About CREMS

History

CREMS was founded in 1974 by Judith Clingan and Michael Sawer. Judith writes:

"By 1974 ... Michael and I decided that we needed to find more adult players, and form several ensembles of different sizes and levels to try out the wealth of recorder music we both had been amassing for years. Accordingly we put an ad in the Canberra Times, inviting recorder players to meet with us one by one, to read though several pieces of music with us so that we could ascertain their level. We asked Bill Hoffmann (the music critic) to join us in the audition process ... About 40 people turned up, ranging from very basic descant only players to some proficient players of multiple instruments. Mike and I assigned them to groups of comparable players, and organised a playing day for all the groups to have a “blow-in”, followed by afternoon tea, and a meeting. We prepared parts for everyone, and borrowed music stands. At our meeting in late 1974 we decided to call our new group the Canberra Recorder and Early Music Society, hoping thereby to be able to include both contemporary recorder pieces and old music for voices, viols etc."

Since then the society has continued to flourish. We meet regularly at the Ainslie Arts Centre in Braddon, ACT. While our focus and expertise is on recorders we are happy to welcome players of other early instruments. We collaborate with other recorder and early music groups in performances and promotion of events relevant to our members.

Photo credit: Peter Hislop

Our Musical Director

Barbara Jerjen is the Musical Director of CREMS. She studied flute, recorder and older music, pedagogy as well as languages and cultural anthropology in Basel (Switzerland). Originally based in Europe as a performer, researcher and teacher, Barbara moved to Canberra in 1995, married with four children. She has been teaching students of all ages and abilities for decades. Her expertise ranges from early childhood music education over individual and group/ensemble instrumental tuition to conducting recorder orchestras and leading workshops. Barbara has her own music school Barbara’s Music Circle (BMC) and leads a number of ensembles including the Youth Ensemble, Ensemble Blockfluits and Ensemble Tangents.

The 2024/25 Committee

President - John Dearn
Vice President - Kelli-Ann Kerin
Secretary - Naarilla Hirsch
Treasurer - Leonie Jones
Committee Members - Sylvia Shanahan, Mary Toohey, Lesley Harland

To contact the Committee, please email the President at cremspresident@gmail.com

Committee Meetings

Meetings are usually held on the last Saturday of the month prior to the monthly rehearsal on the Sunday.

Guidelines for Positive Participation in CREMS

CREMS has developed guidelines for positive participation in CREMS activities. To read the guidelines, please click here.

Postal Address

CREMS Inc.
PO Box 9623
Deakin ACT 2600

Legal

The Canberra Recorder and Early Music Society is an association incorporated in the Australian Capital Territory under the Associations Incorporation Act 1991. By becoming a member you agree to be bound by the rules of the Society and by legislation that relates to Associations in the A.C.T. Members attending CREMS functions are covered by our public liability insurance.

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