Music Matters
2023 Music Ensemble Camp
On Monday 22nd May, 86 excited students from Years 7 to 9 packed an enormous amount of gear into the buses and a truck and departed for our annual three-day rehearsal at Camp Oasis in Mt Evelyn. The students attending were members of our Junior and Intermediate ensembles, Stringworks, Soundworks, Concert Band and Junior Jazz.
During camp the students were involved in three days of intensive music rehearsal, interspersed with a range of fun, team-building activities which challenged the students and gave them a chance to get to know other members of their ensemble and the wider music program.
Activities included Flying Fox, Archery, Climbing Wall, Reptile House, Candle Making and Crate Climb. We had a number of bulls eyes at Archery including a student with her first ever shot and I believe that Mr Dean is still the King of the Crate Climb with 10 crates this year.
Monday evening’s activities included toasting marshmallows by the fire, DJ lessons and watching The Lorax movie. On Tuesday evening we had an entertaining Talent Show/Concert which exposed some hidden talents, including a flute solo, viola solo, drum and vocal duet, a saxophone trio, Henry doing some very impressive impersonations and Mr Brodie playing the tongs. The evening concluded with wellbeing placement student Angelica leading a bunch of keen student DJ’s to provide the beats for a pumping dance party.
On Wednesday the camp finished with Mr Morris and Ms McGee joining us to hear each of the ensembles perform the pieces that they had spent time working on in a concert. It was wonderful to hear how far they had come over the time of the camp.
A big thank you to our fabulous instrumental staff Nick Dean, Peter Brodie, Ben Muddyman, Andy O’Connell, David Rowlands and Josh Verco for their dedication to the student’s learning which has produced amazing results. Welfare placement students Scarlett and Angelica who were awesome, getting involved in all the activities and even learning some Cello!
I would also like to acknowledge the fabulous bus packing team, our camp concert comperes and judges Milly, Flick, McKenzie and Emily, along will all of the students who performed at the concert. The staff at Oasis for running some great activities and feeding us so well, the quality and quantity of the food was amazing.
We have received glowing feedback from the camp staff and the bus drivers commenting on how polite, organised and well behaved our students were. I must say that they were all fabulous, worked well as a team, were always willing to pitch in without complaint and were an absolute pleasure to take away.
We are excited to be able to share the culmination of the student’s hard work with you at next week’s ‘Winter Concert’ and thank the College Community for their ongoing support of the music program.
Wendy Howes
Significant Events Coordinator, Social Connections Coordinator - The Arts, VCE Music.
North East Victorian Regional Youth Concert 2023
'Fire & Rain'
On Monday 29th May students from across the North Eastern Victoria Region came together to showcase their talents in a fabulous concert in Hamer Hall at the Arts Centre Melbourne. The high-quality concert featured a number of selected soloists along with school-based ensembles and large ensembles (instrumental and choral) bringing together students from Primary and Secondary schools across the region.
The concert is an amazing opportunity for students to meet and build friendships with musicians, working with high-quality conductors, and perform in a world-class venue.
Students in the combined groups attended two full-day rehearsals to prepare the selected works for performance, working with their conductors and instrumental tutors, including Mr Brodie (DSC Brass teacher). They then attended a soundcheck on the Hamer Hall stage in preparation for the event.
It was fabulous to see Emily W. of 8E take the stage on clarinet in the Concert Band followed by Hannah L. of 7E on percussion, with some fabulous bass drum work. Tayla M. of 9C performedon tenor saxophone and a featured rain-stick part in the Symphonic Band.
The audience was treated to a beautifully expressive solo piano performance of Franz Liszt’s Liebestraum by DSC Year 12, Suki G. Suki was excited to be chosen as a featured soloist for the second year in a row and have the opportunity to perform on the Hamer Hall stage, having performed at the Melbourne Recital Centre last year.
Congratulations to all of the NEVR staff and students, especially those from DSC who were involved in this high-quality concert.
NEVR Hamer Hall performance
On the 29th of May I had the amazing opportunity to go into the city and do a performance at Hamer Hall. Before this night we had 2 rehearsal days and we spent all day going over and over the pieces to prepare for this amazing night.
This was an amazing experience and I was able to make friends from so many different schools in North-Eastern Victoria, even though I don’t go to the same school as these people they are amazing friends who I had a blast with on Monday night. There were so many opportunities throughout these 2 rehearsals to chat to new people and to meet new people, it was amazing.
I was given the opportunity to also play the rain stick during the final performance which was so fun and it would have been a sad performance about spring rain if we didn’t use the stick. The conductor of the band was also amazing, he made sure all the music got understood but he also started practices with us going faster in the pieces than they would be so we would be perfect adjusting to the time.
Overall it was an amazing experience and I will definitely be applying again in future years.
- Tayla M., Year 9
Upcoming events/dates to save:
- June 6 Winter Concert 7pm
- August 7-11 Sydney Tour - Wind Symphony/String Orchestra/Senior Jazz
- September 6 String Soiree
- October 10 Spring Concert
Nick Dean
Instrumental Music Coordinator