Beloved or belittled, the recorder has been a vital part of music education in Australia for almost a century. It’s an inexpensive and widely accessible way to teach kids to read and play music, but often gets a bad rep as a serious musical instrument.

Alana Blackburn, a lecturer in music at the University of New England and a recorder player performing across the country, is working hard to change this perception. She’s spoken publicly about the many benefits of the playing the recorder, like improvement in motor skills and musical literacy. Alana’s hailing a new era for the recorder, citing increases in both amateur adult groups and professional recorder players.

She talked to Nathaniel Keesing for Thursday Drive, and generously threw in a live recorder performance.