Dear Parents and Students

The year is well and truly in swing now as we glide into autumn with the warmth of the summer still lingering.

Welcome to our new Forte parents and students who joined our school this term! We are excited to connect with you and help your child take their first steps to grow into becoming a confident young musician!

We believe that music benefits children in so many wonderful ways beyond musical skills. Learning music builds skills for life including creativity, confidence, teamwork and adaptability. Children learn to play alongside others in a joyful and collaborative setting.

We are very excited to share the "STUDENT ENRICHMENT PROGRAM" for this year as outlined in the chart below.

These events are intended to give our students a time frame and musical space to set learning goals and develop traits like self discipline, perseverance, a positive and learning mindset and most important, to develop the habit of practising with goals and intention.

Learning with a curious mindset and practising with intention go hand in hand in achieving success in the music learning journey. This year we would like to encourage students to set goals which can include participating in the next Forte Lounge or Forte Festival concert; or aim to sit an exam -Foundation Exam or AMEB grade exams; or explore creative activities such as composition and improvisation when the opportunity arises during class. Our Creative Keys course and teaching facilitates such creative learning; so do encourage your child to unleash that potential!

Last month, we held a special mini concert in conjunction with the Lunar New Year on Sunday 16 February.

Well done to our students who rose to the challenge in performing a traditional Chinese New Year piece- "Cai Shen Dao"! The music is an arrangement by Ms Margaret Thong, a retired music educator who was based in an international school in Shanghai for decades. Ms Thong was my band teacher when I was in primary school in Ipoh (Malaysia). She was a truly inspiring music teacher and arranger of lots of marching band music. I can say that she was the one who sparked the joy of music in me from the time I learnt to play the recorder under her until I went on to play the side drums and glockenspiel in the school band.

We had in " Cai Shen Dao", Shiney on the drumkit; Oliver who played the strings on the keyboard; Claire who played the clarinet and vibraphone on the keyboard ; Henry on the side drum and vibraphone on the keyboard; Amaya on chimes and Atara on the finger cymbals ; and last but not least our trainee teacher Diwen on the flute. We thought the ensemble performance came through quite well considering these students were only given a 2 weeks notice to learn and rehearse!

EASTER EGG CHALLENGE 2025