2019 Generations in Jazz

On Friday, 3rd May, 33 excited band and a’capella music students packed the bus ready for our 6 hour road trip to South Australia. We were going to compete in Generations in Jazz for the first time, along with 5,000 other emerging musicians from schools from all over Australia and New Zealand. (Mr Hicks last took a band from MGC in 2008 to perform in Division 5)

With the beautiful Grampians forming a backdrop, we had our first stop in Beaufort and then lunch in Hamilton. The closer we got, the more buses and school groups began to converge until we reached Mount Gambier. First stop was at our accommodation- 1st Mount Gambier Scout Group Hall, where we were able to fit in a quick rehearsal after settling in.

Then it was off to the Generations in Jazz festival site, for our first view of the huge 10,000 seat main tent, where the opening welcome concert was held.

We were lucky enough to see international artists such as Joey De Francesco, Kurt Elling, Liz Wright, Rickey Woodard and the Herbie Hancock Institute Jazz Performance band perform as well as James Morrison of course.

Saturday was competition day. We watched Mr Hicks’ other band from Mcleod Secondary College perform, and then our band went on at 12.20pm and performed the set song, “A Little Lee”, featuring Eirene Carajias on sax. Their free choice pieces were two Snarky Puppy tunes arranged by Mr Hicks. “Thing of Gold”, featured solos by Portia Frayne on viola, Charlie Young on Trumpet and Miranda Moloney on Soprano saxophone. They transitioned into their second Snarky Puppy piece, “Tio Macaco” featuring solos by Natasha Lowe on tenor sax, Talia Meiri on flute, Ella Ball on sax and Chantel Wong on baritone sax, culminating in the rest of the band clearing the stage for Marissa di Marzio’s drum solo.

Then at 3pm it was time for our a’capella choir to perform their set song, “Your Best Friend”, featuring solos by Meredith Ross-James and Lucy Skelton, and their free choice rendition of “Song Bird”, arranged by our voice teacher, Susan de Jong.

Saturday night was another concert featuring the international artists and the exciting announcement of each division’s “Super band” members. Congratulations to the following students who were awarded super band status:

Miranda Moloney (Soprano Saxophone) Caitlin Moloney (Bass) and Marissa di Marzio (drums)

Ms Corry got this great news via text as she was at the hospital with Abbie O’Flynn, who had played through the band’s whole 20 minute set with a broken hand! What a courageous student! We wish her a speedy recovery.

It was hard to settle down to sleep that night, as students jammed in their jim jams, using whatever “instruments” they could find!

Sunday morning was a more relaxed start, with a visit to the beautiful volcanic “Blue Lake”, where we were treated to a moving a’capella performance of “Song Bird” by the choir, for our bus driver, Fee. Then back to the festival site for the final farewell concert and announcement of the winners.

Congratulations to our A’capella Choir, who came 7th in their division and a huge congratulations to our Jazz Orchestra, who won their Division!

We arrived safely back at MGC by 10pm, having finally mastered counting in time to 33.

What an exciting and amazing experience. Special mention and thank you to:

Scotch College for their generous loan of a saxophone when ours was broken
Georgia Clarke, who celebrated her 16th Birthday on Sunday
Viv Carey and Evie Scott who performed in both ensembles
Maggie Philip on trumpet- our only Year 7 participant
To our Year 12 students: Riley Stoffel, Miranda Moloney, Caitlin Moloney, Portia Frayne, Sandra Byrne, Marissa di Marzio, Abbie O’Flynn & Chantel Wong.
To our a’capella choir for committing at short notice, enabling us to be able to attend
To our parents in the audience: Megan Philip, Judith Hallum, Geoffrey Morris, Samantha Cohen, John Carey and Margaret Jollands.
To all the student’s parents for their support
To Andrew Arney, Emma Kapoor, Kathy Schipper and Natasha Walsh and MGC’s School Council for their support getting the camp off the ground
Patsy Moloney and Janet Stevens for sowing the seed by taking our Saxophone Quartet in 2017.
To our Parents Association for their generous grants for our soprano saxophone and tenor saxophone
Andy Clarke for his work with the band
Susan de Jong for preparing the a’capella choir- we couldn’t have done it without you!

Lastly, a huge thank you to Ellyce Calder and Tony Hicks for enabling our music students to experience the spectacle which is Generations in Jazz and to our 33 students for their enthusiasm & impeccable behavior. You were amazing ambassadors for MGC and a credit to yourselves, MGC and your parents.

Congratulations!

Anne Corry.

Teacher in Charge

Click here to see videos from our time at Generations in Jazz!

Adjudicator’s Report Summary.

Choir: Lovely pitch, great unison. Watch tempo in swing. Let the melody shine. Pitch in second song a little under – lift the tone so it has wings! Your unisons are lovely. Very nice level of individuality amongst the cohesion.

Band: “Your vibe and energy was matched by discipline and precision. I absolutely loved this performance today, congratulations. Keep doing what you’re doing, working hard and listening hard and the sky’s the limit!”

2019 GIJ Division 4 Vocal Ensemble Members: Viv Carey, Georgia Clarke, Anya Hemley, Sandu Mahapatuna, Meredith Ross-James, Evie Scott, Lucy Skelton, Christine Soupionas, Violette Spataro, Darby Stoffell & Riley Stoffell.

2019 GIJ Division 4+ Band Members: Ella Ball, Clara Batten, Sandra Byrne, Eirene Carajias, Viv Carey, Sophie Clemson, Marissa di Marzio, Portia Frayne, Daisy Huang, Zoe Korr, Natasha Lowe, Talia Meiri, Caitlin Moloney, Miranda Moloney, Alex Morris, Abbie O’Flynn, Maggie Philip, Lana Roberts, Evie Scott, Victoria Trentin, Kelly Wang, Laura Wilcox, Chantel Wong & Charlie Young.

Student Testimonials

“this will be the highlight of my year” –Meredith

“really fun- we should go every year”-Darby

“one of the best experiences ever”- Anya

“Liz Wright singing “Amazing Grace” was so good”- Christina

“every single moment was worth it”- Lucy

“listening to jazz professionals, being with friends and performing and seeing other schools compete”- Sandu M

“I liked the concerts, performing and riding in the back of the van”-Talia

“It was a lot of fun and it felt like we became a family”- Charlie

“playing all together and seeing all our hard work pay off!”-Abbie

“I very much enjoyed the togetherness of both choir and band- we all got to know ourselves and our instruments better”-Marissa

“I’m thankful for all the people who made this trip memorable and the experience enjoyable”-Lana

“having members of our band getting recognitions- no one expected it and it was a really great moment”- Laura

“the 3 best parts of GIJ was the night performances, watching other bands and choirs and performing ourselves”-Ella

“coming first, relaxing and the bus ride”-Sophie

“playing as a jazz band and watching other performances- learnt lots this way”-Daisy

“Being with friends and playing together is the best feeling”-Eirene

“when the band came first- it was an amazing experience”-Clara

“watching the professional players, talking to other members that I hadn’t had a chance to before, getting in the super band and winning!”-Caitlin

“the best part of GIJ was getting to know the girls in the band"-Zoe

“everything was great”-Kelly

“super band surprise”-Portia

“when super bands were announced”-Chantel

“I really want to go every year”-Natasha

“the concerts were amazing and I learnt so much…seeing Miranda, Marissa and Caitlin get the awards they deserve; it was so much fun”-Victoria

“watching everyone do so well in the performance and enjoy the experience”-Sandra

“the blue lake and finding out we won”-Maggie

“Going to GIJ has been such an amazing/fun/exciting/successful/great camp that I have ever been on”-Evie

“best weekend of my life by far- I feel like I’ve made 32 new best friends”-Miranda

“the energy of so many young musicians in one place-it was an incredible experience”-Alex

“thank you to our amazing teachers, this wouldn’t have been possible without you”-Riley

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