History of the Organisation
Founded by South Australian playwright/composer Pat Rix, Tutti began as a small singing group for people with an intellectual disability at Minda Inc in August 1997. In 1998 the singing group became a choir as people from the wider community began to join. One of the activities enjoyed was the creation of original sound-scapes and songs and in 1999 with around 40 members the choir developed a distinct identity which drew on both music and theatre for inspiration.
In April 2000 the choir performed a work in progress of an opera they had been developing with Pat Rix. The first tentative performances of My Life, My Love surprised and delighted the Adelaide arts community, and marked the choir’s arrival as a significant new player in the Adelaide arts scene. During 2000 and 2001 as choir numbers along with requests for performances grew strong, friendships born of shared experiences began to develop. My Life, My Love had been short-listed for the 2002 Adelaide Festival. The choir was changing from a casual leisure activity to an important part of everyone’s lives, and there was a new energy afoot. As disabled and non-disabled choir members committed themselves to a rigorous rehearsal schedule a deep sense of community began to grow where acceptance and celebration of difference rather than merely tolerance became the norm.
In July 2001 before flying to Vancouver to open the KickstART Celebration of Arts and Disability - the choir incorporated to become the Tutti Ensemble. From that time ‘tutti’ - a musical term meaning ‘everyone will now perform together’ became the organisation’s name and identity. That same year Tutti’s collective vision became to challenge and change society’s view of people with a disability from one of deficit to one of respect.
In 2002 thanks to the openness and vision of State Theatre’s then Artistic Director Rosalba Clemente and Adelaide Festival Director Peter Sellars, Tutti became the first community arts organization in Australia to partner a flagship company in an international mainstream arts festival. With a cast of over one hundred, most of whom identified with a disability, including three of the principals, My Life, My Love was a sellout hit, won the critics 'Light of the Festival' Award and was nominated for a Helpmann Award. Over 7,000 people saw eight performances and overwhelmingly those surveyed responded that their perception of disability had been changed and that they wanted to see and hear more from 'that choir'.
Today, Tutti regularly reaches over 200 South Australians in Adelaide and regional South Australia. Our outreach program ensures three regional choirs based on the Tutti model are regularly mentored and offered opportunities to become involved in combined music-theatre productions and choral events. As a result of international connections there are now sister choirs in Vancouver and Minneapolis.
Whilst Tutti has now expanded to offer drama and music, visual arts, and digital design and music programs, singing remains Tutti's main inspiration, for when Tutti sings, lives are changed. Participation in and enjoyment of singing is everybody’s birthright and key to awakening the spirit so essential to mental and physical health. It influences how people see, hear and feel life. Singing is Tutti’s way of supporting what is good and right about the world and a way of shaking a fist at what is wrong.
Today Tutti has created a microcosm of mutual acceptance and in the process become internationally recognized as a model of artistic excellence and social inclusion. Each year Tutti Ensemble and Tutti Arts regularly perform to thousands of people and around 200 people regularly participate in metropolitan and regional choral workshops. Tutti’s ethos is that participation in and enjoyment of singing should be accessible to everyone