Music Matters

A Massive Third Term of Music!

This term has been an extremely busy and successful one for our Music department. We’ve had three different ensembles entered in the Victorian Schools Music Festival (VSMF), the Sydney Senior Music Tour, the String Soiree, lunchtime Rock Concerts and Assembly performances, along with all the regular rehearsals and lessons running every day of the week. It is good to now stop and reflect on the incredible achievements of our fabulous Music students, supported by our brilliant instrumental staff. As a result of their commitment and dedication, the standards of the performances of all ensembles have been improving consistently. This has been highlighted by the outstanding results at the VSMF, with String Orchestra and Wind Symphony both receiving Gold Awards and Concert band a Silver Award.

I look forward to seeing everyone at the Spring Concert next term. It will be held on Tuesday 17th October at 7pm in the Performance Centre.

Victorian Schools Music Festival 2023

String Orchestra’s Gold Award – see the last newsletter for a report

Congratulations Wind Symphony on another VSMF Gold Award!!!

On Tuesday the 29th August, Wind Symphony performed at the Hawthorn Arts Centre as part of the Victorian Schools Music Festival. This year they were entered in the Intermediate Concert Band Section one level up from last year. They were adjudicated by Dr Mary Scheider from Eastern Michigan University and Megan George from Melbourne.

Wind Symphony played two pieces, Yorkshire Ballad and Kronos. Their performance was the best they have ever played and the students brought together all their hard work beautifully to present an outstanding program. Comments from the adjudicators included,

Congratulations! Fine group with outstanding teaching evident. Bravo!

Thank you I really enjoyed your program. There were some lovely sounds and blend of tone.

All assessment categories were graded as Excellent except two Very Goods and one Outstanding, resulting in an overall result of Excellent and a Gold Award! Every student in the band can be extremely proud of this achievement. They have all shown great improvement throughout the year and demonstrated excellent focus and application during the performance.

A huge thank you to all the instrumental teachers for their outstanding work preparing the students so thoroughly.

Congratulations Concert Band on a Silver Award at the VSMF

A huge congratulations to Concert Band on their outstanding efforts on Wednesday 30th August at the Victorian Schools Music Festival. The band moved up a level from the Beginner to the Junior Concert Band section this year, which meant the students had to prepare three very challenging pieces, Cloud Dancing, Shadows Unleashed and The Dance of the Garden Gnomes.

With the majority of students in year 8 and a few in year 7, the improvement in their playing since first learning their instrument last year, has been incredible. They performed all three pieces with a great energy and musicality and their performance was very well received by the adjudicators.

A huge thank you to all the instrumental staff for all your work with the instrument sections, and the biggest thank you goes to Mr Rowlands for conducting and preparing Concert Band and inspiring them to produce such a great performance.

String Soiree

On the 12th of September, all string players attended and played at the String Soiree. Parents, guardians, relatives, and students turned up to show their support and provide a supportive audience for some people’s first times on stage. Every musician, regardless of experience, performed a solo or small group as well as their ensemble pieces.

First up was StringWorks, who performed Rhythm Fever, a favourite, and ‘Mozart Serenade’, a more serious and technical piece arranged by Joshua Verco himself. Then the students in StringWorks performed their small group pieces. There were a few difficulties with out of tune violin strings, but otherwise it went very well, and everyone performed beautifully.

The next set was the String Orchestra section. String Orchestra performed ‘Cliffs of Moher’, a piece inspired by the Cliffs of Moher, of Ireland. Then the students also performed solos and small group performances, luckily most of the violin strings were in tune this time.

The final set was the String Quartet. In recent times it’s been more of a trio, but Kelly made an appearance this performance to make it four once again. They performed a Latin chorale and Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da by the Beatles. Of course, the set ended with solos, and it was very interesting to see Suki exiting her comfort zone and performing an Irish piece with Mr Verco.

It was very impressive to see Ms. Walters up and down off the stage with all her student, and a huge thanks is due to Mr Verco and Ms. Walters for running the night. Mr Dean was very happy to attend as a parent rather than as a coordinator!

- Written by Milly Ruffo

DATES FOR TERM 4

Tuesday 17th October 7pm – Spring Concert
November (date to be confirmed) - VSMF Beginner Band section - Soundworks

Sydney Music Tour

Early on the morning of 7th August, 43 excited students from years 7-12, three music staff, two amazing volunteers and Dean our bus driver gathered at the College to begin our long-anticipated music tour to Sydney. With the enormous amount of gear that we had we were fortunate to have a driver with amazing packing abilities.

Over the week that we were away everyone became experts in unpacking the bus, setting up for performances, performing, packing up and reloading the bus again. A process that became more and more efficient as the week went on. The tour provided a mix of different performance experiences and the opportunity to visit and learn about a number of Sydney’s iconic locations.

Each of our performances featured the College Wind Symphony, String Orchestra and Senior Jazz Ensemble. Outdoor performances at the Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour and on the stage in the Manly Corso threw up some challenges that the students took in their stride. The performances were well received by the members of the public that attended.

Our final performance was at Killarney Heights Public School, where we performed to the Yr 3-6 students and then participated in some workshops with their music students. After our performance some of the students at Killarney Heights Public School treated our students like Rock Stars. All three ensembles gave some fabulous performances with the standard of each performance improving as the week progressed.

I loved seeing various student’s reactions to seeing various Sydney sight’s for the first time and it was a treat to see the Opera House dressed in Green and Gold from the accommodation balcony (The Rocks YHA) on the first night, celebrating the Matilda’s playing in the World Cup.

We completed an informative tour of the Opera House, investigated displays at the Maritime Museum, visited Tumbalong Park, travelled on the Manly Ferry and viewed the Sydney from the heights of the Sydney Tower Eye (Centre Point Tower). We were fortunate to have beautiful weather for the whole week.

A great night was had by all at Beauty and The Beast with some students seeing a professional musical for the first time. I am proud of how the students conducted themselves and supported each other throughout the tour. They all got on with the task at hand at all times, without complaint. Staff were given many compliments about how fabulous they were as a group, always polite and respectful of others wherever we went and in the YHA where we were staying.

A huge thank you to Mr Nick Dean for organising the tour and conducting the Wind Symphony, Ms Hannah Walters for her fabulous work with the String Orchestra, the hard working Sandy Cheung (yr 7 parent) and Ethan McLeod (Yr12, 2022 who even remembered how to play his Trombone), for giving up their time to accompany us on the tour to make it possible.

Everyone worked hard and there were some very tired individuals by the time we were on our way home but everyone was fabulous throughout the trip. I hope that all of the students enjoyed themselves and have taken away some great memories from the tour, they were an absolute pleasure to travel with.

Wendy Howes

Significant Events Coordinator, Social Connections Coordinator - The Arts, VCE Music

Milly receives top marks for her first AMEB Cello Exam

On Sunday, August 27th, Year 9 student Milly R. sat for her first Preliminary AMEB (Australian Music Examinations Board) exam on the Cello at the AMEB studios in Hawthorn. Sienna M. in Year 8 also accompanied her on the piano during the exam. Throughout the preparation for this exam, both Milly and Sienna demonstrated a lot of initiative and accountability in the practice room through countless practice sessions together, perfecting their musical presentation for the examiners.

Milly was awarded for her efforts with an A+ high distinction grade and says the whole process of preparing the music, booking the exam, organising and rehearsing with the accompanist and the musical learning she got out of it was a rewarding process.

Here’s what Milly had to say…

How did you find the process of preparing for this examination, did you enjoy it?

Of course I enjoyed it, it’s playing music, and with my friend is an added bonus. I thought that maybe working on the same pieces for ages might get boring, but it never did so that was good too.

What was your preparation process and how long did it take?

My preparation process wasn’t that different to my usual practising routine. I really just treated the pieces as a new piece to learn, they aren’t all that special. I was working on the pieces for around three months, but I only really cracked down and focused solely on them for the last month or so.

What were some of the biggest challenges in your playing you had to overcome for this exam?

Probably dynamic work; it wasn’t a new concept, but it certainly wasn’t one I worked on a lot. Making the contrast between piano and mezzo forte bigger, and forte bigger still. Also adjusting to play with a piano, and remembering tempos for technical pieces.

What new skills have you acquired throughout the process, musical and organisational?

I learnt a lot about dynamics and soloistic playing vs ensemble playing, and it was interesting to get used to working around another person’s mistakes and pushing through my mistakes as well. I also had to reinforce the discipline of showing up to rehearse with Sienna when I didn’t really have to or mightn’t have been in the mood (rare), and keeping myself accountable for practising at home and outside of rehearsals.

5. What would say or recommend to anyone preparing for a performance exam at school, with AMEB or anywhere else?

Don’t stress about it. Nerves are good to make sure that you are focusing, but try not to let them effect your performance. Ask lots of questions and be as prepared as you can be, but you have to accept that some things you will learn on the day also (through experience).

Joshua Verco

Instrumental Music Instructor - Electric Bass, Double Bass & Cello

Lunchtime Rock Band Gigs

Three of the school Rock Program bands performed at lunchtimes this week. “Off Switch” and “The International Legends” performed to a large enthusiastic audience on Monday as part of Body Kind Month, while “Pizza Ace” performed on Thursday to celebrate RUOK day.

The International Legends are a six piece band which include Andralyn Zang, Jae Hee Han, Peiyi Li, Mila Xie, Peter Xue and Claire Yang. They formed in term two this year and have made quick progress. On Monday they played a Chinese pop song called “都选c“, which borrows a riff from Nirvana.

Then Off Switch took to the stage and thrilled the crowd with a set of four of their new original songs. Jamie Blacker, Eddie and Lorenzo Petruzziello, have recently been joined by Rocco Agostino on guitar and vocals. He has sparked the creative juices of the band who have written half a dozen original songs in less than a term. They have also been performing in public at Battle of the Bands and last weekend won the Nillumbik Freeza Battle of the Bands first prize of a day recording at Jet Studios!

On Thursday lunchtime, Pizza Ace, who are Sienna Margarejo, TJ Kosta, Xavier Erdmanis and Marc Margarejo, performed to a small but enthusiastic audience of students and teachers who hadn’t chosen to watch the Futsal final in the Stadium. They played Zombie by the Cranberries, Hold the Line by Toto, Freak by Silverchair and their own song written by Sienna called Reputation.