Generations in Jazz

Hitting the high notes in Mount Gambier

Last weekend, students from Northcote High School’s stage bands and Harmony Vocals got to go to the Generations in Jazz festival in Mount Gambier. We spent 3 days at the festival, playing great music and listening to some of the best bands in the whole of Australia.

We got the bus early last Friday and drove for hours until we reached Ararat, where we played our music for Ararat Primary School. They were enthralled by our performances. The rest of the bus ride wasn’t so smooth – we had to stop the whole bus to let one student use the bathroom, a carton of milk exploded in someone’s bag, and we had to take a brief stop at the border of Victoria and South Australia to dispose of whatever fruit we had on hand. The time seemed to pass quickly, with sing-alongs breaking out all over the whole bus. We were so loud that we had to be reminded once or twice that Harmony Vocals needed to save their voices for tomorrow. We arrived at GIJ at about 5:30, ate dinner, watched some spectacular performances, and finally left for Mulga Street Primary School for a good night’s sleep.

On Saturday the 4th, we woke up bright and early at 6:30 AM, ate the breakfast that the Mulga Street volunteers generously made for us, and set off once more for GIJ. The first to perform was Intermediate Stage Band, then Senior Stage band, and finally Harmony Vocals. The bitter South Australian cold could not discourage us from playing as best as we could, and some of us even regarded that morning as “the best we’ve ever played”. We took a brief leave to shower at a local caravan park, and arrived back at GIJ just in time to eat dinner again and see the announcements for Superbands.

On Sunday the 5th, we had barely enough time to eat breakfast and visit some GIJ workshops before we had to leave for Melbourne. Our exhaustion after the very full weekend vanished when we were told the school rankings. Harmony Vocals came 9th out of 34 ensembles, many of which were from fancy private schools, and much more numerous in members. We finally arrived back at NHS at 8 PM, and got a group picture before heading home for a well-earned rest.

GIJ is an amazing experience every year, this being no exception. We got to see some amazing big band performances, some of the other school bands from all around the country, and even the division 1 and 2 Superbands. The students extend their thanks to Ms Brogan, Ms Frost, Mr Dulfer, and Basil Byrne for supervising us on this trip, and the graduating year 12 students would like to wish the best of luck for next year’s GIJ performers.

Alex Burgemeister, Year 12