The Arts

News from Visual Art 

We would like to invite you to the opening of our Visual Art Studio Autumn Showcase. The exhibition will feature the work of our Year 7 Visual Art Studio Foundation program, as well as Expressive printmaking – mono and lino print editions. The exhibition is due to open on Thursday 2 May from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm.  We hope you can drop in and see the amazing work of our students.

Date:  Thursday 2 May

Time:  3:30 pm - 5:30 pm

In addition, we are excited to announce that our Term 2 Visual Art Studio – OPEN STUDIO – will commence on Friday 3 May. If you are interested in this 8-week program, please see the attached details for more information.

State Honours Ensemble Program

State Honours Ensemble Program (SHEP) is an educational program for music students that helps extend and encourage their pursuit of musical excellence. Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University’s State Honours Ensemble Program has grown from relatively modest beginnings in 2001. SHEP is now a firmly established aspect of music learning in Queensland, bringing together young people from all over the State, in regional centres and Brisbane to share their passion for making music.

Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University provides five programs in Brisbane and twelve regional programs.

Since first commencing in 2001 SHEP has seen over 45,000 students attend the SHEP programs throughout Queensland, from more than 2000 schools; with many of these students progressing from the Middle school programs through to AHEP.  A select number of participants have also joined the international arm of SHEP, the Pacific Honours Ensemble Program (PHEP), which tours to Seattle each year.  Since 2001 more than 300 nationally and internationally acclaimed conductors have led the SHEP ensembles to presentations of musical excellence. 2018 saw the inaugural Australian Honours Ensemble Program (AHEP) with a wind orchestra, string orchestra, and vocal ensemble and now includes the Symphony Orchestra and Big Band which were previously part of SHEP Queensland. AHEP is an extension of the State Honours Ensemble Program.

Congratulations to the following students who have successfully applied for the State Honours Ensemble Program (SHEP) this year:

SHEP Brisbane (July 5 – 7)

Maple N (Voice)

Bethan W (Viola)

SHEP Sth-East QLD (May 31 - June 2)

Bethan W (Voice)

Madeleine W (Violin)

We are eagerly awaiting the results of the auditions of our students who were nominated for AHEP (Australian Honours Ensemble Program) this year. Alexandria D, Jefferson D, Charlotte and Catriona. Good luck!

Student Achievements

QSO Compose Program - Catriona (Cear 11)

Catriona was selected late last year to participate in the Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Compose Program in 2024. 

Queensland Symphony Orchestra's Compose Program is designed to introduce secondary school students to composing for orchestral instruments, extending learning in the senior phase of their schooling beyond the general requirements of the curriculum. Through workshops and face-to-face activities under the guidance of QSO Composition Mentors Craig Allister Young and Timothy Tate, participating students have the opportunity to write compositions for the QSO Connect Ensemble, resulting in a final presentation at the QSO Studio in South Bank, Brisbane. 

Catriona has been tasked with creating an original composition for the QSO Connect Ensemble using the central theme of “home” as inspiration. This concept of “home” is a deeply personal one and does not necessarily just refer to the building we live in – it may be feeling at home around particular people, when reflecting on a memory/feeling or in a favourite geographic location. 

To get started, in Workshop 1 last November, Catriona met with Inala Wangarra Elders and shared their concept of home, studying a Possum Skin Map which highlights the stories and connections to the community and place of these four significant Inala Elders. The map captures some of their history, the early days of Inala and just how much Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have shaped this suburb. Catriona was given a set of composition guidelines including instrumentation recommendations to start developing her initial ideas. She had to prepare 30 seconds of musical ideas and be ready to discuss them at Workshop 2.

Workshop 2 was held in February this year and Catriona came away from the experience with helpful tools, ideas and more inspiration for her composition. These included ways to manipulate timbre through instrumental scoring/orchestration; the use of expressive devices and modulation as well as varied phrasing to keep her composition interesting. All of this was to prepare for Workshop 3 which focussed on the way the QSO musicians would interpret Catriona’s score.

In late February, Catriona had the chance to edit and format her draft composition based on feedback from the orchestra members who performed it in Workshop 3 before submitting a complete draft at the start of March. She then attended a rehearsal at the ABC Building with all of the other participants (Workshop 4) where the QSO Musicians played everyone’s compositions and provided feedback on ways to develop the composer’s creative choices.

Catriona is looking forward to the remaining workshops where she will present the evolution of her piece. She has access to notes made by the QSO Musicians after playing her piece as well as the recording they made in the previous workshop to develop her ideas. It is all starting to come together now. 

We are looking forward to hearing her completed composition when the QSO performs all the student’s work later this year.

Upcoming Arts Events:

Asymmetry Performs with State High

On Monday 22 April, our senior percussion ensemble, Asymmetry, performed in a combined school’s percussion concert at Brisbane State High School. We hosted a similar concert here last year and it was a showcase of the incredible work Percussion teacher, Mr Jeff Jarrott, does with our students, but also in his other schools. 

Featuring performances from the students of MacGregor SS; Corinda SHS, Genesis College, BSHS and The Gap, it was a fantastic night of music – displaying student mastery of the wide array of percussion instruments (so many big marimbas!), extreme cohesion of ensembles and great passion for music. 

The high quality of musicianship of all the students was impressive and our group played with enthusiasm and connection. You could tell that they loved every minute of playing together! A huge thank you to Mr Jarrott and his team at State High for hosting this event and also to our Mr Jarrott for his dedication to excellence in percussion performance with our students. They are in great shape heading into Fanfare and the Australian Percussion Eisteddfod this year.

Trivia Night

The Gap State High School's Annual PoPArts Trivia Night is back for its 22nd year! Come and join quizmaster Andrew McMicking for a fantastic night of trivia and prizes.

When: Friday 10 May

Time: 6:30 pm

Where: JA Robertson Hall

*Please note, if you purchased tickets for Friday 8 March 2024, these will be transferred to this event.