The Arts News
Top Sound 2023
Thursday 30 March, myself and three other students from the Unit 1/2 Music Performance class had the opportunity to explore the musical culture ubiquitous in Melbourne’s CBD.
After deepening our understanding of Australian music through a trip to an exhibition in Melbourne’s Art Centre, we attended a recital consisting of the top VCE Music students of 2022 - the Top Sound 2023 recital.
The performers in Top Sound varied in style and specialty - heavy metal cover bands were followed by jazz trios, only for them to be followed by soloist contemporary singers - but were united by their skill and virtuosity.
Overall, the experience was enlightening and provided us insight not only on excelling in VCE Music, but on Australia’s musical prodigies of the past and on those of the present.
by Megan Phoon - Year 10
Top Acts
On Thursday 30 March, Year 10 and VCE Theatre Studies travelled to the Malthouse Theatre to watch the highest scoring monologues from last year’s Theatre Studies exam as part of the Top Acts performances. We got to see all the fascinating recontextualisations and interpretations of classic and contemporary plays, gearing us up for our inevitable monologue exam.
In particular, Lola Sargasso from Nossal’s class of 2022 performed a gripping and powerful performance as Ariel from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, interpreting the performance through a post-colonial lens and recontextualising the setting to the British occupation of the West Indies. Lola was incredible on stage and has certainly set the bar high for all our future monologues.
Nossal’s Cecilia Liu also performed as Ariel in Top Acts but was unfortunately at a different showing. However, having seen her performance at an earlier date, Cecilia was similarly evocative with a beautiful recontextualisation into Classical Chinese Theatre.
Afterwards, we were lucky to chat with Lola and Cecilia about their creative process and advice for the exam. They offered invaluable insight on developing a unique interpretation and the importance of inviting critical feedback along the way.
by Cameron Cooper - Year12
Australian Music Experience
Last week, on Friday 31March, the Year 9 Music students of Phoenix and Griffin embarked on an excursion to the city to further their appreciation and understanding of Australian Music.
Our first stop was the Australian Music Vault at the Melbourne Arts Centre. After exploring the vault, we left for Southbank - accompanied by our teachers - to get an early lunch. Despite the lack of options, we were left satisfied and ready for the main event.
At around 12:00 pm, the students arrived at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl where DJ MZ Rizk had already started spinning tunes. After Acknowledgement to Country and an amazing vocal performance from Thando, King Stingray took to the stage. Throughout their performance, the students recognised many songs that we had heard in class, and were happy to sing and dance along, adding to the event's spirit.
On behalf of the class, I thank Mr Ninis and Mrs Budd for making this enriching experience possible for us all - it'll certainly stand to be one we won't forget!
by Daelan de Zilwa - Year 9
Singfest!
Singfest is a day-long excursion where choirs from schools all across the South Eastern Victoria area come together to form one huge choir to practice a range of different songs from various styles. This year, we had the honour of holding the event here at Nossal and be taught by the amazing Annemarie Sharry.
We began and ended the day with a range of musical-inspired games and did several practice vocal exercises, which were all very fun and all sounded incredible! The majority of the day was spent learning our 3 main songs: “Cooling Rain”, “Stimela”, and “Wally Wombat Shuffle”, where people were grouped into parts and were able to harmonize with each other.
“Cooling Rain” and “Wally Wombat Shuffle” were both written by female composers from Melbourne and “Stamila” was a song by a South African choir, Memeza, written about moving forward and togetherness. I enjoyed the day very much since I could do something I really enjoy and hang out with my friends while meeting new people from other schools. It was truly an incredible experience, and I would definitely recommend that everyone who is interested in singing should do it next year!
by Elena Sarandev – Year 11