Faces of Bega: Meet international music sensation Corinne Gibbons

She had always used her voice to be heard, but started singing when she was told to "hush" so her younger sister also had the time to speak.

Her natural talent was fostered when a few key teachers pointed out her abilities during her schooling and despite the fact that she had no formal training, she was encouraged to pursue further education in music.

She first took on an Associate Diploma of Creative Arts in Goulburn, then completed her Bachelor's Degree at Southern Cross University in Lismore. She was already very familiar with jazz music, but her studies brought her closer to funk and soul.

Although Corinne grew up in Bega, having had many generations of farmers in her family, her career as a musician took her all over the world.

After living mostly in the country, she then took on the cities and moved to Melbourne where she recorded her first EP and then to Sydney where she worked as a professional musician.

She grew her wings after working in Sydney for a number of years and travelled back and fourth between Sydney and Los Angeles in Southern California.

Her first full jazz album, Dusk, was released in 2000, followed by a live acoustic folk pop album called Sunday Afternoon, recorded in Surry Hills.

Her next endeavour was a world music record label based in Sydney's eastern suburbs that she launched with a colleague and friend.

"Our central focus was to release music from Indigenous artists and create opportunities for Indigenous artists to release their music overseas as well as in Australia," she said.

One of the biggest successes she had during that time was producing an album called Fresh Salt, created with First Australians from freshwater and saltwater areas of Australia.

The Album even enjoyed international successful at a world music convention in Germany. "It was really fabulous to share the precious music that's been created with our wonderful first people's."

After touring Australia in 2003, Corinne was approached by a woman she knew at a Café and was subsequently invited to travel to Japan where she performed at jazz clubs in Kyoto.

In 2006 the international travel bug caught her again and she moved to Singapore. There she changed pace and spent 12 years working in a more corporate environment.

Music was still at the forefront of what she did though- she ran team building activities in the sector that allowed people to connect through singing.

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"Singapore really allowed me to explore my entrepreneurial and innovative spirit and I've still got many collaborations with people in Singapore, I have a strong connection there and will have for the rest of my life."

She also volunteered her time there to help disadvantaged children in Indonesia to find their voices through a number of music programs, and also ended up touring South East Asia and the United States of America.

Another major achievement in her life was creating an album dedicated to her late sister Danielle, written and recorded after her passing. The album, Melt, was launched at Stonehenge in England during the annual summer solstice celebration.

The album Melt also had an accompanying video made by filmmaker and good friend Toni Houston who put together a montage of her short films from her work with Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic all around the world.

Corinne has had the opportunity to work with children to find their voices throughout much her career and continues to tutor children from all around the world.

Musical theatre is her other passion and she's written five musical theatre shows for children which were performed overseas. Last year she also launched an online program, Search for the Sparkle, for children allowing them to create their own musical theatre show.

After all that time living and travelling abroad, there truly was no place like home and in 2018 she come back to live in Tathra.

"There's a lot of familiarity for me here, I spent a lot of my youth at Tathra beach, it's a really lovely community, I'm a very passionate bushwalker and there's many walks within a very short distance.

"I really enjoy being part of a small community and it's got a really great spirit."

She also now plays with local band One Gener8ion, alongside musicians Ricky Bloomfield and Chelsy Atkins. The band has strong ethics in environmentalism, social change and honouring Indigenous voices.

On Wednesday, August 18, Corinne released an audiobook called 10 Reasons Why Singing is Freedom, that she wrote while on a road trip up to Byron Bay in October 2020.

"It's just a short book, it's a snapshot of my journey to healing my own voice and what I've witnessed along the path in supporting over 30,000 people to find their freedom through singing," she said.

Later this year, Corinne will also be re-releasing her album Melt. To find out more information head to her website singingisfreedom.com.