Hello!
I am Alphonsus, the Founder and Director of Musicking Maestros. I am a music educator and a father to a child with Down Syndrome. I am passionate about sharing my love of music and the benefits of music education with younger children.
​
Having a child with Down Syndrome, I am keen to make music accessible for children with special needs. I have a deep interest in music psychology as well as music and the brain.
I hope that Musicking Maestros will be a place where children will find their music in themselves.
My Story
Born and growing up in Singapore, I was fortunate to experience some excellent music education during my school days. My life was filled with music making, from attending regular piano, violin and viola lessons, to playing in the school orchestra as well as the Singapore National Youth Orchestra. I had also witness how music could and had impact one’s life, and developed a keen interest on Music Therapy.
​
My love of music and music therapy brought me to Melbourne, where I completed my Bachelor of Music degree at The University of Melbourne. However, for life reasons, I did not pursue Music Therapy, but went on to pursue a Postgraduate degree in Teaching. As a teacher-candidate, I had witness various music programs at some schools in Victoria and noticed a big difference in standards of Music Education across schools. I made a career goal to focus on searching for and developing music programs, as well as furthering my understanding of various music pedagogical approaches to music teaching such as Kodaly, Dalcroze, Orff- Schulwerk and Suzuki. I started teaching at secondary schools as well as a P-12 School in rural Victoria, assuming various roles such as Head of Music / Music Coordinator in the schools.
​
Moving to Darwin in 2014, I worked at a relatively new Catholic Secondary School here, developing the Strings Program and assisting in growing and developing the music department for 9 years. During this time, I had the opportunity to be in Primary Schools as a Music Specialist Teacher as well as developing the instrumental programs in schools. I had witnessed that not all the children are fortunate to experience a quality music education in their schools.
Therefore, I hope that Musicking Maestros will be a place to be where children will be able to experience quality music education from early their early childhood years.
​
Happy Music Making
​
Alphonsus Tan
Director and Teacher
Accredited Kindermusik Teacher
Musicking Maestros