Music Matters

Music Rehearsal Camp 2025

Congratulations to the 81 students and fabulous team of staff who have just returned from three days on the annual music rehearsal camp. It was a great pleasure to take 80 students from Yr 7-12 away to Camp Oasis in Mt Evelyn. On the three day camp students participated in ensemble rehearsals, sectionals and a range of non-musical activities which gave students the opportunity to get to know each other better and build social connection. Due to the Senior Ensembles Qld. tour in a couple of weeks time this years camp focused on the students who have been playing their instruments for 6 months – 2 or 3 years, in Soundworks, Concert Band, Stringworks, Junior Jazz and Guitar Ensemble.

Staff and students worked hard during the rehearsals and it was fabulous seeing students take on the responsibility of running a number of the sectionals, mentoring and assisting each other to build their musical skills. Students were fabulous role models for each other. 

Over the first two days students also had the opportunity to take part in three different activities, some which took them out of their comfort zones, choosing from Giant Swing, Laser Tag, Flying Fox, Archery, Low Ropes, and Candle Making.

Thank you to the students who performed in the very eclectic Talent Show that we held on the Tuesday night along with our fabulous team of senior girls who ran the Talent Show.

On the last morning each of the ensembles held a final rehearsal and then we finished the camp with a concert showcasing the hard work of each ensemble. It was fabulous to see the enormous progress that each of the groups had made over the three days of the camp.

Thank you to the fabulous music staff Nick Dean, Tim Veevers, Hannah Walters, David Rowlands, Andy O’Connell, Josh Verco, Ben Muddyman and Basil Byrne who took time out to attend the camp and direct the ensembles. A huge thank you also to Ella and Ash from the wellbeing team and Dawn from the inclusion team for their fabulous work and support on the camp working with students during a variety of activities. I would also like to thank the Oasis Camp staff for another great camp and fabulous camp meals. 

Finally, I would like to congratulate the students on the fabulous way that they approached the camp, rehearsals and all activities. It was great to see the way in which students embraced the opportunities that the camp presented. They worked well as a team, always happy to assist with set-up, pack up and clean up. We look forward to showcasing the work done on camp at the Winter Concert on Thursday 12th  June, if the performances yesterday are anything to go by it promises to be an amazing Concert.

- Wendy Howes

Winter Concert - Thursday 12th June 7pm

Winter is approaching fast and so is our Winter Concert! Tickets will be on sale next week so keep an eye out for a Compass post. Talk to all your relatives now to make sure they are free on the 12th June at 7pm. Ticket will sell fast so get in early.

After all the great preparation on Music Camp, Senior Ensemble Workshop and weekly rehearsals, all our ensembles are firing and excited to show off all their hard work to family and friends. We have combined performances from String Orchestra with Wind Symphony, Concert Band with Soundworks and Guitar Ensemble, first and second year Stringworks members and Junior Jazz with Guitar Ensemble. It promises to be a great night as usual so get on to TryBooking as soon as they are released next week.

Queensland Music Tour Hoodies

Thank you to Xin, Andrelle and the Music Student Committee for all your efforts with the Tour Hoodie design. It looks fantastic and will be a great performance uniform while on tour. A survey for hoodie sizes has been sent to all participants via Teams. Please make sure you have completed this as soon as possible.

Senior Ensemble Workshop

On Wednesday 21st June, Wind Symphony and String Orchestra spent the afternoon working on their combined piece for the Winter Concert. They will also play the piece together on the Queensland Music Tour. The ensembles worked separately on their parts then together in the Performance Centre and made excellent progress in the limited time we had. We’ll keep the name of the piece a surprise until the night, but we can tell you that it is a Disney favourite 😊