Muse News

Hamilton Eisteddfod

We had three entries in the Hamilton Eisteddfod this week and they were all quite the emotional rollercoaster!

Our brass ensemble was rehearsing well and looked to be on track for a confident presentation of some difficult songs “Gonna Fly Now” from Rocky and “Africa” by Toto. We were entered in the open brass ensemble section that allowed all ages to perform.

The brass ensemble was also entered in a student only category and were rehearsing “Game of Thrones” and Kiss’s “I was made for loving you”, both of which were also challenging but were beginning to sound very good.

Our marvellous Wind Quintet (ensemble as we chose to add an extra flute player) were playing very well and sounding good with “Hallelujah and friends” an arrangement that moved between ‘Hallelujah’ and ‘What a Wonderful World’ with a light sprinkling of ‘Unchained Melody’ to finish it off. They were also preparing ‘I Want It That Way’ by the backstreet boys and recently featured by Jake Peralta on the show “Brooklyn nine-nine”.

Our lead trumpet needed an operation on the day of the performance and so to salvage our performance opportunity, and the hard work done by everyone so far, I brought in Mrs. Bell and Mrs Sweeney (of Hamilton North primary school and Hamilton Brass). I also changed our pieces for the student section at the encouragement of a new brass student (thank you Seb!), so that rather than just cancel we would be able to gain some performance experience.

We then rehearsed “Freaks” by Timmy Trumpet / Savage (arranged by DJ H. Dogg, thank you Dogg!) and “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC… we also added a part time drummer to both of these songs to give them the edge they needed. The young musicians were able to learn these two songs in two days! They were sounding great and super keen, although realistically a win was not one of our goals, we just wanted to play and present our pieces to an enthusiastic crowd.

Unfortunately we were hit hard with two key players coming down with illnesses, ruling out our brass group and our wind ensemble. So we were not able to perform at all.

So was it a total disaster?

Actually no.

What we gained in the panic and the frantic preparation was, in my opinion, more valuable than anything else that we could have done. The hard work done by everyone will not be in vain as they will have performance opportunities in the very near future. Plus it served to make all musicians better in the process of preparing.

I know also of a few musicians that were feeling like they weren’t improving and wondering if the work of learning an instrument was for them, who are now practicing and feeling a sense of fulfilment and belonging that is always comforting in the world of music.

This was the best Eisteddfod I’ve never been involved with.

The absolute best.

Choir

The choir is super fun! We are working up some songs that can be included, with minimal lead up rehearsals, when we go to perform. Our repertoire includes works from Africa, Ireland and films. Choir is on Wednesday lunchtimes in the music upstairs room.

New Monthly Recitals

The monthly recitals have begun! The May offering lasted only about forty minutes but the small audience left happy and seemed entertained. The musicians enjoyed the venue and performed beautifully!

Thanks to Roger and Francine for playing with us and to Ben for joining in on the night.

We hope to make them on the last Thursday of the month and encourage people to come along and experience the offerings of our talented students.

VCE Performance Evening

Renae Wilkinson performed with other VCE students at the Monivae P.A.C last Thursday night. ‘Wuthering Heights’ and ‘If I ain’t got you’ were beautifully performed and were very well received. Well done again Renae! (and if we ever have a cause to perform in arctic conditions that was a wonderful way to prepare for it… brrr!)

Thanks for reading.

Glenn Hayes.

Music Coordinator.