Student Achievements

Congratulations to our Students Participating in State School Spectacular 2020

The annual Victorian State Schools Spectacular program is an invaluable performing arts opportunity for Victoria’s government primary and secondary school students. This year’s arena event will be replaced with a made-for-TV show that is not contingent on large gatherings of people. Performers will be pre-recorded separately in adherence to health and physical distancing guidelines and restrictions. The performances will be combined into a new-look show and televised.

 

We congratulate the following senior students from Box Hill High School, who are participating in State School Spectacular this year:

Amy Broeksteeg, 12X

Jeremy Lau, 11Y

Max Reina-Henriksen, 12Z

Andre Sitkowski, 12Z

 

 - Erica Sporri and Siegrid Fischer, Senior Engagement Leaders

 

 

The Victorian State Schools Spectacular During COVID-19 

by Max Reina-Henriksen 

 

The Victorian State Schools Spectacular (VSSS) is an extravaganza show full of music and dance, which takes place every year at Melbourne Arena. It calls on students from all across Victoria to rehearse throughout the year, making up the show’s live orchestra, vocalists, mass choir, dance ensembles, backstage crew and designers. The show prepares aspiring students for a career in the arts, immersing us in a professional environment with experts and facilities to guide us through the everyday lives of performers, producers and technicians. Usually, the performance is then broadcast on Australian television at the end of the year, picking highlights from the show’s 40-song repertoire which are then edited into a 2-hour special. 2020 was the year nobody was expecting - and for VSSS, this meant a complete overhaul of the entire show’s format and concept - but the ways in which we have adapted to the difficulties of the pandemic has proven how, through adversity, the arts industry has never been stronger. 

 

Early on in the year, as the restrictions began to tighten, in-person rehearsals were cancelled. Speaking as an orchestra member myself, alongside Amy Broeksteeg (Year 12), Andre Sitkowski (Year 12) and Jeremy Lau (Year 11), we all held on to the hope that rehearsals would eventually resume. But as the situation worsened, the VSSS team had to look for solutions - we pivoted to digital alternatives, attending online video calls to host rehearsals and using editing software to compile recordings of our music into one collective performance. At first, we had low hopes for the quality of these recordings and how useful they would be but were quickly blown away by how well our efforts had paid off. Not only did the recordings sound great, but it proved to us that despite the difficulties we had faced, we sounded just as good as we had in-person. 

 

VSSS is a fantastic place for us to build professional skills, but for many people it’s also a second family. Not being able to see people who we would usually spend hours with every weekend was a big loss, and one of the most challenging parts of this year’s show. Online rehearsals took place almost every weekend, with meetings scattered throughout the day for different sections of the orchestra, followed by a final summative meeting to discuss and ask questions. The thoroughness of our schedules meant we could focus entirely on creativity - this made it really easy to communicate and play our instruments thanks to how well-planned our programs were. Not only this, but it was also a great opportunity just to see other people’s faces, providing the sense of community and intimacy we had lost when we weren’t allowed to visit the studio anymore. Of course, it didn’t feel the same as it would have otherwise, but for what it was, it meant a lot to us all. 

 

In a sense, there’s a lot that we gained from this digital pivot which we otherwise wouldn’t have - online rehearsals meant a lot more one-on-one checkups with our music tutors and section leaders, who have been role models throughout this entire process. I felt like I had a lot of great chances to ask my personal tutor specific questions about what I was learning, not only from an academic point of view but as a colleague. Having that sense of equality and trust has also helped me with a lot of my other concerns, like finishing Year 12 and applying for music courses at university. Speaking to people who had experiences similar to my own made me feel supported in choosing which course was right for me, and where I saw myself as a musician in the future. 

 

The ways in which VSSS has helped us grow and learn this year hasn’t just been a beneficial experience as an aspiring artist, but a breath of fresh air from 2020’s stressful events. As a Year 12 student, I’m sad to be graduating from the program as of 2021 - but after the hardships we’ve faced and survived this year, at least I’ll walk away with the memory that a community who stays as strong as this in such difficult times is a community worth being a part of. 

 

 - Max Reina-Henriksen, 12Z