Music News

I don’t think it’s much of a secret that teachers walk into term 3 with a touch less optimism than in terms 1, 2 and 4. It’s the coldest months of the year, it’s dark when we get up and, frequently, dark when we get home. It’s grey. It’s bleak. It’s just a bit blah. 

That said, Winter is my favourite season. As a former resident of Port Fairy where a warm summer’s day might be 35 (and probably just the one day of it), I adhere to the theory that you can always put more clothes on. You can only take so many off.   

But term 3 in the music department is frequently the busiest term for us. There was a time when term 3 meant Mega Music Day, AMEB exams, Production, Rotary Catering Event and any number of smaller events as well. Effectively we’d have something major happening every 2 ½ weeks. Now, some of those have been moved to other times in the year or don’t happen anymore, but we keep ourselves busy. 

The start of the term saw the first Mega Music Day since pre-covid times. Mega Music Day started waaaaaaay back as just a Horsham College thing, with the focus being on our 1st and 2nd year instrumental and vocal students only. It was an intense 1 day workshop where we would, as an ensemble, work up 4 or 5 charts and perform them to a vaguely willing audience at the end of the day. It was hugely beneficial to our music students and really helped to instil a sense of purpose in their learning an instrument and being part of a team. Over time, other regional music programs got wind of what we were doing and asked if they could come. “Of course”, we naively said, and then stood back and watched Mega Music Day become bigger than Christmas and Texas combined. First with Stawell, then Nhill and eventually Phoenix in Ballarat who regularly turned up with 2 coach loads of kids. The collective exhaustion of the staff involved by the time the day was over was only matched by the collective enthusiasm of the students who had been involved, who just wanted to do it again. “You can come back again next year” we would say, as we slumped into our office chairs in a semi-liquid state, then went home to sit on the couch and quickly fall into a coma. 

With the resurgence of the MMD, it’s great to see that the finely oiled machine it became by 2019 had lost none of its lubrication and effectiveness. This time held at Stawell College with Amanda Hemley at the helm, every staff member pitched in to make it an event that we no longer come out of as a smouldering husk. Because we are still, and will be for some time to come, rebuilding from the effects of Covid, the day involved students from grade 4 right up to year 11, with the more senior kids helping the younger ones with their parts and helping them fit in. As a music teacher, this is one of the most beautiful behaviours I see when we come together as a massed ensemble from all these different schools. Every ego is checked at the door and we collectively work together to produce the best sound we possibly can. We’re all there for the same collective purpose. To get better at what we do. 

Beyond this, we took our instrumental students to an Aboda Harmony and Growth Day in Bendigo to experience playing in a massed ensemble under the baton of hugely qualified and ex-Nhill music teacher Amanda Morrison. To be able to experience the guidance of such a talented and knowledgeable conductor, (and probably hear the same words we say but out of a different mouth), is such a valuable experience. 

Our VET Cert II Music class put on a lunch concert to their peers of a set list of songs which reflected how capable they have become since the start of the year and demonstrated their ability to work as a cohesive unit. To cover the requirements of a couple of the units they are studying, Miss Arnett and I took them on the road to perform to Jeparit Primary and Rainbow P-12. This was a hugely successful day out and the feedback we have received from the schools is nothing short of brilliant. The students had to display capabilities to safely set-up and pack down their equipment and did so with the speed and efficiency of a group that had seemingly done so a thousand times. Very impressive. 

Coming up early in term 4, the senior music class will perform to their peers as well as entertain visiting Rotarians. The set list they have prepared is quite a remarkable one covering songs from multiple decades and demonstrates genuine musical abilities that have been several years in the making. A testament to their hard work and perseverance over the years.

But for now, we shall welcome the term break with open arms as an opportunity to put the feet up and gather our thoughts for one final push towards the end of the year. See you on the flip side.