ALEX RATHGEBER
COMMUNITY
Alex Rathgeber Performing Artist Scholarship
Staged annually in Alex's hometown, Horsham in country Victoria, the RM Showcase is a concert celebration honouring the great life and legacy of Wimmera performing arts facilitator, the late Richard Morris.
Alex has worked closely with the RM Showcase team to launch a new scholarship designed to encourage and assist young performing artists from around the Wimmera community. The recipient is awarded a $1000 prize to support their training and development, and the chance to perform at the RM Showcase concert at Horsham Town Hall Performing Arts Centre.
​
The inaugural prize was awarded to local singer Sofia Laursen Habel. Sofia then spent 2020 and 2021 performing in concerts around the Wimmera before relocating to Denmark at the end of 2021, where she continues her career as a professional classical vocalist.
In 2023, the recipient was talented young performer Sienna Walsgott who has appeared in a variety of local productions and events, and aims to study performing arts after completing her Year 12 studies in 2024.
​
Sienna is photographed (left) by The Weekly Advertiser with passionate Horsham arts supporter Jan Morris and recipient of the Richard Morris Memorial Scholarship, Joel Kimberley.
​
​
The 2024 prize was awarded to gifted singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, 16-year-old Prue Heard (right).
Prue is seen here performing in the RM Showcase as part of her prize. She plans to continue writing and recording her own music.
Movember
for men's physical and mental health
Alex participated in the 2023 Movember fundraising campaign to help reduce the death rate of men for preventable reasons - on average, men die 4.5 years earlier than women.
A growing number of men – around 10.8M globally – are facing life with a prostate cancer diagnosis. Globally, testicular cancer is the most common cancer among young men. And across the world, one man dies by suicide every minute of every day, with males accounting for 69% of all suicides.
Movember is uniquely placed to address this crisis on a global scale. We fund groundbreaking projects all over the world, engaging men where they are to understand what works best and accelerate change.
Starlight SuperSwim
In February 2023, Alex and his friend, actor Lachlan Woods, put together The DeepEndables swim team to raise funds for Starlight Children's Foundation, which provides critical in-hospital support to sick kids Australia-wide.
​
Individually, Alex swam 35km and raised $3,735 for Starlight, whilst The DeepEndables team collectively swam a total of 272km and raised over $18,000.
for sick kids
.jpg)