My name is Andrew Willink. My grandchildren call me Opa — and this website has always been for them.
I’ve been playing the violin for most of my life. It began as a formal pursuit — lessons, practice, the discipline of classical training — and over the years it became something less formal and more essential. Music, I’ve come to believe, is one of the few things that genuinely crosses every kind of distance. Age, geography, generation — none of it matters much when someone is playing something you love.
How OpaSings began
When my nine grandchildren were young, I started making videos of myself singing their favourite songs. Nothing elaborate — a camera, a decent chair, and whatever song had caught their attention that week. The idea was simple: stay connected to their world through music, even on the weeks when I couldn’t be in the same room.
Over ten years, those videos became a proper archive. Nursery rhymes, Disney songs, singalong classics, silly favourites. More than sixty recordings, all still here, all still watched by the grandchildren who remember asking for them.
The violin takes over
The grandkids are growing up. They are all developping their own musical tastes — Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Ed Sheeran, Laufey. A nursery rhyme doesn’t quite cut it anymore.
So the violin stepped in. Each month I learn a new piece — sometimes a classical standard, sometimes a film theme, sometimes whatever the grandkids have asked for — and record it here. The singing archive stays, because it’s part of the story. But the new chapter is played on strings.
MelodyMoments — music for the community
Alongside OpaSings, I perform as a violinist at aged care centres, hospitals, and community events across the Gold Coast — free within 25 kilometres of Currumbin. That work lives at melodymoments.com.au, where you can hear more recordings and get in touch about a performance.
Get in touch
If you’re a grandchild with a song request, a family member who wants to say hello, or someone who simply stumbled here and enjoyed the music — you’re welcome to leave a message on the Contact page. I read every one.