Smoke and mirrors: RandomActs of Elevator Music —Matt Adair and Nick Wilson —serenade workers in a lift inGeorge St yesterdayPicture: Justin Lloyd

Stephen Downie

Lift music with presenceto serenade the workers

TALK about uplifting music. Two guysin suits, armed with a laptop and akeyboard, are infiltrating office lifts.

They could be there any day, anytime. So long as it’s in work hours.

Called Random Acts Of ElevatorMusic, the project is a collaborationbetween Melbourne musicians NickWilson and Matt Adair.

‘‘The idea is that we can just walk inand be a part of the normal officeenvironment,’’ Wilson said yesterday.

‘‘The keyboard becomes a focalpoint and forces people to start conver-sations and break down that awkward-ness of being in a very small room.

‘‘Sometimes we see people get out

and they start talking to each other,saying ‘What was that all about’.They’ve bonded over the experience.’’

And you won’t hear musak versionsof Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go Onor The Girl From Ipanema.

The duo create ambient electronicmusic with song titles such as Spread-sheet Dreams.

Yesterday, RAOEM surprised officeworkers at 345 George St, in the city.

However, the impromptu gig wasabruptly halted when a security guardpunted the musical duo for not seekingpermission from the office manager.

Wilson was philosophical. ‘‘We’rekicked out of one building in three,’’ hesaid. RAOEM also perform at theExcelsior Hotel, Surry Hills on Sunday.

24 news friday, october 9, 2009 dailytelegraph.com.au

The Ruddlegacy onlanguageBruce McDougallEducation Reporter

MANDARIN is becoming a centre-piece of foreign language teaching inNSW public schools, with Chineselanguage teachers being brought toAustralia and at least one Australianteacher setting up in China.

It is part of a Department ofEducation and Training push to putMandarin at the forefront of languageteaching in NSW public schools.

So far 25 primary and secondaryschools have linked with schoolsin the Yangzhou province and inShanghai’s Pudong District.

Mandarin is a language used by thePrime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Almost 30 students and teachersfrom Georges River College campusesin Sydney’s south left for China thisweek to visit a sister school and studywith Chinese pupils. Another 36students and teachers from Sydney’swest will travel to China tomorrow.

Mandarin teachers are working in

NSW state schools while teachers inChina give visiting Sydney pupilslanguage lessons as well as traininglocal teachers and students in English.

Education Minister Verity Firthsaid yesterday Asia was critical to thefuture prosperity of NSW.

‘‘It’s important our students arefamiliar with Asian languages andculture,’’ she said.

Sydney regional director PhilLambert said schools used technologysuch as video-conferencing and theinternet to link with China.

Penshurst Girls’ Campus principalAnne Ross said most of the studentswho went to China were not from anAsian background.

‘‘These are students who are in-terested in immersing themselves inthe Chinese culture and taking part inlessons with their sister-schoolpeers,’’ Ms Ross said.

Board of Studies data showedChinese with 1243 enrolments in theHSC is now the third most popularlanguage after Japanese and French.

New train times

Changes: Mr Campbell

NEW timetables across the CityRail network take effecton Sunday and Transport Minister David Campbell saidyesterday the changeover should be trouble-free.

A major education and advertising campaign hadalerted commuters to the changes Mr Campbell said butCityRail would carefully monitor the first few weeks.

The timetable would give 100 extra weekday servicesand better bus connections, he said.

First brewed in 1919, Crown Lager was once reserved for diplomats and visiting dignitaries. Until, in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s fi rst visit to Australia in 1954, it was launched to the public. This was the beginning of something special. Since then, Crown has become synonymous with superior taste and special occasions. And rightly so.

ting54,ces.

Start something special.

The beer with a The beer with aroyal beginning royal beginning

and a crisp hops finish.and a crisp hops fi nish.

Missing a past issue of The Daily Telegraph? Looking for a back-issue of The Daily Telegraph?

Our News Shop has editions going back approximately 3 months available for sale. The Sunday Telegraph, The Australian and

other News Limited papers are also available. Postage costs are additional.

Call the News Shop on 02 9288 3099 or visit us at 2 Holt Street, Surry Hills.

Store hours: 10am – 2pm Mon-Fri.