Music

Autumn Ensembles Concert 

Concert Success! 

The evening of Friday 29 April saw the first large scale Huntingtower concert held for some time. The PAC was abuzz as more than 220 students were finally able to reacquaint themselves with (or in some case experience for the first time) the joy of performing to an audience. 

The program started with our five wonderful choirs expertly led by our Head of Choral, Ms Kayla Sims and ably supported by our accompanists Ms Jodie Lockyer and Ms Stephanie Lewendon-Lowe. After a relatively quick change of setup on stage, the three Orchestras and Concert Band performed their items under the relevant conductors in Mr Daniel Levit, Mr Mirko Guerrini and Mr David Mowat. 

The students presented a sample of the repertoire that they have been working on during Term 1, being a chance to provide a simple snapshot of each ensemble’s achievements so far. This event provided valuable insights and motivation in preparation for our major Annual Concert to be held on Tuesday 30 August. 

A huge thanks goes to the many private music lesson teachers who assisted backstage to make the flow of the concert appear seamless: Mr Luiz Sasson (Guitar), Mr Sungpil Lee (Clarinet), Ms Merewyn Bramble (Violin), Mr Steve Falk (Percussion), Mr Josh de Graaf (Oboe). 

In addition, our wonderful Music Administrator Ms Jo Hetherington assisted in the foyer and our fabulous Music Captains, Sally R, Oscar L, Laila S, Jeremy D and Miranda F were our comperes for the evening. We are grateful for the assistance from Mr Simon Jenkin and Mr Rob Kitchingman. We were very pleased to be able to use this occasion to raise around $1800 to be donated to the Red Cross NSW and QLD Floods Appeal.

Mr David Mowat

Head of Music

Year 9 Orchestra

In term 2, classroom music students work in practical settings, across their primary instruments as well as classroom percussion instruments. Students with strengths and interests in composition are encouraged to create works using the instrumentation available within the class. 

Most recently, Year 9 students have been collectively working towards this whole class arrangement of an Antonín Dvořák piece, arranged by Ethan Z from 9.1. Ethan has shown interest in developing his conducting skills and is pictured here leading our year 9 music class during a rehearsal of his arrangement. 

Stay tuned for a lunchtime concert featuring the ensemble work from music classes in the middle school.

Ms Kayla Sims

Head of Choral

Recital Series

The next performance events for the Music Centre are a series of evening recital performances each of which cover the different instrument families. Students and/or their teachers are invited to register their interest in presenting a piece of music (up to 5 mins each) in the Orchestral Room on the following evenings:

If entries outnumber the available places available in any of the concerts, then there will be an extra concert on the evening of Tuesday 21 June as an attempt to provide everyone with this opportunity. The Huntingtower Private Music Lesson teachers may pre-register some of their students into these concerts, so if this applies to you, please check with them before using the registration link below. Priority for places in the program will be given to students who are learning through Huntingtower; however, all interested students are invited and encouraged to register regardless of where they undertake private music lessons.

Registration link:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=8WpL85nsMkqEAd8tpCBaDzQpgxncFy1PgiqqN6oDZwpURDMzOVZBUkJQREhWOFlJVExNWjZLNDdHTi4u

Ideally, students (other than piano) should be accompanied by piano (or in some cases a backing track), and the duration should be kept to 5 mins in fairness to the other performers scheduled for the event. Parents, relatives, and friends are most welcome to come to these concerts (no charge), but we ask that you arrive for the start of the concert and stay for the duration of the event. We also ask audiences to not video or take photographs of the performances as these impact on privacy and permissions issues. The school will be undertaking recordings on behalf of the performers for educational and archival purposes. 

Other Recitals

In addition to the above recitals, the VCE Music Performance Unit 3 students are presenting approximately 50% of the exam program on the evening of Thursday 26 May commencing at 7:00pm. All members of the school community are welcome to attend this event.

Also, on the evening of Thursday 23 June we are holding a ‘Concerto Auditions’ concert at which students are invited to present a movement from a concerto (around 10 mins). Aside from affording a great performance opportunity, this event will be used to select one student to perform a (mutually agreed) movement from a concerto with the Senior Symphony Orchestra at the 30 August Annual Concert. Registrations for this can be done by submitting an expression of interest (which includes the proposed performance piece) to the Head of Music by email as soon as possible or before Friday 10 June.

Monash Youth Music Festival

The month of July will see the Monash Youth Music Festival running on the grounds of Huntingtower. We are looking to enter some of ensembles into some sections depending on how the dates align with the school calendar. Of special interest though are the many solo sections open to students to enter and compete for prizes. If this sounds appealing then please visit the festival website at https://www.monashyouthmusicfestival.com.au/ to submit an entry via their ’Stardom’ registration process. Entries close on 12 June. Please also kindly inform the Music School if you have made an entry.

Mr David Mowat

Head of Music