Tania de Jong


Tania Karen de Jong,, is an Australian soprano, social entrepreneur, business woman, global motivational speaker and event producer. Tania is the Founder of Creative Innovation Global, Creative Universe, Creativity Australia, Dimension5, Music Theatre Australia, Pot-Pourri, The Song Room and co-founder of Mind Medicine Australia. Uniting leaders across the business, education, industry, community and creative sectors Tania encourages creative innovation whilst championing the interests of the marginalised and disadvantaged Australians through her various enterprises.
As a Soprano Tania has performed to millions of people across 40 countries including at Sydney Opera House, Seoul Arts Centre and Opera under the Stars.
As an event producer Tania has hosted 9 events focussed on "Creative Innovation" in Melbourne Australia. She is known for advocating for policy change and unity across the business, education, industry, community and creative sectors during times of anticipated social disruption and change known otherwise as Disruptive Innovation.
Tania's approach encourages creative innovation and inclusion whilst advocating for the interests of the marginalised and disadvantaged people through her projects.

Background, early life and education

De Jong was born in Arnhem, The Netherlands, to her Dutch father and Austrian mother; De Jong's mother was a Dutch national tennis champion, a Federation Cup player for Australia and a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon. Her grandfather, Karl Duldig, a Polish refugee who escaped the Holocaust, was a Vienna-trained sculptor. Her grandmother, Slawa Duldig also trained as a sculptor in Vienna and invented the world's first modern folding umbrella. De Jong's mother recently launched a book 'Driftwood' through Scholarly Books. It tells the global survival story of De Jong's grandparents and the invention of the original foldable umbrella – the exact one that is still manufactured today in Austria and around the world.
The family moved to Melbourne, Australia, when de Jong was one year-old.
Karl and Slawa's former home in Melbourne's now operates a museum named the 'Duldig Studio'. The Duldig Studio is a DGR charitable organisation and is where the majority of the collection of art, history and invention now resides as well as in galleries around the world. The museum is open to the public and hosts regular exhibitions and events featuring some of the Duldig's family's extraordinary story of escape and survival.

Academic life

De Jong graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Law and from the Victorian College of the Arts with a Graduate Diploma in Opera and Music Theatre and a Postgraduate Diploma in Music. She also attended college in the USA on a tennis scholarship.

Artistic Endeavour

Aged 14, de Jong was advised by a friend not to undertake singing lessons. She audition for the chorus of her school's performance of Oklahoma at age 17 and was cast in the lead role. She recalled in a 2009 interview:
"I was the kid who said my favourite pop group was Beethoven".
— Tania de Jong, interviewed in The Age in 2009.
Two decades later De Jong became a well known Australian soprano. De Jong has a diverse career as a performing artist, soprano, global speaker, producer, curator, entrepreneur, and creative visionary. She is the co-founder of entertainment and event company Music Theatre Australia - MTA Entertainment and Events. She is also the co-founder and a performer in the musical group Pot-Pourri which has released seven albums, and she has founded several businesses and social enterprises.
De Jong has performed with the Victoria State Opera and has performed in over 40 countries. De Jong released her first solo album 'Heaven on Earth' in 2015 and 'Flying Free' in 2017 collaborating with some of Australia's leading musicians. She also released a meditation trance album with Chris Walker 'Dorje' in 2004.

Discography

She has sung in many languages, including English, Spanish, French, Latin, German, Italian, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and Hebrew.

Global Speaker

Tania speaks around the world on leadership, purpose, creativity, innovation, generosity, inclusion, social entrepreneurship, ethics and philanthropy. Tania helps prepare people, organisations and communities for a rapidly changing world and develop Human Intelligence 2.0 mindsets and skills to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. She also leads She has also made predictions of the impact of
De Jong explores creativity, neuroscience and social inclusion in her celebrated TEDx Melbourne Talk entitled 'how singing together changes the brain'.
"Our voices have been silenced, there is a taboo of singing in public…However, we have all been given a voice to express ourselves".
- Tania de Jong TEDx Melbourne talk 18 December 2013
De Jong illustrates how and why creativity is the strategic tool of the 21st century. She explains why singing is a survival mechanism, how it makes our hearts beat together and can make us smarter, healthier, happier and more creative and help heal strokes and depression. She also shares the inspirational case study of Creativity Australia's life-changing With One Voice program.

Entrepreneurship and Creative Innovation

Tania has developed five businesses and three charities in her 30 years of enterprise. She continues to works across the public, private, creative and social sectors uniting change through demonstrating leadership in creative innovation. She founded Creativity Australia, Mind Medicine Australia, Creative Universe, MTA Entertainment & Events and The Song Room and works with disadvantaged communities through Creativity Australia's 'With One Voice' choir social inclusion programs.

Creative Innovation Global

Since 2010 Tania has been the Founder and Executive Producer of the acclaimed international Creative Innovation Global Conferences which foster future-shaping change conversations across Business, Industry, Education and Government. Tania has produced the Creative Innovation Asia Pacific forum on 8 occasions bringing together international and national leaders to focus on managing and preparing for a rapidly changing world.
Creative Innovation Global has received international and national awards including Corporate Event of the Year in the global Eventex Awards and the Australian Event Awards. Creative Universe and Creative Innovation Global were ranked among the top 20 event organizers and agencies from around the world as part of the newly released Eventex All-Stars Index.

The Song Room

In 1999, de Jong founded The Song Room, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing access to music and arts programs in Australian schools and communities. Since 2001, The Song Room has reached over 500,000 disadvantaged children, enhancing their education, personal development and community involvement and engaging them in a passion for creativity and lifelong learning.
With One Voice Choirs
The One Voice Choirs bridges the gap between people experiencing disadvantage and those more fortunate through the neuro-scientific benefits of community singing. The charity builds supportive networks that help diverse people connect to improved wellbeing and brighter futures. Creativity Australia is offering a suite of With One Voice "how to" guide videos, resources and mentoring for individuals, groups and communities looking to start new, inclusive With One Voice choirs using their innovative social franchise model.
Mind Medicine Australia
Tania and her husband launched registered charity Mind Medicine Australia in February 2019. Mind Medicine Australia is a DGR-1 registered charity working to promote the development of regulatory approved and research-backed psychedelic medicines in Australia to assist with the treatment of a number of mental illnesses including depression, PTSD, end of life anxiety and addiction.

Achievement and awards

De Jong was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2008 for service to the arts as a performer and entrepreneur and through the establishment and development of music and arts enrichment programs for schools and communities. She was named in The Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence awards in the Arts, Culture and Sport category in 2018. She was also named in Richtopia's list of Top 100 Most Influential Australian Entrepreneurs.

Awards

Tania's living legacy is the impact she makes through a spirit of generosity, kindness and creativity adopting a human-centred approach to solving increasing social and economic problems in the world. Her leadership through the Creative Innovation conferences and her various enterprises inspire collaboration and collective intelligence informed by creativity and inspiring leadership. Tania's impact as an artist and entrepreneur helps a diverse range of people find their unique creative voice and meaning to live a life of purpose.
She prepares people, communities and organisations for increasing change and is committed to building a healthier, happier and more inclusive future for all.
As Tania's says in her recent TEDx Talk:
"Together we can change the world, one voice at a time".