Music

Don Burrows AO MBE

It is with great sadness the College Community informs you of the passing of Jazz Legend Don Burrows.

Don moved to Paynesville from Sydney in 2000. He had a close association with our music program, becoming a regular attender at rehearsals and made many memorable performances with our ensembles. He was happy to sit in with our beginners attending junior band rehearsals. He played the clarinet in our concert bands and was equally at home splaying in the sax section of the Swing Band  or directing the band, passing on his expertise. Jazz was his real passion, although he was a true virtuoso - travelling the world and playing all styles of music.

He mentored many of our students, assisting them with their improvisation and musicianship. Don was always kept busy making regular visits to our local Primary Schools, giving many performances. He played in many fundraising events (flute, clarinet and saxophone), performing with many community groups. He was a regular at the Paynesville Australia Day celebrations, playing with the College Swing Band and the Mango Skins. His playing was golden and his stories had so much meaning. His generosity was genuine. His only wish was to share his experience with our future musicians. His knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm was infectious. We were so lucky to have such an international icon as part of the College's music programs.

Rest in Peace Don.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the following students who have put their hands up to take on leadership roles in the music centre this year.

Senior Concert Band Masters:

Cade Steenholdt and Ellie Bennier

Swing Band Leaders:

Michael Squires and Jordan Van Dyk

String Captains:

Tiahn Van Hoorn and Rebecca Stephens

Updates

Timetables

Could all students please pop in to the Music Centre by the end of lunch time on Wednesday 25th March to collect their Term 2 timetable. 

String Ensemble Rehearsal Change of Time

In Term 2 String ensemble rehearsals will commence at the new time of 3pm and conclude at 4pm each Wednesday. Students are to leave class at 2.50pm and they should make their way over to the Music Centre for a 3pm start. Could students please remind parents they need to be picked up at 4pm.

Instruments

A reminder to all students to take their instruments home for the holidays. Practise! Practise! Practise!

Concert

Our concert which was scheduled on Tuesday 28th April has been postponed until further notice. 

Cancellations

Unfortunately due to Covid-19, Generations In Jazz Merimbula Jazz Festival and all fundraisers planned in Term 2 have now been cancelled.

On behalf of all Music Centre staff, have a safe holiday and we look forward seeing you all next term.

VCE Music Excursion

On Friday 13th March, the VCE Music class left on the 4.35am bus travelling to Melbourne to attend two concerts at the Melbourne Recital Centre. The concerts were the VCE Top Class Music 2020 and our students attended the Solo Classical Concert in the morning and also the evening Group Performance. The group stayed overnight in Richmond and travelled back to Bairnsdale on Saturday morning. Students and teachers attending this excursion agreed that the energy and diversity of performances was well worth the early start on Friday morning.

Attending these concerts is an invaluable experience for students as they prepare their performance program for their final exams later in the year. Listening to the top class performances and hearing comments made by last year’s examiners provided detailed information for students to fully prepare their program and address the specific criteria for this subject. Margaret Arnold and Rod Marshall spoke at length to students about the outstanding works presented that were a result of the students’ extensive practice, exceptional prowess and unbounded passion for music and performance. The broad range of works selected by these young musicians showcased their technical and interpretive skills, their unique styles and their devotion to their chosen instruments.

In the concerts students also developed an understanding of the differences between VCE Music Performance (Group and Solo), VCE Music Investigation and VET Music Industry (Performance).

These are comments written by some of our VCE Music students about their experience:

'My experience in Melbourne was awesome. It was very interesting to watch the top performances including the classical guitar performance in the Solo section. My favourite would be the group concert due to the level of energy displayed by the performers. It was a very exciting weekend and I enjoyed it a lot'

'I thought that looking at the soloist and group performances that I need to start trying to memorise pieces and engage with the audience more'

'The VCE Music Top Class performances were an amazing experience. It really demonstrated the level that we have to be at to be at the top. My choice in the Solo performances was a student from Blackburn High School playing the French Horn. My favourite performances were in the Group performances due to how entertaining they were, showing the examiners what they wanted to see with amazing skill and high energy – they really grabbed the crowd.'

'Being able to go to the Top Class Music performances was such an inspiring experience. It was a chance to see what is required for students to do exceptionally well in this highly challenging course. It has allowed me to see the amount of time, effort and thought that is put into these performances. The explanation of the criteria given by the presented has allowed me to see how diverse my end of year performance needs to be and that my interpretation of the works I present need to show my own expression. Not only was it a great insight into what is required to receive an outstanding score, but it was also amazing to experience and share outstanding music with the rest of the VCE Music class. It was lots of fun – we had an amazing time!'

'Listening to the solo performances is very different than listening to a group performance. I enjoyed listening to the brass performances more than others. I was able to get a clear picture of what kind of music I would have to play in my VCE exam. The solo performances are very different to what I would normally play in a band. It was very technical but varied in terms of what instrument was playing. I really enjoyed listening to the brass because you could hear the beautiful tonal colour they produced. I found it inspiring to listen to and it really made me want to push myself hard to try and be as good as them.'

'Some of the highlights from the Solo performances were the French Horn which was an amazing performance and demonstrated great tone and musicality. The Trombone performer, Harrison displayed great accuracy and showed the level to play at and that it is possible to play at that level with clearness and clarity.'

'The concert was really inspiring and made me realise how hard I’m going to have to work next year as well as this year. I was interested to see the different instruments that were played especially the not so familiar instruments such as the Veena (an Indian instrument) and the Dizi (a wooden flute). In the group performance a singer sang the song 'Burnt Toasty' and at one point used a megaphone to sing through instead of the microphone to create a crackly sound to his voice. Watching the Solo and Group performances definitely makes me want to do Group next year. I’m very glad Ms Keane took us on such an amazing trip and I hope to go again next year.'