Performing Arts

Stage Band at the Essentially Ellington Music Festival

Fifteen keen jazz musicians from Killester College performed at the Essentially Ellington Music Festival on Sunday at Xavier College, Kew. This was a great chance to learn off one of the great trombone players in the world, Vincent Gardner who is lead trombone in the Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra from New York. 

 

The girls played beautifully presenting a challenging program of two Duke Ellington pieces, I'm Beginning to See the Light and Isfahan as well as the stage band standard Splanky. The comments from Vincent centred around the lovely sound the band made together, the intelligent, coherent improvising and the enjoyment he got from the performance. In the workshop he concentrated on style, vibrato and breathing.

 

Joanna Guelas charmed everyone with her alto saxophone feature in Isfahan and there were great solos from Mikayla Lowther, Lauren Trang, Rebecca Abela and  Vivien Nguyen in the other two pieces.  The standard of playing continues to rise and you can hear this band intimately at the VCE Farewell Concert on Wednesday September 18 in the Anne Boyd Theatrette at 7.30pm.

Jazz Night 2019

I am very excited to announce that the second Jazz Night will be held on Saturday 30th November in the Anne Boyd Theatrette at 7.00pm. I have just secured the services of the Julie O'Hara Quartet to be our feature artists for the evening. Julie has had a great career as a vocalist, performng all sorts of styles of music, ranging from traditional standards to gypsy jazz as well as writing and performing her own compositions. She spent some great days with the Cat Empire, a favourite band of the jazz students at Killester. Stay tuned for more details about booking your table. Last year was a sell-out and the table seats went very quickly.

Multi-Cultural Night

Two of our ensembles will be performing at the Multi-Cultural Night on Saturday 14th of September. Our senior Vocal Group and the Heartstrings will be presenting items at was has become a favourite night  on the calendar. It is great to see the different cultures of our school represented in so many different ways. Music is just one of the strings in the bow. 

Monash Youth Music Festival

The reassembled Swing Sisters, now with the inclusion of Year 7 voices, performed on Monday, August 19th at the Monash Youth Music Festival. The students were very lucky to once again sing in Monash University’s Robert Blackwell Hall. They performed two items: ‘The Lion Sings Tonight’ with solos by Safia Coleman (Year 7), Esther Kiir (Year 9) and Giulia Maganga (Year 8) and ‘When the War is Over’ with a solo by Keely Smith (Year 7). The students performed with great enthusiasm and were commended for their geniue sound! The Swing Sisters walked away with an unofficial third place and having gained yet another enriching public  performance experience!