Music

Semester 2 Music Soiree - An historic moment

This was a significant event held on Monday, 14 October. One reason for this, was that it was the first time that the Ensemble Room had been used as a performance venue. It is a delightful space with excellent acoustics and easily accommodated the audience of over 50 patrons.    

Our Soiree program is a series of small intimate concert events that go for around an hour. The concert last week was a great joy and the culmination of a process that not only involved skills and knowledge, but collaboration, sensitivity and significant emotional intelligence.

This year we have been incredibly lucky to have enjoyed the skills of some immensely capable young musicians. This was very much on display on at this Soiree. The night featured a range of performers, but it was our senior students who shone. Many of our Year 12s took the opportunity to present for our community for perhaps the last time and it was captivating.

As you might expect our VCE Music Students, Oskar Folkes, Joe Elliot and Ben Nixon were featured. Ben and Joe played solo works from their performance programs, Ben playing Suite Hellenique and Joe performing Octennial Song. This work by Australian Stuart Greenbaum was unaccompanied. No one else on stage, just Joe. Works like this take great maturity.

Oskar was joined by Charlie Richardson, Jacob van Raaphorst and Joel Missen. This quartet opened proceeds with two original compositions, Lost Patient and The Blur. This jazz, pop fusion works were very thought provoking and engaging.

Taking the lead from our senior students were two notable younger performers - Rafael Pankhurst and Riley Hayes. Riley performed the technically and artistically demanding Ballade in G Minor by Chopin. Raf performed a 'low brass' classic - Concerto For Trombone by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov. His playing was dramatic and full variation.

The closing performance was truly special. Our senior Contemporary Group, the Falling Stars Band performed Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai and then closed the show with something very poignant. Lachlan Hodge, the band's lead singer and guitarist presented No Time At All. The song was written and originally performed by The Parrots. Lachlan's late father, Graeme, fronted this band in the 1980s. The performance was both joyful and full of pathos.   

A huge thank you to the students and the members of the Music Faculty. Also, our thanks to Chrissy Schuler for her fine accompaniment skills at this event and across the year. We are looking forward to welcoming you to our Soirees and other performance events in 2025.