Music Matters

Main points:

Next Year's Enrolment- Music Lockers
School Hire Instrument end-of-year procedures
Holiday Hire Agreements- Owned Instruments
Ensembles in 2026
Rock Program in 2026
Rehearsal times in 2026
Important dates for 2026
Vietnam Senior Music Tour 2027

To everyone in the Music program, congratulations on an amazing year. I couldn't be prouder of everyone involved. All the ensembles have shown outstanding improvements over the year as have you all individually as musicians. It has been well recognised and appreciated by the whole school community, with lots of big thank yous and congratulations being received.

Highlights were the Music Camp, Winter Concert, Senior tour to Queensland, Spring Concert, String and Concert Band instrument soirees, the Rock Showcase and Valedictory and Year Level Awards Presentations. Of course there was also the incredible achievements at the VSMF by String Orchestra - Platinum award, Wind Symphony - Gold, Concert Band, Senior and Junior Jazz - Silver and Soundworks performing in their first Novice section (no awards given).

Now that the dust has settled and our final performances are nearly over with, I would like to cover a few housekeeping matters:

Next year's enrolment

Please help us with planning for next year by approving the 2026 Instrumental Music Program YR 8-12 event on Compass. Payment is due by the end of February next year but payment as early as possible would be appreciated.

Music lockers are regular lockers that are only offered to Music students who would like to have their locker away from the usual crowded locker bays and close to the Music Centre, where they store their instruments, have lessons and rehearsals during the week. They are offered to any instrumental music students in years 8 and above except peer leaders who need to have their lockers in W Block. They have become a prized benefit of being in the Music program to those students who have one.If you would like to keep your Music locker from this year or would like to have one in 2026, please let me know via email or Teams as soon as possible. First in best dressed :)

If you have had a Music locker this year and don't wish to keep it in 2025, please let me know also as soon as possible so I can offer it to other Music students.If you haven't had a music locker in 2024 but would like one in 2025, please let me know as soon as possible, and I will put you on a waiting list for those available at the end of the year.

All Music lockers should be cleaned out and locks removed before the holidays.

School Hire Instruments

If you have been hiring an instrument from the school this year, please return it to the school this week for checking. If it needs servicing, we will need to get it done over the holidays.

Holiday Hire Agreements

If you would like to use a school instrument over the holidays, collect a holiday hire contract from the Music office this week and return it before your last day at school. There is no charge for the holidays, but it is expected that you buy your own instrument over the holidays to free up the school instruments for new year sevens. What a great Christmas present idea, Santa ;)

If you are not in a position to buy an instrument at the moment, please contact me to discuss options. Buying a good-quality instrument is usually more cost-effective than hiring. If your child discontinues playing in the future, the instrument will sell for a similar price to what you bought it for. With our large Music program, we will usually have buyers ready to buy them from you, too :)

Good second-hand options are often available, but please check with your teacher before making a purchase. They will be only too happy to help.

Collecting Owned Instruments

Please remember to collect your instrument from the Music Centre storeroom before your last day at school, so that you can practice over the holidays. If you have already finished, there will be staff in the Music Centre every weekday until Friday, 19th

Ensembles for 2026

Congratulations to everyone for their ensemble auditions. Students have been advised of which ensembles they will be in for 2026 and have already been rehearsing with their new groups. Concert Band and Wind Symphony now boast over 40 students in each, and the sounds are incredible! Stringworks and String Orchestra's numbers are also u,p and both are continuing to impress with their sophisticated musicality. Junior and Senior Jazz have also got healthy numbers, and we can't wait to see how they develop in 2026.

Rock Program in 2026

Auditions for the Rock Program in 2026 will be held in week 2 of term 1 next year. If you've already been part of the program, you won't have to audition, but please let me know of your intentions for the year ahead. If you're not already in the program but are considering it, get practising and maybe even get together with some friends over the holidays so you can prepare an impressive audition. It's open to anyone who plays guitar, bass, drums, keyboard or vocals. We also consider DJs or electronic music composers. If you would like any advice on what is expected for the auditions, please email me or see me in the Music office before the end of the year.

2026 Rehearsal times

Soundworks - Monday 3:30 - 4:30pm

Concert Band - Tuesday 7:30 - 8:45am

Senior Jazz - Tuesday 3:30 - 4:30pm

String Orchestra - Wednesday 7:30 - 8:45am

Stringworks - Wednesday 3:30 - 4:30pm

Wind Symphony - Thursday 7:30 - 8:45am

Junior Jazz - Thursday 3:30 - 4:30pm

2026 - Proposed Music Dates

Term 1

Week 1 Jan 28-30 No instrumental lessons

Week 2 Feb 2-6 Begin instrumental lessons

Week 5 Feb 23-27 Wed 25th - Stringworks Turbo Day

Week 6 March 2-6 Tue 3rd - Soundworks Turbo Day

Term 2

Week 1 Apr 21-24 Thu 23rd Apr Rotary Schools ANZAC Service

Week 4 May 11-15 Wed 13th May Senior Ensemble Workshop- Lunch into P5

Week 6 May 25-29 Mon 25th - Wed 27th May Music Camp

Week 8 June 9-13 Thu 12th Jun MUSIC WINTER CONCERT

Term 3

Week 3 July 27- 31 VSMF String Orchestra date TBC

Week 4 Aug 3-7 VSMF String Orchestra date TBC

Week 5,6,7 Aug 13–27 VSMF Concert Band and Wind Symphony dates TBC

Week 8 Aug 31–Sep 4 VSMF Junior and Senior Jazz Bands dates TBC

Week 9 Sep 7-11 Tue 8th Sep Music Spring Concert

Term 4

Week 2 Oct 12-16 Tue 13th OctYear 7s of 2027 Info Night and Instrumental Trials

Week 3 Oct 19-23 Tue 20th Oct Concert Band Soiree, Wed 23rd Oct String Soiree Thu 23rd Oct Rock Showcase

Week4 Oct 26-30 Instrumental Music Auditions (all Music students)

Week 6 Nov 9-13 VSMF Soundworks date TBC, Wednesday 11th Nov Remembrance Day Wind Symphony performance TBC, Wednesday 11th Nov Year 6 Open Afternoon

Week 7 Nov 16-20 Fri 20th Nov Valedictory TBC

Week 9 Nov 30-Dec 4 Dates TBC Mon 30 Nov Senior School Presentation Day, Wed 2nd Dec Jnr School Presentation Night, Fri 4th Dec Middle School Graduation Music performances for all

Week 10 Dec 7-11 Tue 08 Dec Yr 6 to 7 orientation Day – Stringworks 2027 and Concert Band 2027 performing

Note: there is no Senior tour in 2026, we are planning other activities to engage our seniors in preparation for: Senior Music Tour to Vietnam in 2027.

We are very excited about the opportunity to offer a Senior Tour to Vietnam in 2027.

Preliminary meetings with the Tour Company have been very impressive. If we are to participate, we would be travelling with up to 350 other Australian Music Students as well as around 90 members of Melbourne Youth Orchestra. We would be travelling from June 27, 28, or 29 of June (different groups will leave on different days) and return 10 days later.

Full details will be communicated shortly, but it promises to be the experience of a lifetime.

The cost will be $5995. With over 18 months to start saving and fundraising activities planned to help, I hope that all current 2025 Music students from years 7 -10 strongly consider this amazing opportunity.

Happy Holidays! Have a wonderful, relaxing and safe Summer break and we look forward to what is promising to be an even bigger year in music at Doncaster Secondary College.

Nick Dean

Music Coordinator