Music Report

Friends of Music 2nd Annual Quiz Night

The second annual Friends of Music Quiz Night was held on Friday 2nd September. An enthusiastic group of the community gathered to share an evening of fun and games. From questions to craft, snake tying to human Hungry Hippos, the participants of the evening enjoyed a night of laughter and socialising. Thank you to all those who attended for their generosity, as well as to Mr Josh McDonald for being the MC for the event.

South St Eisteddfod

Recently the Northcote High School ensembles travelled to Ballarat to compete in the Royal South Street Eisteddfod.

The Northcote Orchestra competed in the D’Addario Area Orchestra division. It was a good performance and brought the ensemble together.

Intermediate Stage Band performed at both the Victorian Schools Music Festival (VSMF) and the Royal South Street Eisteddfod this month. The bands performance etiquette and musicianship were outstanding. At the VSMF they were fortunate enough to participate in a workshop with Ross Irwin (Melbourne singer-songwriter, trumpet, composer/arranger). The final performance for this ensemble this term will be a combined workshop with Junior Stage Band and the St Helena Secondary College Stage Bands on Thursday 15thSeptember.

World Sounds travelled to Ballarat on a very wild Tuesday night to participate in the Small Ensemble division. They performed two pieces with solos by Mollie Mckenzie (Yr10), Milla Kruse (Yr 10), Wendan Xiao (Yr 10) Ava Leach-Absalom (Yr 10) and Yianni Rowlands (Yr 10).

Finally the Senior Stage Band performed in Ballarat with very high calibre music that was well prepared. Here is a report by Dr Suzanne Robinson an historical musicologist specialising in Australian music (Ed Bonds mother, the Double Bass player in the Senior Stage Band).

On Friday 2 September we went to Ballarat for the day to hear Northcote’s Inter Stage and Senior Stage bands play at the South Street Eisteddfod. This year is the 125th anniversary of the eisteddfod and it still has its oddly old-fashioned rituals, like ice creams at interval and corny jokes from the announcer between items. Inter Stage played in the afternoon session. After some hitches on the trip from Melbourne they appeared last of the eight in their group but with some spirited playing seemed none the worse for their late arrival. Senior Stage played in the Advanced section that ran until 11pm in the evening, one of seven bands from Melbourne and Geelong schools. All of the bands in that section tackled some very challenging numbers—clearly many of them have been playing together for years—so the performances were all very polished, especially in the fast and furious final items. Several things were particularly memorable, a spectacular clarinet solo that seemed to cover the entire range of the instrument several times over, a percussionist who beat on a wooden box, an all-girl saxophone section and the antics of one of the bass players, who played from memory and slapped the strings with gusto.

Despite the late hour Senior Stage played with its usual verve, the trumpets as brilliant as ever and the new bass trombone adding some impressive oomph. Some of the bands had brought cheer squads that seemed to take up most of the hall and their raucous applause turned a stiffly formal occasion into a celebration of the work of both teachers and musicians. Congratulations to Mr Coombs and Ms Bodenham for shepherding the bands through a very long day. It would be great if next year we could have a cheer squad too.

SUE ROBINSON

Our Novice Strings and Concert Band ensembles participated in their first competitions. All students represented the school proudly and performed to a high standard. The Intermediate Strings ensemble also spent a Saturday afternoon in Ballarat and played beautifully at the competition. Intermediate Concert Band performed at the VSMF competition and received a Bronze Award.

Congratulations to all our musicians and their teachers for their hard work and dedication to Music.

Positions in Bands

All positions in Senior and Intermediate Stage Bands are now open. The Stage Band auditions will take place in Week 4 of Term 4 and the music and Membership Commitment form is available from the music office.