Tilly Jones is an incredibly talented musician who overcame massive physical and mental hurdles to get to where she is today. Tilly spoke to Denise Alison (Humans of Lismore) about her life, her love of music and her plans for the future. 

In 2001 I was born and I was raised in Lismore. I had a pretty rocky start. I came into the world 6 weeks premature with Cerebal Palsy, Foetal Alcohol Syndrome. ADHD, Aspergers and a side of anxiety.

Doctors said that I would never walk or talk - I’d be a “bean bag dribbler” (actual quote).

When I was nine months old I was placed with my family and thankfully my Mum’s don’t take no for an answer. They have the attitude of never give up on your kids.

My older sister Tam Warry was at the hospital one day in the children's ward area and she pointed at me and said ‘That’s my sister!’ so that’s kind of how I came to be a part of my family. If she gives me a hard time now I just say….You chose me.

I started off at Pre-school at ‘Me and my House’ with Irene who is the Director. The staff there worked with my health team and my parents to help me with my disabilities and encouraged me to get out there. They enrolled me in intensive therapy and encouraged my strengths. Irene was always there watching over me too. That really helped get me off to a good start.

I didn’t crawl until I was two years old. I sat up for the first time two months after that. Two months after that I stood up and two months after I started walking and talking. I’ve never shut up since.

My parents are Jenny and Marj and they are absolute legends. My family is amazing, there's five of us girls - Summah, Nat, Tam and Rebekah, and my two gorgeous nephews. We all have our own kind of disabilities but I guess that makes us unique.

When I was five I was diagnosed with ADHD and Aspergers because they noticed I was kind of an oddball kid, not really social and very hyperactive. I ended up going to a mainstream school for Year 7 which really didn’t work for me and I didn’t have the time to focus on my music.

When I was about five my Grandmere, who is is French noticed I was playing scales on my piano at home so she suggested to Mum that I go to music lessons. My Godparents Margie and Da gifted me their upright piano when I was about six. It’s still in my room now and the majority of my compositions have been born from that instrument.

I started here at the Conservatorium in 2010 learning Piano with Wendy Turner and I’ve been here ever since.

In 2011 I told Mum I wanted to start another instrument so I started Violin. At the end of that year, I said I want to play the big Violin meaning the Cello. So in 2012, I began learning Cello with Wendy and by July that same year, I was playing in the Northern Rivers Youth Orchestra which I’ve been in ever since.

I also play the Clarinet which I started in 2013 with Julius. I started Guitar in 2014 with Mark Bromley and then Composition in 2015 also with Mark, but I had been composing long before that - my first piece was called Wind And Rain, also coincidentally my first first-prize at the Lismore Eistedford in 2011. Cello and Composing are my main things now.

I remember when I was playing Violin and Cello in 2015. Michael McCabe could see I was not liking the Violin. It was difficult for my arms and muscles. He said, let’s stop the violin and focus on Cello. He worked with my Physiotherapist and worked around my disabilities He was so great. He thought I wouldn’t get past 4th Grade and now I’m doing 8th Grade with Thomas Zachary. That’s really testing me. I have to slow down and become more aware of what my body’s doing.

2016 kind of started it all off for me. Karenza’s film Tilly’s Symphony (link below) came out. It was shown on ABC iview for 4 years and then Virgin Airlines domestic routes for about a year. It was also seen by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, which I’m still not over.

I received an email in 2017 from Dean Watson from the ACO asking me to go to Sydney to participate in their Move program. I thought it was cool but I couldn’t actually go because it would be too much of a cost. I replied saying I was really sorry. He said - we actually want you to write the music for it. I screamed out to Mum saying the Australian Chamber Orchestra wants me to write music for them.

I ended up doing Skype sessions from here at the Con. I flew down to Sydney in June that year and attended the Premiere and got to hear my compositions played by the members of the ACO. It was really amazing. Anita Bellman from the Con came down as well. I definitely owe a lot to Anita. She got me involved with Karenza to do Tilly’s Symphony which opened doors for me. It was really cool having Anita and my Mum’s were there too. I found out later David Wenham was also in the audience.

I went to France for 6 months in 2017 and stayed with my grandparents in a village in the south of France near Toulouse. It was half gap year because I was doing distance education at the time but I got to have lessons with a Cello teacher called Helen Linden who won the kind of Eurovision of the Classical music world.

I got to tour around the North of France with Christopher Latham who is the artist in residence at the Australian War Memorial. He invited me to sit in on rehearsals with his Opera called The Healers and I played a Nurse in the Opera. I also got to see all the battlefields of World War 1 which was really grounding for me in a way...the loss and destruction.

I went to the Australian Embassy in Paris and met the Australian Ambassador to France. In 2018 I returned and I got to meet and play with David Helfgott which still blows my mind. I was able to sit with him in a private rehearsal before his concert. It was so amazing.

Another thing that came out of Tilly’s Symphony was an email from Austin, Texas which was sent to Karenza.

They wanted to commission me to write some music for the opening of their film festival which is The Cinema Touching Disability film festival. The brief was for 10 minutes. I wrote the piece called Marciac and got friends to play.

In September I was lucky to get a partnership with SCU Uni here to record the piece in their studios. It was everyone's first time recording. On the day the drummer was there and I got a text from one of the musicians saying he will be late. He arrived and said his car had flipped over. I couldn’t believe he still came. Someone else was sick on the way but they all still came.

We smashed the recording session. The festival flew my mum and myself to Austin for a week, which was an unforgettable experience - the chance to interact with fellow disabled people and see that there are others like me - I was invited to play in a rehearsal with Big Wy’s Brass Band at Austin Uni - let me tell you Cello and brass band aren’t a great dynamic mix, but it was so much fun.

In 2019 I wrote ‘Rivers of Light’ for the Lantern Parade which was performed by YJO in front of a sold-out crowd. There are still so many other things I’ve done but those are the main highlights.

I’m starting Uni in 2 weeks doing the Bachelor of Contemporary Music at SCU. I’m also going to be working on an Internship I have with the Australian War Memorial with the Flowers of War. I was awarded that scholarship in 2019 by Chris Latham.

The next program is the Vietnam Requiem which will premiere in Canberra in June. I get to work with all these amazing composers who are my idols. It mixes music and history together which I love. I’ve really been so lucky to be surrounded by so many amazing, supportive, open-minded people - that’s the great thing about Lismore, everyone chips in to give people a go.”

Tilly's Symphony by Karenza Ebejer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1xw4S2bjJw.