A musical time to support Lifeline

TWO concert groups are set to come together next month to raise funds for Lifeline Ballarat.

The event will see performing quintet The Little Brass Band and vocal octet VOX deliver a program of nearly 20 songs in support of the organisation.

The Little Brass Band manager Janice Lynn has been a volunteer at Lifeline Ballarat since 2017 and said the event is about raising awareness about what the non-profit does for the community.

“There’s a lot of really good workshops in training and suicide prevention the organisation does, so we wanted to draw people’s attention to that,” she said.

“We’re musicians and we wanted to play, of course, but we also thought it would be a good fundraiser to raise the profile of Lifeline.

“Ballarat’s got the highest suicide rate in the state especially for young people between eight and 16, so the training Lifeline offers is excellent.”

The money raised from the concert will go towards one of Ballarat Lifeline’s free safeTALK suicide awareness and prevention workshops, which attendees will be able to register for at the event.

A workshop normally costs about $2000 to host.

Lynn said the program will feature an eclectic selection of classic songs.

“It’ll be jazz, swing, classical. We’ll start with a prelude before Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Baker Street to Stevie Wonder to Louis Armstrong,” she said.

“There’s sort of a message in the set where the songs start off nice and touchy-feely before it gets more intense and winds up happy, to reflect the talk on suicide awareness.

“We want to try and build community resilience and connection, and music is a really good way of connecting so we want it to have a positive note as well.”

Both groups will come together at the end of the set for a performance of I Still Call Australia Home, arranged by The Little Brass Band trombonist Cassandra Hiscock.

The event will take place from 2.30pm on Sunday 1 October at the Ballarat Central Uniting Church.

Tickets are $20 for adults with $10 concession, and free for attendees under 18 years old, and can be booked at bit.ly/3PKeS5T.