Music

Mentone RSL Gig Night

A capacity audience gathered at the Mentone RSL this week for performances by the Stage Band, Madrigal and various guitar bands.  The annual 'Gig Night' offers a relaxed atmosphere for families and friends to enjoy a meal and music in a more intimiate setting. This event is always bitter sweet as it farewells Year 12 instrumental students after six years of mateship and music-making. They were acknowledged thoughout the night which concluded with an especially formed Year 12 band. Their set concluded with a heart-felt rendition of 'Never Tear us Apart' including a soaring saxophone solo from Caitlin Hughes. 

VSMF competitions 

Symphony Band

On Friday 6 September the Symphonic Band had the opportunity to go compete in the annual Victorian School Music Festival. Filled with excitement and perhaps some nerves after many dedicated (and early) Wednesday morning rehearsals, we made our way to Hawthorn Arts Centre to compete alongside 4 other schools in the Intermediate Concert Band section.

VSMF - as it's more commonly known - is a fantastic opportunity for our school to perform the pieces we have been working diligently on, and to receive feedback from an experienced panel of adjudicators in relation to our performance. We were also given the chance to listen to other concert bands performing, who in turn listened to us when it was our turn, and take on feedback they were given, which may prove to be beneficial for the Symphonic Band in the future.

After performing our pieces Where Mountains Touch The Sky by Robert Buckley, Australian Up Country Tune by Percy Grainger and Sunlight Dancing also by Robert Buckley, the MGSC symphonic band were given a range of intriguing exercises focused on dynamics, breath control and balance by Dr Albert Nguyen all designed to help strengthen our playing, and our cohesion as a band, resulting in a fantastic achievement in scoring a Bronze Plaque! 

I want to use this opportunity to thank and congratulate my fellow Year 12s, Matilda Renkin-Onwuji and Aimee Brookes for their hard work and commitment to this band over the years, as VSMF was our last performance with the Symphonic Band, as well as thank music teachers Sue Cook and Alexandra Mikhailova for accompanying us on the day. 

A huge thank you and congratulations to Wendy Harvey for her passion, determination and patience with all of us, you’ve done an incredible job conducting us throughout the year, and have been a great influence, encouraging us to take up a challenge and work hard to perform our program as well as we did on the day. I look forward to seeing what Symphonic has up their sleeves next year! 

Maddy Fenton (Year 12, Clarinet)

Year 8 Band 

On Thursday 5 September, the Year 8 band participated in the Victorian School Music Festival (VSMF). VSMF is an annual competition held at Hawthorn Arts Centre for school bands, orchestras, jazz ensembles and choirs at many levels. The Year 8 Band was very privileged to be able to compete in the Junior Concert Band section. We met in the music rooms in the morning, grabbed all our equipment and hopped on the bus. The band completed three songs - ‘Market in Marakesh’ by Tim Fisher, ‘Migaloo’ by Claire Petherick and ‘A Story To Tell’ by Tim Ferrier. Everyone did a fantastic job performing. Then, we had a specialist provide us with some tips and tricks, mainly about the band's balance through dynamics. We also got the chance to hear other school’s performances. It was a really enjoyable experience overall and the long day was all worth it when we stopped at Maccas on the way home! Thank you so much to Mrs Harvey, Mr Ho and Ms Winter for giving us this amazing opportunity and musical experience!

Phoebe Sanders and Keira Nguyen (Year 8) 

String Orchestra

In late August the String Orchestra collected a Bronze for their performances. We are all super thrilled. Congratulations to Alex Mikhailova. 

Disney Lunch Concert

On Friday 23 August the stage was set in M2 for the annual 'Disney Lunch'. The audio visual team was comprised of Mr  Eric Ho's Year 9 Music class. They organized the backing tracks and had matching Disney pictures on the screen behind the singers.

We began with the All Star Choir singing their rendition of 'Into The Unknown' from Frozen 2 and cruised through solos and duets from many Disney movies. Ella Bennett sang a mellow 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' with Holly Sweatman's (Pumbaa's) interjections. Mariya Bernyk sang 'Colours of the Wind' smoothly and Yolanda Kang gave us the very positive message of  'Try Everything' from Zootopia. Tara sang the exciting 'For The First Time In Forever' and Sophie Mars the cute 'Do You Want To Build A Snowman?'. 

Duets included Katerina Zouzoulas and Alexis Sacris singing the strong 'Breaking Free' while Alice and Phoebe Earl sang the poignant 'Once Upon A December. The Year 7s (great Grandma performances by Zoe Emmerson and Alex Nugara!), Year 8s (How Far I'll Go) and the Year 9s group songs including 'Show Yourself' from The Descendants. 

Thank you to all the singers who contributed and a special thanks to Mr Ho and the Year 9 audio visual helpers!!

Ms Blanka West

Voice Teacher/Choral Director

Upcoming Events

Tuesday 17 September

SEVR Intermediate Bandfest  (Years 8 and 9) at Frankston High

Wednesday 18 September

Soiree featuring VCE Music performances and senior students at 7pm, Nina Carr Theatre