So get ready to explore rhythms, stories, and sounds from around the world as we chat with Daria about how music connects us all—no matter where we’re from. Let’s dive into the world of music for children... and the magic it brings!

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

• How to Stay in Touch with Daria
  • https://www.dariamusic.com/
  • Youtube
  • Spotify
• 📘 Purchase World Music ABC's HERE

Where to find me: 

Crescendo Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crescendocommunity
Official Crescendo Page: https://www.facebook.com/CrescendoMusicEd/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CrescendoMusicEd
Twitter: https://twitter.com/crescendomusic
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-o-shea-62a3741b/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CrescendoDeb

If you joined us for Part 1 of our conversation with Claire Hornagold, you know we explored the power of curiosity in the music room. But today, we’re shifting gears to talk about something just as important—collaboration.

Teaching is so much more than just delivering a lesson plan. It’s about building relationships, working alongside other teachers, and creating meaningful learning experiences that extend beyond our own classrooms. Claire has a wealth of experience in working across subjects, teaming up with educators, and finding creative ways to integrate music into the broader curriculum.

In this episode, we’ll dive into the power of teamwork, the impact of a connected school culture, and how stepping outside our own classroom can transform the way we teach. Let’s jump back in and continue this inspiring conversation with Claire!

Links Mentioned in this Series:

• James Morrison Video  
• Ostinato Video  
• Anthems website 
• Wheel of Names  

Where to find me: 

Crescendo Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crescendocommunity
Official Crescendo Page: https://www.facebook.com/CrescendoMusicEd/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CrescendoMusicEd
Twitter: https://twitter.com/crescendomusic
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-o-shea-62a3741b/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CrescendoDeb

Welcome to this special episode of the podcast, where we’re thrilled to have the legendary Ralph Hultgren as our guest! Ralph is a celebrated composer, conductor, and educator whose music has inspired musicians around the globe. In this episode, we’ll dive into his incredible journey—from his early days discovering his passion for music to becoming one of the most respected composers in the industry.

Ralph will also give us a behind-the-scenes look at his composition process. How does he bring a piece of music to life? What inspires his work? And what advice does he have for aspiring composers and educators? Whether you’re a music lover, teacher, or creator, this episode is packed with insights and stories that will leave you inspired. Let’s get started! 🎶

Biography of Ralph Hultgren:
Ralph Hultgren, born in Box Hill, Victoria, Australia, is a distinguished freelance teacher, composer, and conductor currently residing in Newmarket, Queensland. He began his professional music career in 1970 as a trumpet player with the Central Band of the Royal Australian Air Force. Dr. Hultgren has made significant contributions to music education and has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including being named a Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2016. He is the Patron of the Maryborough Music Conference and has received the Midwest Clinic International Award for his global contributions to music education. Ralf received the Citation of Excellence from the Australian Band and Orchestra Directors’ Association, as well as life membership of ABODA.

Dr. Hultgren's extensive academic career includes serving as Head of Open Conservatorium at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, where he lectured in conducting and instrumental music education and conducted the Queensland Conservatorium Wind Orchestra. He has also performed with notable ensembles like the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Brass Choir. While composing and conducting are his primary focuses today, teaching remains his greatest passion. Outside of music, he enjoys reading, listening to various genres, and leading a men's group at his church, cherishing time with his family.

Links Mentioned in this Episode:
🎶 Together Sing
🎙️ Together Sing Podcast Ep 72

Where to find me: 

Crescendo Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crescendocommunity
Official Crescendo Page: https://www.facebook.com/CrescendoMusicEd/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CrescendoMusicEd
Twitter: https://twitter.com/crescendomusic
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-o-shea-62a3741b/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CrescendoDeb

Paul Jarman is a widely acclaimed Australian composer, performer, musical director, conductor and educator. His music has inspired singers and audiences around the world. As a cultural ambassador he has performed extensively throughout Australia, Europe, Asia, North America and the Pacific in over 40 countries with theatre productions, dance ensembles, Aboriginal-Anglo Celtic performance groups, choirs and orchestras; in festivals, special events, schools and towns as a conductor and musical director, and a member of Australia’s first ‘world music’ ensemble Sirocco since 1996 representing Australia in Pakistan, India, Taiwan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Musica Viva. He has also performed on many Australian feature films and television series and composed the music to award winning adventure documentaries by renowned cinematographer Mike Dillon, including ‘Ocean to Sky’, a film to honour the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Sir Edmund Hillary in 2019.

Paul has recently composed music for the Gondwana Voices 30th Anniversary, the Centenary of the birth of Sir Edmund Hillary, Festival of Voices Hobart, the Western Australian Choral Festival and a new piece for Sydney Grammar about the cave rescue of the Wild Boar Soccer team of Thailand. In 2020 Paul will write over 12 new commissions and work in Burma, Korea, China, Singapore and all over Australia as an artist in residence and guest speaker.

View his full bio HERE.

Let Go the Long White Sails

Shackleton

Click HERE to view Paul Jarman’s Website

Crescendo Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crescendocommunityOfficial Crescendo Page: https://www.facebook.com/CrescendoMusicEd/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CrescendoMusicEdTwitter: https://twitter.com/crescendomusicLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-o-shea-62a3741b/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CrescendoDebbie/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/crescendodebbie/

Paul Jarman is a widely acclaimed Australian composer, performer, musical director, conductor and educator. His music has inspired singers and audiences around the world. As a cultural ambassador he has performed extensively throughout Australia, Europe, Asia, North America and the Pacific in over 40 countries with theatre productions, dance ensembles, Aboriginal-Anglo Celtic performance groups, choirs and orchestras; in festivals, special events, schools and towns as a conductor and musical director, and a member of Australia’s first ‘world music’ ensemble Sirocco since 1996 representing Australia in Pakistan, India, Taiwan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Musica Viva. He has also performed on many Australian feature films and television series and composed the music to award winning adventure documentaries by renowned cinematographer Mike Dillon, including ‘Ocean to Sky’, a film to honour the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Sir Edmund Hillary in 2019.

Paul has recently composed music for the Gondwana Voices 30th Anniversary, the Centenary of the birth of Sir Edmund Hillary, Festival of Voices Hobart, the Western Australian Choral Festival and a new piece for Sydney Grammar about the cave rescue of the Wild Boar Soccer team of Thailand. In 2020 Paul will write over 12 new commissions and work in Burma, Korea, China, Singapore and all over Australia as an artist in residence and guest speaker.

View his full bio HERE.

Let Go the Long White Sails

Shackleton

Click HERE to view Paul Jarman’s Website

Crescendo Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crescendocommunityOfficial Crescendo Page: https://www.facebook.com/CrescendoMusicEd/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CrescendoMusicEdTwitter: https://twitter.com/crescendomusicLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-o-shea-62a3741b/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CrescendoDebbie/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/crescendodebbie/

Kaboom Percussion was founded by Catherine Betts and Joshua Webster in 2014 and since then they have taken the world by storm with their own unique, original and enormously successful repertoire.

Their popular education programs have been extremely well received and they have performed their highly sought-after School Shows to more than 100,000 students across Australia and New Zealand. This huge demand has made Kaboom a full-time job for Cat and Josh.

In 2021, the Kaboom Percussion team grew to include the highly talented percussionists Grace Kruger, Laura Harris, Lochie Dormer, and Nathan Gatenby. Kaboom now has three permanent school show teams based in Perth, Melbourne, and Brisbane, allowing for an even greater flexibility in booking and allowing them to reach even more students. You can meet the team below.

At its core, the Kaboom Percussion team are passionate about harnessing the fun side of music, showing the world that music can be played with even the simplest of objects. Sparked by their popular version of the Cup Song, this approach has seen the growth of their YouTube channel to more than 330,000 subscribers, with their popular videos being viewed more than 100 million times.

Famous CUPS! Video

Connect with Kaboom (Cat & Josh):

• Website
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram

Crescendo Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crescendocommunityOfficial Crescendo Page: https://www.facebook.com/CrescendoMusicEd/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CrescendoMusicEdTwitter: https://twitter.com/crescendomusicLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-o-shea-62a3741b/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CrescendoDebbie/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/crescendodebbie/

Kaboom Percussion was founded by Catherine Betts and Joshua Webster in 2014 and since then they have taken the world by storm with their own unique, original and enormously successful repertoire.

Their popular education programs have been extremely well received and they have performed their highly sought-after School Shows to more than 100,000 students across Australia and New Zealand. This huge demand has made Kaboom a full-time job for Cat and Josh.

In 2021, the Kaboom team grew to include the highly talented percussionists Grace Kruger, Laura Harris, Lochie Dormer, and Nathan Gatenby. Kaboom now has three permanent school show teams based in Perth, Melbourne, and Brisbane, allowing for an even greater flexibility in booking and allowing them to reach even more students. You can meet the team below.

At its core, the Kaboom team are passionate about harnessing the fun side of music, showing the world that music can be played with even the simplest of objects. Sparked by their popular version of the Cup Song, this approach has seen the growth of their YouTube channel to more than 330,000 subscribers, with their popular videos being viewed more than 100 million times.

Famous CUPS! Video

Connect with Kaboom (Cat & Josh):

• Website
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram

Crescendo Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crescendocommunityOfficial Crescendo Page: https://www.facebook.com/CrescendoMusicEd/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CrescendoMusicEdTwitter: https://twitter.com/crescendomusicLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-o-shea-62a3741b/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CrescendoDebbie/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/crescendodebbie/

Bill Henry is a seasoned elementary music teacher, presenter, and creator of the popular YouTube channel, Mr. Henry’s Music World, which offers high-quality, entertaining videos for music teachers & kids with millions of views across the channel. Bill is also the co-creator and producer of The Music Podcast for Kids, which was featured in The New York Times as one of the top music audio shows for kids in the world.

Programs Bill uses to create YouTube videos:

• Snappa – add Boomwhacker notes
• Logic Pro
• Final Cut Pro

Nuggets of Fabulous 

• Mr Henry Bucks
• Teaching correct air flow for recorder using straws and ping pong balls
• Turkey Lurkey – dynamics version on YouTube (also can be done with rhythm matching)

Find Bill Henry on:

• Website
• YouTube
• Podcast

Crescendo Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crescendocommunityOfficial Crescendo Page: https://www.facebook.com/CrescendoMusicEd/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CrescendoMusicEdTwitter: https://twitter.com/crescendomusicLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-o-shea-62a3741b/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CrescendoDebbie/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/crescendodebbie/

Bill Henry is a seasoned elementary music teacher, presenter, and creator of the popular YouTube channel, Mr. Henry’s Music World, which offers high-quality, entertaining videos for music teachers & kids with millions of views across the channel. Bill is also the co-creator and producer of The Music Podcast for Kids, which was featured in The New York Times as one of the top music audio shows for kids in the world.

Programs Bill uses to create YouTube videos:

• Snappa – add Boomwhacker notes
• Logic Pro
• Final Cut Pro

Find Bill Henry on:

• Website
• YouTube
• Podcast

Crescendo Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crescendocommunityOfficial Crescendo Page: https://www.facebook.com/CrescendoMusicEd/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CrescendoMusicEdTwitter: https://twitter.com/crescendomusicLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-o-shea-62a3741b/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CrescendoDebbie/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/crescendodebbie/

Dan Walker is one of Australia’s most in-demand choral specialists and has a compassion for composing. He has written music for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Gondwana Choirs and Halcyon.

As a performer, Dan is a member of the Clarion vocal quartet, Sydney-based Cantillation, and Pinchgut Opera. He is a guest performer with The Song Company and was a founding member of early music ensemble ‘The Parson’s Affayre’.  A keenly sought-after conductor, Dan has appeared as chorus-master for the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Choruses, and is now music director of the Canberra Choral Society, Oriana Chamber Choir, Luminescence Chamber Singers and the Canberra Community Chorale.

Favorite Songs:

• The Hour That I Like Best
• You, Me and The Wide Open Sky

TOGETHER SING

This year we have over 500 conductors/Teachers sign up representing over 150,000 singers from every State and Territory in Australia and some from Overseas. 

The aim of Together Sing is to raise awareness of the value of Music Education and singing together to improve mental health and wellbeing.

Together Sing is a culminating week-long event during Mental Health Week. Participating schools and community groups sing a song specifically composed for the occasion. Digital downloads including lyrics, audio files, scores and other support material are available for all registered participants free of charge. This has been made possible through our partnership program coordinated by Kodály Qld. Together Sing Partners have generously donated time and expertise to provide these resources. Please take time to peruse and possibly support these partners.

In the months leading up to the performance week, schools and community groups can use the song and support materials to engage in activities based around the music, singing and the benefits of making music together including belonging, community and confidence.

During Mental Health Week, participants gather in their own context to perform the song together and immerse themselves in the joy and benefits of making music together. Performances do not have to be part of Mental Health Week – they can be at any time that works for you!

Our 2022 song, Where We Begin, is composed by a fabulous Australian Composer, Slade Gibson and arranged by another of our favourite Australia Composers, Will Brown. Listen on this page then register here for the score, audio and video files and more free resources.

Crescendo Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crescendocommunityOfficial Crescendo Page: https://www.facebook.com/CrescendoMusicEd/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CrescendoMusicEdTwitter: https://twitter.com/crescendomusicLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-o-shea-62a3741b/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CrescendoDebbie/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/crescendodebbie/