Performing Arts News
Victorian State Schools Spectacular 2017
This was my first year of doing the Victorian State School Spectacular and I truly loved it. We began rehearsals at the beginning of the year and ever since we have had rehearsals every Monday lunch. Ms Baker-Goldsmith was very organised and insisted that we practice every week. Not only did I enjoy singing at Hisense Arena, but I found that all the rehearsals have given me a chance to get to know other students. The whole experience was a blast and I recommend students to participate in the future.
Emma Laird
Year 8E
Being in the orchestra was in one word - incredible.
I am so grateful that I have had the privilege of meeting like-minded people and making incredible music together. It was an incredibly humbling experience, being part of a 64-piece orchestra and learning with the best players in Victoria. Even though we had a grueling repertoire of 38 songs and rehearsed every Sunday for eight hours (in Collingwood!) and worked through the school holidays - I have come out of it so much stronger and aware of what I can do. One of the absolute highlights was being able to play with and learn from MSO professionals who taught me a lot about approaching the music I’m playing. I went in not knowing anyone and came out with many new friends who I still keep in touch with. I really hope I have the privilege of doing it again next year!
Mikki Clemans
Year 9B
To those of you who have heard of the Victorian State Schools Spectacular, you will be well aware of the amazing way students are encouraged to participate in the performing arts. Some of you may even know about the students who are part of the production crew. One aspect of student participation you may not have heard of is marketing. Boris Pribil (Year 11) and I have had the great pleasure of being the first students to work in this area and it has been an invaluable experience for us both. Through meeting with the creative producer of the spectacular we brainstormed exactly what type of work we wanted to do with the production team, we were able to develop and implement a media marketing plan for a period of 200 days. Participation in this required us to go to the Performing Arts unit in Collingwood once every few weeks to work on our plan and meet with cast members to gather and prepare content for media releases. During the show itself, we had the pleasure of interviewing lighting crew members, including our very own Christopher Rudel (Year 9) who was operating one of the incredible PRG Ground-Control follow-spots.
Currently we are evaluating marketing analytics as well as developing new ideas for the 2018 marketing campaign. Our goals for this are to drive ticket sales for next year as well as to increase awareness for student participation. So, in the interest of our marketing goals, more information can be found at www.education.vic.gov.au/about/events/Pages/spectacularinvolve.aspx and registrations will be open in that space later this month. Students can register to be involved as vocalists, instrumentalists, lighting and sound technicians, camera operators or even puppeteers. Your involvement in such a large scale event is limited only by your imagination and all you need to do is speak to the friendly production team. Don’t forget to like the Victorian State Schools Spectacular Facebook page and keep an eye out for tickets to next year’s show. If you’ve missed this year’s show and would like to see it, Channel Seven will broadcast the highlights of the show later this year.
Ashley Szmerling
Year 11
The 2017 Victorian State Schools Spectacular was an amazing experience and we are so glad to have been a part of it! This year was especially exciting because we were lucky enough to get through the auditions and be accepted into the Victorian State Schools Choir. To get into the choir, the audition process consisted of an individual audition where we had to sing two contrasting songs and a group audition where we sang in large group so they could see how we worked with others.
It was such a privilege to represent our school on the big stage, but before that, we had 120 hours worth of rehearsals running from March to September. For three hours every Saturday, we worked on 20 songs in the repertoire which we eventually had to learn off by heart.
During our time with Victorian State School Spectacular we had the amazing opportunity to go to Sing Sing studios and record one of our pieces. The biggest challenge would have to be learning a song in Latin and juggling our commitment with all our school work and other activities but ultimately, the positives outweighed the negatives. From learning proper technique and how to take care of our voices to little tricks of the trade, being a part of the Victorian State Schools Spectacular taught us so much.
There were 39 people in the choir and by the end we had become a really tight knit group. It was so much fun to spend time with like-minded musicians and to see each other grow as individuals and within the group. We would definitely recommend auditioning for next year's show because of all the incredible opportunities we were given thanks to the Victorian State Schools Spectacular. It was amazing to work with industry professionals and see how a show of this magnitude all comes together. Auditions are open mid-October and can be accessed through their facebook page. We will definitely be giving it a go again next year!
Sophie Rowsell and Estelle Lipovetsky
Year 9
Victorian State Schools Spectacular 2018
Interested in being involved in the 2018 Victorian State Schools Spectacular?
Find out about auditions here: