Musical Storytime: Introducing Teddy - Bendigo

Introduce your children to the magic of live music and storytelling with Orchestra Victoria and Melbourne Recital Centre!

Introducing Teddy is a gentle story about gender, being true to yourself and being a good friend. Teddy knows in her heart that she is a girl, not a boy. Will her friends understand? Will they call her Tilly?

This short, interactive concert with pre-performance activities is a perfect first live event for young people. Children are invited to participate in the storytelling and learn about the different instruments being played. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience this musical storytime. They’ll be singing and dancing all the way home!

About the composer:
Christine Pan is a Sydney-based composer commended for her versatility. She has composed for physics professors and engineers to dancers and orchestras. Her works are often developed from social-cultural and philosophical frameworks, that she takes great pride in meticulously researching. Her music has been played by the Goldner Quartet, Ensemble Offspring, Ensemble Terra, the Judgement of Paris and other renowned ensembles.

About the author:
Jessica Walton is a queer, disabled writer, teacher and musician living on unceded Boon Wurrung land with their wife and children. They are the author of picture book Introducing Teddy, the story of a transgender teddy bear. Illustrated by Dougal MacPherson, the book started as a self-published Kickstarter project but was published worldwide in English by Bloomsbury in 2016. It has now been translated into 9 different languages. Jess is also the author of Stars In Their Eyes, a graphic novel about a queer disabled teen with chronic pain going to her first fan con. With artwork by Aśka, this graphic novel was published by Fremantle Press in October 2021. Jess has had poems and short stories published in various anthologies, and has co-written an episode of Get Krack!n focused on disability which aired on the ABC in 2019.

This event is being toured - you can catch it as follows:

• 24 Jan: Melbourne Recital Centre
• 28 Jan: Bendigo Bank Theatre (this session)
• ... more to be announced