Music News

On Monday 30 March, our VCE Music class attended Top Class Music 2026 at the Melbourne Recital Centre as part of the VCE Season of Excellence. Joining schools from across Victoria, we watched 25 outstanding students who completed either VCE Music Repertoire Performance or VCE Music Inquiry in 2025 and were selected for their exceptional performance exam results. 

Across the two programs, we experienced a variety of musical styles and ensembles ranging from classical voice, classical guitar to electric guitar duets, solo instrumental works and a chamber group featuring violin, viola, cello and piano. The range of instruments, including double bass, oboe, strings, and alto sax, showed us just how diverse VCE performance can be.

As performers ourselves, it was eye opening to watch young musicians who share the same passion for music that we have in our own class. Their authenticity and confidence demonstrated exactly what VCE examiners look for. It showed us how important it is to go beyond playing the notes and instead focus on aspects like expression, phrasing, articulation and genuine connection with the audience.

Seeing these high scoring performers for the first time gave us a clearer understanding of the standard we can aim for in our own SACs and future performances, and most importantly, reminded us why we love music in the first place.

By Onesha Dias