Performing Arts

DRAMA MATTERS

'Great Expectations' News

We have been lucky enough to have Mrs Pip Waters and Mrs Stella Talati visit the Great Expectations rehearsals recently. There are three songs sung in the play and our music department is coaching and guiding the cast to sing and perform all songs. Mrs Waters and Mr Balboa wrote the melody for The Song of the Forge, a rousing song taught to Pip (Ben Cullen & Alec Ramsbottom) by Joe, his uncle (Luke Thompson). It is sung whilst Pip ‘walks’ Miss Havisham (Betsy Walker & Louise Frost) around her room.  

We also have a song sung at the tavern, the rousing Roll out the Barrel and a funeral song. I won’t be giving out any spoilers here, you will need to come and see the show to find out who dies. In fact we have a few deaths, mostly due to murder!

Ms Penny Lindley - Drama Teacher and Director

MUSIC MATTERS

Year 5 Musicians Are 'Orff' to a Great Start:  Like most good boys’ schools we know that boys learn best through doing. As such, our Stage 3 Music program is hands-on with students learning through singing, playing and creating.  Only after a new concept has been sung, played and recreated through composition, will the symbols be introduced. 

This week Year 5 sang a round about note values.  They performed this on xylophones and once this was secure, the boys invented their own accompaniments and finally they saw what these rhythms looked like in traditional notation.  This method of teaching, known as the “Orff Method” was established by composer and educator, Carl Orff, and has been proven to lead to deeper levels of learning and musicality.

If you walk past our music rooms there is no furniture – boys use space to sing, play, dance and create.  Funnily enough, when we took away desks and traditional worksheets we found boys became far more engaged in their learning and significantly more musical. 

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I learn. Involve me and I remember.”

Benjamin Franklin

St Pius X Now Offers Jazz Piano Lessons and Contemporary Performance Coaching with Amanda Suwondo:  St Pius Performing Arts Department welcomes new piano teacher, accompanist and Contemporary Music Coach, Ms Amanda Suwondo to its Music program. In addition to our highly accomplished piano teachers and accompanists, Stephanie Gan and Stella Waddington, Amanda Suwondo is joining our team to teach Contemporary and Jazz Piano, accompany our Show Choir and work as a performance coach with our Stage 5 and 6 students. Amanda is a professional Jazz musician in Sydney and her love of grooves and improvisation is contagious. In her coaching role, Amanda will be helping Elective musicians to form small Rock Bands and Jazz Combos in which they learn how to arrange music and perform with advanced ensemble skills. 

This new initiative for St Pius would not be possible without the hard work and support of the Performing Arts Parents’ Association (PAPA).  If your son would like Jazz Piano lessons, a Contemporary Accompanist for solo performances, or Composition lessons in Jazz Arranging, please email Mrs Waters pwaters@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au

We Have All Heard of Geoff Power… But Did You Know That His Daughter, Laura Power is Here To Grow Our Flute Power?  Years 5, 6 and 7 have been learning about the Instruments of the Orchestra.  To deepen their understanding of orchestral instruments, Laura Power has kindly been giving our music classes demonstrations of the Flute, Clarinet and Piccolo.  We ran a little competition to see how many boys can make a flute toot and there were some serious contenders. No one quite matched the quality of Laura’s rendition of Hedwig’s Theme, but with practise, St Pius could have some elegant flautists in its ranks.

If your son would like to learn to play the flute or clarinet, we have 8 flutes and 10 clarinets awaiting adoption.  Please email Mrs Waters to enrol your son pwaters@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au

How Many Notes Make A Musical Composition?  Like many HSC subjects the HSC Music 2 Course requires students to compose their own major work.  The requirement is a 2 minute composition that shows superior development of one’s original ideas or motives. Students keep a diary or portfolio of their work processes and use the professional notation software, Sibelius to notate their music. Here we can see the original brainstorming of Miguel’s on butchers’ paper, these ideas are evolving each week. Some boys have so many ideas it’s a case of which ones to keep and which to store for another work. Once complete, we aim to record these labours of love for the Pius Community to listen to and enjoy. If your son loves making his own music in Logic, GarageBand or Musicscore, he may wish to start Composition Lessons or join one of the College’s Digital Music Ensembles.

Individually We Are One Drop, Together We Are An Orchestra:  While many of us were sleeping in, last Sunday morning our College Orchestra musicians were up bright and early attending their first Orchestral Workshop of the year. Under the guidance of Directors, Mr Primrose-Heaney and Mrs Stella Talati, our musicians were blessed to work through new repertoire and develop their ensemble performance technique and love of symphonic music.

To hear the College Orchestra perform, please save the date of our first Twilight Concert, Around the World, in Term 2 on Thursday 9 May.

Attendance at Rehearsals and Instrumental Lessons:  Just like sporting teams, music ensembles and instrumental programs require everyone’s commitment and dedication.  If for some serious reason your child is unable to attend a rehearsal, please email the Ensemble Director directly and well in advance, to explain your son’s absence.  We ask that everyone utilises good communication as an important ingredient of our collective success.

St Pius X Open Day Saturday March 16 – Celebrating Our College of Excellence:  Think delicious food, educational excellence, top-notch performances and you have yourself a vision of our upcoming St Pius X Open Day. Please encourage your friends, family and neighbours to come along. The Performing Arts Open Day Schedule is attached below.

Ms Pip Waters - Acting Performing Arts Coordinator