About the North Queensland Recorder Society

A brief history

The North Queensland Recorder Society was established in 1995 to bring together recorder players in the Townsville and wider North Queensland region for skills development (through workshops, etc) and social playing.

By 2015 its large-group activities had settled into a pattern of several 'Play Days' - themed Sunday afternoon playing sessions - each year, plus an annual Weekend Workshop with an out-of-town tutor.

Guest tutors for the Weekend Workshop have included Alana Blackburn, Hannah Coleman, Zana Clarke, Barbara Jerjen, Genevieve Lacey, Peter Madge, Robyn Mellor, Jessica Shaw, Rodney Waterman, Ruth Wilkinson and Daniel Murphy.

In 2016, we tried a new format: monthly workshops led by tutors and held in the afternoon of the third Sunday of the month. We didn't have a weekend workshop, however. In 2017 we had both monthly workshops and a very successful weekend workshop on Magnetic Island.

In 2018 and 2019, we had musical soirées at members' homes to replace the monthly workshops, and a residential weekend workshop on Magnetic Island.

And then there was Covid!

Activities in 2021 were almost back to normal after most were cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic. The Annual Workshop took place, against all odds, on Magnetic Island on the weekend of 16-18 July, 2021.

Musical soirées at members' homes returned to normal in 2022 and 2023. Our annual workshop on Magnetic Island at the beginning of September 2023 featured Robyn Mellor and Daniel Murphy as guest tutors (more details on our Annual Workshop page).

The society has encouraged formation of amateur consorts, maintained a library of recorder music, and produced an occasional newsletters since its inception. Individual members of the Society appear with performing groups which feature recorders.

Please visit our Home page for membership and contact information.

Some of the society's earlier history (1995 - 2015) can be found at malcolmtattersall.com.au/music/about-north-qld-recorder-society/

Page last updated 260424