MUSIC 

A Final Note from Musicland

Term 4 is one of our busiest terms, while many other areas are quietening down Musicland is full steam ahead with Music Camp, Presentation night, visits to local community groups to play for residents and Q UP, the end of year concert.

This year the second Music Camp, held in October, was particularly successful. Going over three days, it helped the instrumental staff concentrate time in preparing and fine tuning items for both Presentation Night and Q UP. One of the highlights of the camp was our guest speaker Geoff Achison. Geoff Achison is a very well-known and respected blues-roots guitarist. He gave a workshop to some of our guitar students before lunch, and in the afternoon invited drum and guitar students on stage to jam with him. This was a lot of fun for all involved and was very educational as well. 

Q UP, our annual end of year concert, featured a number of smaller ensembles as well as large groups. The show started with an amazingly evocative and atmospheric piece from the Percussion Ensemble. This original composition, by the students, featured them playing water drums which they had made and as they played you could see the students hands projected onto a big screen.  After this wondrous start to the show, we saw and heard many varied items including the String orchestra, Training and Intermediate bands, Vox Rox and the Stage Band. The Keyboard ensemble were most impressive and played crowd pleasing songs as did the brass ensembles.

Judy Bartosy

Director of Music