The CMAA Academy of Country Music staff members and Calrossy Anglican School are working together to ensure The Academy continues to run safely under new COVID-19 regulations.
The Academy is providing an intensive educational course to students and their parents from NSW, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland.
Staff members met with Calrossy executive on Saturday, June 26, following further COVID-19 restrictions coming into force in NSW to ensure all regulations were followed and the community was kept safe.
The Academy staff members and students have created a ‘bubble’ at Calrossy where they are not in contact with the general public and have all returned negative COVID-19 tests in the past week and have isolated since being tested. This bubble will be kept in place until The Academy concludes on Saturday, July 2.
“We are so grateful we can still come together for the 2021 Junior Academy course here in Tamworth,” Academy director Lyn Bowtell said.
“I am so proud of the way everyone has worked together to ensure our music education and business course can continue to run in these difficult times. This truly shows the resilience and dedication of our staff members, students and parents who have worked with us to ensure everyone’s safety.”
As the course is an educational institution running in a school, participants are able to sing and gather while following all NSW Government regulations.
However, these changes have meant special guests including The Bushwackers front man Dobe Newton, producer Simon Johnson, singer-songwriters Aleyce Simmonds and Catherine Britt, musician and artist Mickey Pye have presented their sessions to the parents and students via Zoom videoconferencing. Being the innovative creatives that musicians and music industry personnel are, using this technology and adapting to it has meant that the course participants still get the full gamut of experiences that The Academy offers.
The graduation concert will be closed to the public, but will be livestreamed via The Academy Facebook page on Thursday, July 1 at 8pm.
Being able to come together as a safe and isolated group has also meant the world to staff members, students and parents as many have been unable to gather in person for nearly 18 months.
The last time The Academy ran in person was January 2020 with the senior course, and has since run as Academy X, an online version and these will continue to run as specialty courses delivered via Zoom.
The Academy personnel also thanked Calrossy Anglican School executives for working with them to run another successful Academy of Country Music.
