Why Storytelling Matters in Music Education with Kate Albury (Part 1) | 186

Today on Crescendo Chat, I’m joined by Kate Albury — choral conductor, adjudicator, workshop presenter, and passionate advocate for meaningful music education.

Kate is the Head of Co-Curricular — Culture and Enrichment Programs at Brisbane Boys’ College. She works across music, culture, and student life to help students feel connected, creative, and seen.

Her work extends far beyond one school community. Kate has contributed to programs including the State Honours Ensemble Program and the National Gondwana Choral School. In 2026, she’ll lead the Treble Strand at the Pemulwuy! National Male Voices Festival.

In this first part of our conversation, we explore Kate’s journey into choral education. We talk about the experiences, people, and moments that shaped her as a conductor and educator.

We also dive into one of Kate’s biggest passions — storytelling in choral music. How do we help students connect emotionally to repertoire? How do we make singing feel meaningful and relevant for young people?

If you lead a choir, teach classroom music, or want students to engage more deeply in music, this conversation is full of practical ideas and inspiration.

Connect with Kate: 

• Email – 

Where to find me: 

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Introduction

Gday, I’m Debbie O’Shea and this is the Crescendo Music Education Podcast – Episode 186.

This podcast is being recorded on the lands of the Turrbal people. I acknowledge them as the traditional owners of the land and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging. They were the first music makers on this land.

Debbie O’Shea  

In this episode of the Crescendo Music Education Podcast I talked to Kate Albury, how cool is it that I get to have conversations with people that I really like. So I chat to Kate Albury about all things music education, choral conducting specifically. In this first part we talk a bit about Kate’s own story and gratitude. Of course, we always talk about gratitude, that’s vital, and we start talking about some of the things that are really important to Kate. You will love this episode. Join me for part one of my conversation with Kate Albury.

Debbie O’Shea  

Today, I have the honour and privilege of having my friend Kate Albury join us here on the Crescendo Music Education Podcast. Hello Kate.

Kate Albury  

Hello Debbie. How lovely. Thank you for the invitation.

Debbie O’Shea  

So nice. So those of you who do not know Kate, choral conductor, adjudicator and workshop presenter, Head of Co-Curricular – Culture and Enrichment Programmes at Brisbane Boys College is where she is currently. Now I’m going to start reading a little bio to introduce you to those who have not met you before, and people would know if they’ve met you, because you’re just, that’s not chuckle worthy, you’re a warm, passionate music educator.

Kate Albury  

Well, that’s a big compliment coming from you.

Debbie O’Shea  

So here we go. Kate Albury is a choral conductor and arts leader whose work spans education, community and national youth music programmes as Head of Co-Curricular – Culture and Enrichment programmes at BBC, as we call it, Brisbane Boys College. She advocates for meaningful, creative opportunities that connect learning, storytelling and collaboration across art forms. Kate is deeply committed to building cultures of belonging for students and supporting the staff who lead co-curricular life. Wow, that’s like, that’s a lot.

Kate Albury  

Yeah.

Debbie O’Shea  

There’s a lot in that Kate. You are a choral conductor. I guess that’s the guise I’ve seen you most in as a choral conductor, an adjudicator, workshop presenter. You work with SHCP, our State Honours Choral Programme, Gondwana, our National Choral School Pemulwuy, you’re going to be conducting our mail festival with the trebles. Wow like, that’s so much Kate.

Kate Albury  

Yeah. What a great career. It’s the best job in the world

Debbie O’Shea  

It is, isn’t it? Is there anything else that you would like to pop into that? Maybe something that we don’t know about you?

Kate Albury  

Oh, goodness me. If you wanted me on your trivia team, my special subject would be Bold and the Beautiful. How about that?

Debbie O’Shea  

Oh, well, thank you very much for your vulnerability.

Kate Albury  

So I have very high standards when it comes to books. Actually, that would have been a better one in hindsight. I’m an avid reader. I love all the classics. I love literature. I love talking to people about books, but when it comes to TV, my standards are very low.

Debbie O’Shea  

You know what? We need the escapism.

Kate Albury  

Yes, totally.

Debbie O’Shea  

You know that’s like at night I read just before I go to sleep, help me switch off. I love reading crime novels. Like, gruesomeness Kate.

Kate Albury  

There you go.

Debbie O’Shea  

I just think it’s part of the switching off.

Kate Albury  

Yeah, you must, you have to.

Kate’s Choral Journey and Musical Influences

Debbie O’Shea  

That’s my theory anyway. Okay, now I would like you to look back on your journey so far as an educator, music educator, choral educator, was there some moment probably earlier in your career, where you just went, I think choir is my main gig.

Kate Albury  

Well, it actually started when I was in primary school Deb. Because, like a lot of us, I was in a brilliant choir. Althea Barker came to Bracken Ridge State School and that probably changed my life. She whipped that little state school choir into this most amazing musical experience where we would enter the Pine Rivers Eisteddfod, now QAMA, and we won everything. She was doing, beautiful, in a monastery garden, Hungarian dance like this amazing repertoire and we told stories. I still have the images in my head of the songs we sang and what I was imagining while we sang them. So if that hadn’t happened, who knows how my life would have turned out. I was all right at the piano, but it was that choir experience that really changed things and then I was teaching and doing my best. So I have to mention the other thing that happened in my career was the first time I heard Voices of Birralee at Main Hall. I think it was an ANCA event and there’s Julie Christiansen up there, and her choir was just incredible. I’d taken a group of kids up there and we wrote her a letter about how much we loved her performance. Then, obviously, getting to meet her was amazing. Once I moved to Brisbane, I was on the ANCA committee with her and she really became a mentor in my choral conducting career, like she has for so many and she really changed the trajectory. She put my name forward for so many different things that I wouldn’t have had a leg in without her. So they’re probably the two things that I can mention.

Debbie O’Shea  

Yes, they are two examples I can so relate to. Yes. I mean, I learnt so much from Julie and Bracken Ridge State School of goodness. I mean, I went into Pine Rivers Eisteddfod as a teacher just up the road, as I was at Sandgate Primary that was probably after you’d finished primary school though. I don’t know, let’s not work out the years.

Kate Albury  

Let’s not go back.

Debbie O’Shea  

I don’t want to feel any older that I’m already feeling. But you know the fact that a primary school choir, you can still feel those memories.

Kate Albury  

Yes, feel them. Yeah, absolutely.

Debbie O’Shea  

Now you’re giving that back to future generations.

Kate Albury  

It’s amazing, like we can’t underestimate the impact we can have. And as you know, not all our kids are going to end up being music educators. It’s wonderful when you see that happen. I’m old enough to now have colleagues that I taught. But you know, what a wonderful thing, what all those kids are now doing. Have gone on to do. They had that same experience I did, it was transformational for me, but still wonderful for all of us.

Mentorship and Building a Meaningful Career

Debbie O’Shea  

To have that opportunity and to be able to give that back. That’s gorgeous, okay, that leads us beautifully to gratitude.

Kate Albury  

Yes.

Debbie O’Shea  

What are you most grateful for in your work or home life right now?

Kate Albury  

That’s such a great question. I’m grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had. My whole family, pretty much, were educators. So my father was Deputy Principal at Grovely State School for many years. Some people might remember Greg Albury. I love the fact that the first word you use to describe me was warm Debbie, because that was his message. So my sister and I both became teachers and he just would say, be warm. That was his number one, be approachable. So I had that watching him, he was highly respected by the staff he worked for. It took a toll on his health, because he had to deal with a lot of difficult situations and he missed the classroom, I know that. But he really prepared me well for the sort of educator I wanted to be and for my sister as well, so that’s a big one. I’m grateful for having that support at the start of my career. He’s passed away now but wrote me handwritten letters for the first 10 years of my career that I’ve still got. When I’m feeling strong, I pull them out, I can read them. And so that’s really special. That’s really great. So that was my foundation of being an educator and then, yeah, the opportunities I’ve had. I’m so grateful that I’ve worked in as many schools as I have. Like you, I’ve moved, a lot of people stay. I haven’t ever worked in a state school. Much to my family’s disappointment, the rest of my family are all state school educators. It’s just not the way my career ended up. I know you’re passionate about state schools and thank goodness I went to one, but I never let myself get too comfortable. So I think moving to a new school, as hard as it can be, you bring that experience, you get to see alternative ways of doing things. I just love the job I’m in so much now, where I get to support passionate people doing their job like I really get to support the staff and so for me, that’s where my career headed. So, yeah, I’m just grateful for the start I had and grateful for the opportunities I’ve had.

Debbie O’Shea  

Yeah, that is wonderful. Speaking of your job, it sounds quite interesting, although it sounds wonderful. Sounds almost like it’s made for you.

Kate Albury  

Yeah.

Debbie O’Shea  

So can you just describe briefly what a Head of Co-Curricular – Culture and Enrichment Programmes is? What do you actually do day to day?

Kate Albury  

Yeah. So at many schools you’ve got someone in a leadership position who looks after co-curricular. Well, you should. You know, it’s a very big part of the school and so at BBC that’s a huge part of the school, the motto is Many Ways to Thrive. So if you’re academic, if you’re sporty, if you’re musical, this is the school. So I don’t want to fly the flag of BBC too much, but that’s why that’s a great place for me to be at the moment. So they used to have a job where one person looked after all of co-curricular and it just became clear that it was just a massive, massive job, especially when you’re looking at GPS sport and all the work that involves. So the school made a decision to split the two roles. So we have a Head of Sport and Competitive Activities and then you have me as Head of Culture and Enrichment Services. So it’s all what you can imagine. It’s all the performing arts, plus our amazing Pipe Band programme, which I’m learning a lot about, and theatre and art club and photography club, all the stuff that I had been doing before. But it’s also the service programmes, which I’m absolutely loving. So it’s Interact, Amnesty, international service programmes. We have a thing called Coffee for Cambodia, ISCF, so I’ve had to get my head around those programmes, what they bring to a student. So, for me, it’s all about students belonging, finding their tribe, finding the way that school can be meaningful outside of the classroom. I love the classroom too, and I’ve had roles as Head of Faculty, but when I went back into that co-curricular space, I was like, tick, that’s me. You’re not restricted by curriculum, you’re just restricted by what shall we do and the passionate people that want to get things done. So it’s a bit of event planning. It’s a bit of looking at how we award students. It’s a bit of how do I make those teachers who work in those areas, how do I remove their obstacles and support them and make sure their programmes are sustainable? For me, that’s where I want to be at the moment. I just love it. I love that job.

Debbie O’Shea  

It sounds wonderful. It was really interesting you talked about state schools and private schools, but I can tell you with a fair degree of certainty that the sort of role you’ve got there is not likely to exist in many state high schools.

Kate Albury  

Yes.

Debbie O’Shea  

Because just even the range of programmes that you mentioned that they can be offered in a private school context more easily than they can be offered in a state school context, so you’re in the right place for what you are doing. There must be so much, like I’m so envious of that learning, especially when you were talking about the outreach programmes and the service type programmes.

Kate Albury  

Yes.

Debbie O’Shea  

That just sounds amazing and really rewarding. 

Kate Albury  

It’s so important. So sometimes you’ve got an amazing programme already existing, but I can see, and this happens so often Debbie, it’s happened with me. It’s driven by one individual and I’m sure you’ve had this, you build something up, and then you leave a school and gradually it changed as it should, or it completely dies away. So my job is to go, we have this amazing programme, but what’s going to happen when that one person leaves? So a similar thing happened with musicals, one person was driving it and musicals can break people. I always say they’re a young person’s game. Prior to children, I loved being involved in musicals, but they’re just so intense. But I just believe, we’re going to talk later. I love it when the arts combine, and to me a musical is the best example of that, because you’ve got theatre and acting and visual art and tech and all the things and singing. But if you’ve got a programme that one passionate, amazing person is driving and that person leaves, everyone goes, not me, and it can just die away. So I’m looking at ways of, how do we sustain that and how do we acknowledge it and share the load and have a programme that can exist beyond just maybe one passionate person that eventually has a breakdown, or a baby or leaves for some other reason.

Debbie O’Shea  

Yep. So that’s building that capacity. Yeah. It’s so needed sharing the load. I think everyone listening is going, yeah, yeah, we know exactly what you’re talking about.

Kate Albury  

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And there’s so much goodwill and passion, and that’s great. But if you’re not getting anything back, if you’re not feeling support from your school or resourced or, I mean, I’m lucky to work in that system where there’s payments, there’s honorariums, which I know doesn’t always exist in every school. Then those passionate people get burnt out and they lose their goodwill. So my aim is to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Debbie O’Shea  

Okay, now we’re getting into the meat of this episode. Now there were three main sort of areas that I wanted to dip into, but let’s see where we go. Can we start with storytelling? You like storytelling in choral music? I rather love it, and my favourite composers, I believe, are real storytellers. Yeah, well, that’s what choral music has, that instrumentals don’t have. We have text. We have the ability to really specifically tell stories. So we’re going to talk about narrative and story, engaging young singers, maybe even attracting those that wouldn’t be attracted to choral music. And how we can bring as teachers, music teachers, choral teachers, bring storytelling into our repertoire choices. So anyway, look, go for it, it’s your passion subject, go. Storytelling.

Storytelling and the Power of Choral Music

Kate Albury  

Alright, where to start? Yeah, well, I mean, it starts back in that demountable at Bracken Ridge State School, because, like I said, I can still close my eyes and see those images that she conjured up for us. So I just think there’s so many things that are important in choral art, but I don’t think anything is more important than you are there to communicate. You’re there to tell a story and because we have text, we know what the story is, maybe it’s still a bit ambiguous, and how does it end up? And the audience can decide. But for us, we must tell the story. I think if you do all the other things and forget that, I think that’s a real shame. And choirs can be a bit boring Debbie. If you’re not engaging the audience, and you’re not pulling them into that story, it doesn’t matter how perfect your pitch is. If you want kids, and I’ve worked in boys schools for a long time, if you want those boys to come in the door and stay, you have to be engaging them as well. So I just think you know when, if you’re not talking about who wrote this piece, and then who is the person you’re singing to, and what is the message and what happens? What’s their responses? You’re singing this to them, If we’re not asking that question until maybe you know the five minutes before you go on stage, you’re missing a great opportunity. We deal with kids who fidget and move around, and I’ve always been so strict about that. Then I had my own ADHD children. I was like, oh, some kids really can’t stand still very easily. But if you’ve got a group of kids who are immersed in the story, they don’t wiggle around and itch, they just, they’re spellbound. So I think whatever the piece is, let’s talk about why that is and if you’ve got things as easy as something comes back a second time and repeats, how are we going to do it differently? Why has the composer got us singing this bit again? Are we going to change the dynamics? Are we going to change the tempo? I just think, yeah, it’s really important to have that storytelling, and that’s something that I’ve just always had in my own conducting journey.

Debbie O’Shea  

Can you think of an example of where you saw the telling the story transformed how a choir perform something, maybe as a guest conductor or with your own choir, and how it flicked a switch? Is that question too specific?

Kate Albury  

I’ve got one. I’ve been so lucky enough to have some opportunities to conduct the Gondwana National Choral School, like, what an honour that is. Two weeks to work with the best kids from around Australia who’ve had the opportunity to audition and be there. You’ve got the best accompanists and the best co conductors. I did this great piece called Whenever the Wind. It’s basically a story about, it’s a spooky story about what’s out there on the road. So we showed the kids Schubert’s The Erl King. There’s a great video, there’s puppets doing it. Because to me, that piece was a retelling of that story. You know what’s happening, what is out there on the street and it’s so spooky. It was almost the half crouch. You know, when you get a quieter half crouch and lean in, it’s probably not the best posture if you’re a singing teacher. But there is a video, luckily and you can see the kids faces. It was like you’ve got a youngest sibling and you’re trying to really freak them out, and what is that noise out there? Is it a horse on a rider and are they coming to get you? How are we going to make sure the audience feels that excitement and that spookiness, and the kids just came with me on this journey, and we ended up going so much faster in the performance than we practised. Thank God, I had a legend at the piano. I’ve just got no memory. It was just we were all in the zone of telling that story. If you look at the faces of those kids, they’re just, they’re wrapped. They’re telling that story. So that’s a good example.

Debbie O’Shea  

Well, we’ll make sure in the show notes that we’ll put where to buy that. It’s a great piece.

Kate Albury  

Yes, it is on YouTube. It’s a killer. It’s a beautiful performance, even if I say so, it’s a great piece. You’ve got to have a brilliant accompanist who can manage it. We had a repetiteur from Opera, and he was practising it daily. So that just tells you it’s a really hard piece to play. But, man, if you’ve got a really advanced treble choir, it’s a killer piece.

Debbie O’Shea  

Excellent. We will put that in the show notes. So there you go. Everyone listening, there’s a new piece for you.

Kate Albury  

Todd McNeal, I knew the name. He’s the composer Todd McNeal.

Debbie O’Shea  

Todd McNeal, yeah, I couldn’t think who it was too. But shout out. Shout out. Do more than that, come on, keep writing. Now. Should we sort of, if you’re making repertoire choices as a music teacher, storytelling should be part of what we’re considering, shouldn’t it?

Kate Albury  

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And what is the story? The choice of repertoire, it’s 80, it’s 90% isn’t it? You just have to spend the time, you have to go down a rabbit hole, don’t do any piece that you don’t love. That’s always my advice. When I’ve had different situations, to step in and do repertoire that I haven’t necessarily chosen myself. There’s always a gap. There’s always something missing. You must love it. You must, must absolutely love it. Every piece that I get up for a SHEP, I’m like, Oh, this is one of my favourite pieces of all time. It must be and then, once you’ve picked it, yeah, what is the story? Do we know it? What’s your interpretation? There’s a great version I love to do of Mary, Did you Know? I think there’s a Tierce do picardy on the very last chord. So we talk about she did know, like the piano tells us. She did know that she’d just given birth to the saviour of the world. So I think I’m always trying to find pieces that tell a story. Like you said, brilliant Australian composers out there, Paul Jarman, Alice Chance, Harley Mead, tell Australian stories whenever you can. You’re another great one as well Debbie, your music always tells a wonderful Australian story. Daintree River sticks out in my mind. 

Debbie O’Shea  

Kath Ruhle tells a great story.

Kate Albury  

Yeah, yeah. Then when I went up there and saw it, I was singing that song all day. But telling the story, choosing Australian composers, looking for female composers, because that’s important, and making sure you’re telling stories from around the world and from different perspectives, I think that’s really important. But yeah, you must spend hours and hours, I’m sorry, as a conductor, you’ve just gotta find those pieces that speak to you. Don’t just do the same ones all the time, like there’s great new ones out there. I always keep a song log so I can look back and go, What pieces did I do with that group that worked, because that’s important.

Debbie O’Shea  

Yes, yes. And there are cycles you can come back to them. Yes. I’m in two new schools now with a couple of newish choirs. I can look back to some of my favourites from 20 years ago and go, that’s still a really good piece of music I’m going to do that.

Kate Albury  

That stands the test of time. Sometimes you’ve gotta put a song away, if you pull out a Shackleton, you’ve gotta go, that’s it. Now I’m putting it away for a couple of years, it’s such a massive piece. But then if you haven’t done it for a few years, you’re like, it’s time to introduce that song to a new generation of kids. 

Debbie O’Shea  

Yes and, in fact, I might just do that. That is the piece that comes to my head whenever we’re talking about storytelling.

Kate Albury  

Yes. Imagining being on the ice.

Debbie O’Shea  

Three years trapped in the southern sea. I mean, it tells such a story, and then they came home to war anyway.

Kate Albury  

Yes. Then you say to your kids, stop. You just sang that like, I’ll have a sandwich for lunch, stop. We’ve sung it a thousand times, but the audience has to know what’s the most important word, what’s the most important part of this phrase, so that we can communicate what this story is about. So important.

Debbie O’Shea  

I love it. 

Sign-off

Thank you for joining me for this podcast. Don’t forget that you’ll find the show notes on crescendo.com.au/episode164. Also you can find the transcripts there, so you’ve got all of the details that you need. If you found this podcast useful, I’d really love it if you share the link with a colleague. 

Remember, all I can be is the best version of me. All you can do is be the best you. We’ll meet again. I hope we will, bye.

Just for Laughs

As we know, laughter relieves stress. Don’t lose sight of the funny side of life. I’m reading a book about anti gravity. It’s just impossible to put down.