Music Matters 

Music Department News

With life returning to our new normal and all students back at school, instrumental teachers and classroom music teachers have really enjoyed being able to see their students face-to-face. As with all practical subjects, it is so much more effective to teach in the same room as the students to get immediate responses and give feedback. It’s also been great to see the joy of the students playing music together again.

Classroom Music

Classroom music classes are currently carrying out performance assessments. In Year 7 this has seen students playing keyboard and guitar to prepare for next week’s practical sessions on the jam hubs in DP2. Year 9 and 10 Music elective classes have been completing their solo performances in front of their classmates with some outstanding results.

Congratulations to all the VCE Music students who performed their unit 1 and 3 technical performance SACs and performance outcomes this week. You have all performed admirably and the progress you are making with your programs is very impressive.

Instrumental Music

Instrumental students have been performing pieces for their teachers in place of the Winter Concert assessment and although some students have been a bit rusty, the majority have demonstrated that they have kept their playing up during the lockdown period. We appreciate the support of parents and siblings during this time, negotiating practice times and spaces while households were working and studying from home.

Ensemble Rehearsals

All ensembles have returned to full rehearsals over the last two weeks and it has been wonderful to hear the full sounds of the groups together. Rehearsals of large wind ensembles have been held in the Performance Centre to allow for better distancing between players. Junior and Senior Jazz, String Orchestra and Stringworks have been rehearsing in the Music Centre. All rehearsals have returned to the usual times except Stringworks which has moved to Wednesdays after school.

Soundworks: Monday 3:30 – 4:30pm

Junior Jazz: Tuesdays 7:45 – 8:50am

Guitar Ensemble: Tuesdays lunchtime

Senior Jazz: Tuesdays 3:30 – 4:30pm

Concert Band: Tuesdays 3:30 – 4:30pm

Wind Symphony: Wednesdays 7:30 – 8:50am

Stringworks: Wednesdays 3:30 – 4:30pm

String Orchestra: Fridays 7:45 – 8:50am

Nick Dean, Music Coordinator