Playing to Win

Emily Palekis

Director of Music

Our lucky Jazz Combo students enjoyed a free workshop run by Jazz Melbourne - a dynamic organisation with the following mission:

to enrich lives through affordable, innovative music education and performances.

The workshop was directed by Toshi Clinch, an Australian-based but internationally renowned bassist, composer & arranger.  Toshi is also the managing director and co-founder of Jazz Melbourne.

Toshi ran a very entertaining and informative 90 minute workshop, after which the students drew on the experience and performed to an appreciative student body during the lunchbreak. The students were motivated and energised by the workshop, which focused on improving their ensemble playing skills, improvisatory skills & knowledge of different contemporary musical styles.

Given the feedback from the participants, it is clear that Jazz Melbourne is living up to its mission statement!

Cristian FERRI

Year 11

I would rate the workshop a 9 out of 10. I think that Toshi was really good because he had a lot of energy and passion and helped me personally improve by being really specific in certain areas. I feel I got a better sense of how to adapt to the feel of a song and learnt more about being able to add things in which aren't necessarily written on the music. The workshop also reinforced my use of dynamics and how I could better improve them over time. It also highlighted for me how to keep gaining confidence in playing which was very helpful. I think this was a good experience, so something similar or workshop based would be good to do with the Combo.

Nelle Mackey, Year 10

I really enjoyed the workshop. Toshi gave us some great ideas on how to add some more chilli to our music and make our pieces have more attitude and feeling - ideas which I will definitely use in future!

Charlie ROLFE, Year 10

I would also rate the workshop 9 out of 10!  I particularly liked how enthusiastic and passionate Toshi was about the music and how he was always encouraging us during the workshop. 

Toshi gave us some really great tips on how to play well together as a band - including listening to each other, improvising, dynamics and articulation. I felt like I learned a lot about how to play in the context of a band, letting other instruments shine through as well as highlighting your own part. I would definitely like to do another workshop like this again with another great musician!

Aya HOCKING, Year 10

I really enjoyed the workshop and found Toshi's advice very insightful. The way he described certain concepts (such as attitude) and explained how and why we should use them, made it easier to understand the music and work together as a band. 

I learned how to make the music sound more lively, as well as ensuring that everyone in the band was heard. The workshop reinforced the idea that music has a lot more to it than playing the correct notes. I think it would be really cool to have something like this again in the future!

Gabriel DI FALCO

Year 8

I think this workshop was the perfect learning experience for us as musicians. Toshi gave everyone a chance to shine and he taught us that how you went about playing, or what your attitude is like is the most important thing when playing music. It sounded amazing when everyone gave it their - all and I certainly had a blast along the way. 

Click on the gallery below to enlarge photos.