AJ has been working as a full time musician and music educator since 2008. In that time he has held roles right across the industry, including:
– A private music tutor and itinerant teacher
– A performer
– A recording engineer
– A promoter
– A sound engineer
– A producer
– And writing and recording his own original music
These days most of his time is taken up running his music school, Crawshaw Music School in Paraparaumu, which includes the musicianship and camaraderie of six other tutors. He also writes music when he can, and takes pride in running events like “The Local Scene” – a semi-regular event all about showcasing local songwriters and giving them the opportunity to earn money while connecting with a larger audience.
Surviving as musician full time in a small country takes a lot of tenacity and creativity, and requires the ability to be agile, to sometimes reinvent yourself, and trying out any number of ideas to see what will work.
AJ will spend his time on the big red dot talking about how to combine ideas into making something greater than the sum of its parts. He’ll be doing this by writing a song with the audience!