ANU School of Music Visit

On Monday June 19, five teachers from the ANU School of Music including John Mackey (Saxophone), Mark Sutton (Drums), James Luke (Bass), Greg Stott (Guitar) and Damien Slingsly (Keyboard and Vocals) visited Kildare for a day full of intense work-shopping and performing with our Year 9, 10 and 11 Music classes. The day began with Year 10 work-shopping their pieces for small ensemble with individual teachers from the ANU. The teachers joined in and involved themselves in the rehearsal offering their expertise. For Year 11, the students were introduced to some simple principles of improvisation. Each student had the opportunity to offer a short burst of melody to a continuous groove. This led to some experimentation with mimicry and development of other player’s ideas. Year 9 and the ANU teachers worked as a whole class band on three pop songs in preparation for the evening concert. The evening concert featured Year 9, Year 10, Tom Brereton and Lillee Poulet-Stevens from Year 11 and the ANU teachers who finished the concert with two songs. It was an incredible opportunity and privilege for the students to rehearse and perform with musicians of a very high calibre. We look forward to more opportunities to make music with them in the future.

David Chaston |  Creative & Performing Arts