Extra-Curricular at MAG
New Piano and Flute tutor – Delena Gaffney
We are delighted to welcome another music tutor to our growing Extra-Curricular music program.
Delena will be available to teach piano or flute later this term and comes with a wealth of experience.
Music has been at the heart of Delena’s life since childhood, beginning with piano at age 5 and evolving into roles as an accompanist and educator across various instruments including piano, flute, recorder and ukulele.
With extensive training in Primary and Early Childhood music, Delena is deeply passionate about community music-making and believes in fostering musicality in everyone.
Since 1983, Delena has taught piano in schools and privately, guiding students through to Diploma, while integrating theory and creativity into each lesson.
Delena’s love for accompaniment shines through in her work with students, professionals, and amateur theatre, and she has performed with classical, folk and pop groups. Over 28 years, Delena has worked in primary schools and early childhood centres, and in 2017 and 2019, Delena founded and continues to lead a mixed adult choir and an all-male choir, both thriving and growing.
If your child is interested in learning with Delena, please refer to the details on our website and if required, click here to apply.
Drumline Performance at Run Echuca Moama
Our Drumline provided entertaining and motivating rhythms last Sunday, 4th August at Hopwood Gardens Echuca, to more than 500 runners participating in Run Echuca Moama.
Our students played upbeat drumline cadences for an hour to help the runners achieve their final stretch of the course – it was great to see many of the runners smile and give our Drumline musicians a ‘thumbs-up’, with some runners breaking stride to have a dance to our music!
Run Echuca Moama was a great community event that we enjoyed supporting and being a part of!
Save the Date - Springtime Concert
The Springtime Concert is only a few weeks away and it is set to be an outstanding musical evening!
After working with our music tutors and undergoing auditions, selected Secondary students have been busily preparing items to perform in this concert. There will be a range of vocal, piano, violin, saxophone and drum items. Additionally, there will be ensemble performances from the Drumline, Year 10 Music Elective Band and Strings Ensemble too.
The Springtime Concert will be held on Monday 2 September (Week 8), from 6.30-8.00pm in the Multi-Purpose Hall.
Showdown at the Soundshell 2024
16 & 17 November 2024
New to our Extra-Curricular Music Program - French Horn
An exciting opportunity is now available as part of our Extra-Curricular music program! For the very first time, we now offer French Horn lessons, which will be facilitated by Ms Chandra Hale.
Chandra Hale is our MAG Secondary Music Teacher and an avid orchestral player. She studied French Horn under the Principal Horn player of the WASO, Heidi Kepper and Principal Horn of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Darryl Poulsen. Chandra has played horn and other instruments for a number of musicals in the Riverina region and will be playing in the Sound of Music later this year in Wagga Wagga. She is currently a member of both the Goulburn Valley Concert Orchestra and the Bendigo Symphony Orchestra in addition to smaller chamber music groups in Echuca and Shepparton. For Chandra, ensemble playing is the heart and soul of being a musician.
A bit about learning French Horn
French Horn is considered one of the hardest orchestral instruments to master and it takes several years for most learners to produce a decent tone on the horn. Learning French Horn takes persistence but there are many rewards. Because it is so challenging, once you've committed yourself to learning it, you will become part of a larger (but still relatively small) horn community in Australia that will support you on your musical journey. French horns dominate the music of films as its tone colour evokes a sense of grandeur and majesty and you will learn to recognise its distinctive sound within the melodies used in movies such as Star Wars, The Avengers and many more.
If your child would like to learn French Horn, please refer to details on our website and if required, click on this link to apply.
Please note, French Horn lessons with Ms Chandra Hale will be after school hours (onsite at MAG) and to comply with our Child Safe Policy, lessons will be either in groups (two or more students) or require parent/guardian supervision for individual lessons.
To access a French Horn, we recommend this organisation for external hire, if not wanting to purchase a French Horn outright.
Please note, we recommend that Primary and Year 7 students hire a single French horn and Year 8 and above students hire a double horn.
2024 Extra Curricular Tuition Applications (Optional)
We offer a variety of instruments available for students to learn through our Extra-Curricular Music Program.
For students interested in participating in our Extra-Curricular tuition program, a range of percussion, brass, woodwind and string instruments are available to learn, as well as the opportunity to join our Brass/Woodwind ‘Step Up’ program, or a Rock Band.
Please refer to the details on our website and if required, click here to apply.
Please don’t hesitate to contact Mrs Fiona Gibbs (Head of Student Experience – Extra Curricular Music Program (K-12) ) should you have any queries.