Music Update
Click HERE to watch the Woodwind Ensemble
Click HERE to watch the Senior Guitar Ensemble
It’s been a huge term for the PHSC Music Department!
We started Week 1 with not one, but TWO music camps! Following parent/student feedback, we extended music camp to almost all our ensembles. Music camp prepared our students well for the huge number of gigs and performances this term had in store.
We kicked off the term with a Vocal Soiree, straight after the choirs’ first music camp, to showcase the efforts and talents of our vocal students.
VCE Night at the Wesley Anne was a huge success, featuring 2 Repertoire and 10 Contemporary programs. This was our first gig using this venue, and we were super impressed with the space. We will return to the Wesley Anne in Weeks 1 and 2 of Term 4 to showcase the final Contemporary programs.
Plugged Music Night at the Brunswick Ballroom featured 90 student performers over 10 ensembles. The students thrived up on the big stage! Brunswick Ballroom is a top-notch, local live music venue, an incredible place for some true industry experience for our young musos.
Year 9 Music Night at the Bergy Bandroom went off without a hitch. It was the first time running a stand-alone Year 9 band class and they all did an amazing job! Students did all the leg work as part of class, including band names, photo shoots, posters, and helped with advertising. Congratulations on being the first band class to sell 100 tickets!
Unplugged Music Night is our largest fundraiser of the year, thanks to the Yarra City Council Subsidy Grant, and audience support. Profits cycle back into the music department for instrument repairs and equipment upgrades. We sold over 250 tickets; a new record for PHSC ticket sales! It was the first time running this concert with 12 ensembles, including new ensembles Intermezzo and Woodwind Ensemble.
It's been heartwarming to see the broader community show up in such large numbers to support music students at these events. We’re particularly thrilled to see so many non-performing students attend to support their peers. Thank you all for your support!
Expect big things in Semester Two, including a student-run event at Cross St in August, our first formal Chamber Concert post-Covid at the CAN Carlton at the end of Term 3 (this will feature our 3 VCE Repertoire programs), and the usual insane run of near weekly gigs through Term 4.
Nick Taylor
Music Coordinator
Student Reflections
"I think that our final gig really showed what we aimed to achieve, over the last 6 months we have been practicing, choosing songs, and bonding as a band, times where tough when we felt like we were running out of time or that we couldn't thing of a song to learn, but we pushed through and it led up to an awesome ending. Before our final gig we performed for classmates and teachers at lunchtime, our concert was alright but could've been so much better which is strange compared to our actual gig which went great, I think its because the bergy band room had such an intense atmosphere you could only feel really hyped up. It was really sick jamming out to friends and family at a venue, makes you feel like a rockstar. Music hasn't been easy over these past months, but it was very much worth it to see how much we've grown and how far we've come as a band"
- Blind Racoons
'I had a great time playing with my peers! I found it especially exciting to be performing in a formal venue, like the Wesley Anne. I encourage students to step outside of their comfort zone and begin performing in front of live audiences when given an opportunity!' -CC Wardhaugh