I met up with Melody Crystal at 5Litr in North Melbourne last week over some really good coffee, lunch and a chat about her background and our upcoming concert event with Melbourne Contemporary Choir Jun 18 "Time To Shine". The Choir is really excited to be performing a couple of songs with Melody on the night which are going to blow audiences away. The choir met Melody at our rehearsal last Thursday night, needless to say, despite her petite size she made a big impact on our singers who were really impressed. Melody arrived just as the choir was rehearsing a song called "The Power of One" so we shoved a mic in her hand and she jumped in with, us pumping out a fantastic rendition of the Israel Houghton hit song. I was introduced to Melody through our musical director for the concert, Jared Haschek who has been collaborating with Melody on some projects recently. After lunch Melody gave me her "home work" a little question sheet I asked her to fill out beforehand, to let you in on a bit of her musical journey. Here's what she had to say...

Name and Occupation
Melody Crystal
I'm a choir teacher (Primary School aged kids), Glee vocal coach and Teacher Aide.
Twitter @melodycrystal
Instagram @melodycrystal

What was the first Song you sang?
Let the Franklin Flow with the band 'Goanna' - (The Goanna Band was formed as an Australian folk rock group by singer-songwriter and guitarist Shane Howard).

Top 3 favourite lyrics?
Crystal Lewis: MORE
"We are meant for more than this world could suppose
We are more than we know"

Charlie Chaplin: SMILE
That's time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying
You'll see that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile

Stevie Wonder: EVIL
Evil, why have you stolen so much love
Leaving everyone's emotions lost and wandering free

Ultimate stage outfit?
Anything that can create the illusion of me being tall!

Three things that make you feel confident/invincible
1. My four precious children
2. My faith and hope
3. Knowing how far I've come

What are you working on right now?
Writing music for myself and others.
Writing my autobiography
Making money to produce those things!

MELODY CRYSTALS BIO:
Born and raised in Adelaide, South Australia to Graham and Stephney Davidge, Melody Crystal's life was immersed in the music industry and culture from day one. Her father, a seasoned guitarist, has played with many successful bands including 'The Little River Band' and 'Goanna'. Given her surroundings, it wasn't too long before she developed a love for expressing herself through song.

In her late teen years, she sang in small piano bars around Adelaide before shifting to Melbourne to be with her father and broaden her horizons.

1993 saw her joining a little known original Christian Funk/Rock/Fusion outfit called 'Mr Bus'. It was in that band that she met her husband, guitarist Gavin Chan.

The band parted ways in 1997 when Melody took a break to recover from some issues she had been having with her voice.

In 2003, Melody released a very successful solo EP titled 'Show Me Heaven'. The title track from that EP became the highest played Australian song in the Christian sector for that year.

Now a single mother with four children, Melody is currently working on her autobiography aptly named, 'The Party's At My Place', as well as collaborating with songwriter musician Jared Haschek on music for other artist as well as her own upcoming album.

Melody is a pocket rocket with an amazing vocal and she will be performing two original songs at the Melbourne Contemporary Choir Concert and EP launch #TIMETOSHINE. The concert is Saturday night June 18, 7:30PM Planetshakers City Church (North East Campus) 356-360 Main Road Lower Plenty. You can get your tickets through Eventbrite by clicking the button below. Tickets are selling fast so don't miss out and get yours today. Tickets are $20 adult and $15 concession (plus booking fee). For your money you'll get a live 10 piece band with horn section, a 40+ member choir and hear the vocal stylings of our amazing guest artist/singer/songwriter & music educator - Melodoy Crystal.

Jason Simmonds
Creative Director
​Melbourne Contemporary Choir

The stage is set for an entertaining evening, all that's missing is you. Click here to get your tickets today. Group booking of 10 or more can enjoy concessional rates, so why not organise a group and enjoy this evening together.

The choir will also be launching our EP of two songs on the night. You'll hear both songs performed and have the opportunity to purchase the EP as a special discounted price. This offer is only valid on the night for concert guests only.

See you at the show.

Jason Simmonds
Founder & Creative Director 
​Melbourne Contemporary Choir

A choir is the perfect outlet for exploring creativity and musicianship. Musical engagement leads to increased pro-social behaviours – that is, selfless actions that help other people. This would be supported by a shared emotional state, which relies on empathy of participants to spread.
But music is also at the centre of where we first learn to be sociable – in the mother-infant bond. Listening to a mother sing is mesmerising to babies, having immediate and profound impacts on their arousal and attention, including physical responses.
These innate, companionable musical communications are highly effective despite the lack of linguistic understanding by the infant. They are also universal; lullabies are recognisable as such in virtually every culture on Earth.
 
There are strong indications that group singing, music making and social behaviours are strongly linked. Music therapy has been shown to reliably improve social behaviours in individuals on the autism spectrum. Studies with children indicate that music engagement increases both empathy and pro-social behaviours. Taken together, the evidence points to a strong link between co-creation of music and improved social bonding. This is verified in surveys of choir members, who consistently report that social interaction is a primary benefit of participation. Participating in a choir not only made them feel more connected to each other, but also more connected to their audience and more confident in their social interactions generally.
 
It is well established that a positive mood state supports cognitive flexibility, while stress and anxiety act as inhibitors. Co-creating music may therefore support improved cognitive skills through both the emotional and social benefits of singing. Additionally music processing requires a complex interplay of many brain functions working in coordination, which assists more complex mental processing abilities.
 
If these theories of music’s benefits are correct, it gives us cause to consider our own use of music. Traditionally, in order to be heard, music had to be made publically and it was most often made in groups. It could be that in professionalizing music (ie leaving it up to those who make a living out of music) we are both diminishing our own wellbeing as well as our community life. Australia is currently seeing a surge in community choirs, which may indicate a reclaiming of our social musicality. It’s time to lay aside the excuse of “I can’t sing” and participate in this health giving activity, which is almost universally accessible and is proving to have so many layers of benefits.
 
MCCHOIR is launching our brand new EP on June 18 at our concert event "Time To Shine" held at Planet Shakers City Church, Lower Plenty from 7:30 PM. With a live band and pumping horn section to back up the choir and special guest artist Melody Crystal, you'll be blown away by how great a choir concert experience can be. Come and experience social musicality first hand and what it can be like to be part of this amazing group of "ordinary" people achieving something greater than themselves. You can get your tickets here for this exciting event:

​The central role of music in our individual lives and shared community experiences has been true for every culture, for as far back as we can trace our human ancestory.
 
Music making appears to be a unique human endeavor as a creative activity. More than 40,000 years ago humans fashioned flutes from bone but it is estimated that singing extends as far back as 600,000 years. Why has singing played such a pivotal role in our human existence? For one it is an activity which elicits strong emotional reactions and provides deep satisfaction for participants. The value of singing has endured throughout time and across cultural boundaries.
 
Have you ever noticed the innate musical abilities of an infant? Even newborn babies have the ability to decode and understand musical phrases beyond the capabilities of any other animal. These abilities require complex and advanced cognitive capabilities.
 
There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that music making has provided specific benefits for our ancestors and is true for us today. More specifically, three benefits have been proposed which demonstrate that music making and singing in a group provide specific and tangible benefits. They can be categorized as emotional, social and cognitive benefits.

Emotions provide a core component of our decision-making processes by signaling that something critical requires attention. Emotions prioritise the many options that we may have at any given time and reduce overload from the bombardment of senses that we experience. Group singing provides a rewarding, positive activity where emotional empathy can be developed.
We know that interacting with music today is, for almost everyone, both an emotional and overwhelmingly positive experience. Additionally music is used to reinforce positive moods and manage negative moods – something every teenager knows. Others put music to targeted purposes; for example, many athletes use music to put them in a mood state that supports peak performance. Research shows it to be an effective strategy, increasing both performance and enjoyment. Music’s ability to change or reinforce a mood relies on the principle of emotion contagion; we can catch moods from one another and we can also catch them from music.
 
This week at Melbourne Contemporary Choir we are celebrating our 1 year anniversary. If you’d like to experience the joy of group singing we’d invite you to attend our FREE open rehearsal this Thursday. We rehearse at The Macleod Community Hall, 7 Birdwood Avenue, Macleod. Directly opposite Macleod Train Station from 7:30PM – why not bring a friend.
 
In the next blogs I’m going to discuss the social and cognitive benefits of group singing.

Jason Simmonds
Founder and Creative Director
​Melbourne Contemporary Choir

“The inexpressible joy of song” were the words one of our members used in a recent facebook post, that’s what we experience each week at Melbourne Contemporary Choir rehearsals. Two of the children of one of our founding members were surprised, to say the least, to hear that the group sing songs from Adele and Beyonce and they had a great time with their family belting out their own rendition of “Halo” and “Hello” around the piano.
 
These are just two of our members stories who have found a genuine group of people who love to sing and create music together. I’m not sure why I feel so energised after a night at MCCHOIR - but there’s something about many voices joining together to create something special that captures my imagination and does my soul good.
 
A recent report linked music with life memories and made the profound statement that music is truly “the soundtrack of our lives”. Just this week Amy Grant and Tori Kelly teamed up to release a 25th Anniversary rendition of the #1 hit “Baby Baby” which first hit the airwaves in the early 90s. You can watch the lyric video here.  ​The song earned Amy three Grammy nominations in 1992 and went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.​​

Amy and Tori have kept true to the melody and essence of the song and for me it brought back so many memories of when the song first released in my early years of University.  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed singing along to the entire original album “Heart in Motion” since. Some songs just capture our imagination and reignite memories of a time and place gone by and seem timeless to us because music is so personal. The song “Baby Baby” was originally inspired by Amy’s young daughter at the time, although it also does have romantic connotations. She recalls performing it at the Oscars in the 90s and having her daughter join her on stage late that night to share her inspiration for the song.
 
“Sing and make music in your heart” is my mantra for life really. It doesn’t matter who’s listening – it could be just you and the shower, but never give up on humming a tune or singing along to your favourite radio tune. Even if no one else hears, you’ll have done yourself some good.
 
Jason Simmonds
Creative Director & Founder
Melbourne Contemporary Choir