About Us
Joshua Birch
Situated in the outer-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Joshua Birch is a Registered Music Therapist who has 10 years of experience supporting young children with disabilities. After graduating from the University of Melbourne’s Master of Music Therapy course in 2015 with a high distinction average, Josh implemented the early intervention music therapy program at EACH Community Health. During this time, many parents, educators, and allied health professionals came to appreciate Josh’s genuine nature, creative use of music-based games to target a child’s goals, and capacity to quickly establish rapport with kids.
The experience and knowledge that Josh gained over this time prompted him to form his own private practice, ‘Build It Up Music Therapy’, which highlights his mission to ‘build up’ and encourage the development of children within the context of their family, place of learning and community.
As a husband and father himself, Josh knows firsthand the importance of nurturing early childhood development and the critical role that music can play in everyday tasks and meaningful interactions.
Kyle Bienvenu
An accomplished guitarist, Kyle graduated from the Master of Music Therapy course at the University of Melbourne in 2019. Anyone who meets Kyle is immediately put at ease by his approachable manner, with kids quickly drawn to his fun and relaxed nature. Kyle has enjoyed supporting many families, children and education settings since completing his tertiary studies.
Kyle’s first placement for his degree was with Josh many years ago, where Kyle observed music therapy’s capacity to be strategically and creatively drawn upon to support the development and wellbeing of young children. Kyle clearly made a strong impression during his time as a student because, when the time came to expand ‘Build It Up Music Therapy’, Kyle was the very first candidate that came to mind!
Kyle is now a husband and father. He enjoys spending time singing with his family and composing his own music.
Rebekkah Birch
From a very young age, Rebekkah delighted in finding ways to communicate with people and was always eager to include others in games or community activities. Growing up in a music-loving family, Rebekkah’s own appreciation for music began very early. Willing to give any instrument a go, Rebekkah took lessons in flute, piano and vocals.
Finding pleasure in learning, Rebekkah studied Education at Monash University. The original plan was to become a teacher of German and Music; however, timetable clashes forced a choice between the two. German became the academic study and music the personal pursuit. Graduating with a combined Bachelor of Education (Secondary) and Bachelor of Arts (German), Rebekkah was offered a position in the primary school of an independent P-12 college.
Over the course of the proceeding 11 years, Rebekkah established and ran a successful primary school German program before moving into general classroom teaching. She then later worked with the learning support team to facilitate literacy and numeracy support classes. Working with children who found it challenging to comprehend the mainstream education curriculum became something Rebekkah found particularly rewarding.
Now, Rebekkah’s attention is primarily focussed on being a wife and mother. Supporting the administration of ‘Build It Up Music Therapy’ is also an exciting new venture.