Music News

Dr Andrew Butt

Prizegiving, Graduation and Senior Farewell

A big thank you to all of the Marist Musicians involved in this year’s end-of-year events. We had much to celebrate this year and the boys have excelled at multiple activities over the last few weeks. The Graduation Mass and Farewell Ceremony were a particular highlight for our musicians.  

Year 5 Band and String Concert

Well done to the Year 5 boys who recently presented their Semester 2 concert to conclude the year. Despite challenging circumstances, the boys had a very successful year and we are looking forward to many of them continuing their musical journey at Marist in 2022.

2021 Queensland Tertiary Auditions

Congratulations to Graduating Year 12 students Daniel Lynn (B Mus, Jazz Guitar), Zach Carr (B Mus), Jeremy Sankey (B Mus), Callum McHugh (B Mus) and Max Mobbs (B Mus) who have been accepted into highly competitive courses at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University and the Queensland University of Technology. We look forward to hearing of further good news as offers from other universities are confirmed.

Music in Review 2021

2021 has been another outstanding year for Co-Curricular Music at Marist College Ashgrove, with a year full of opportunities for boys to participate in a wide variety of musical genres in contrasting settings. Despite the continued challenges of COVID-19 the College’s choirs, bands, orchestras and small ensembles produced some outstanding music, performing at festivals and events across Southern Queensland. Highlights of the year included the Celebration Concert, Cathedral Concert, the Queensland Youth Jazz Festival and Big Band 1 travelling to Warwick to perform in Jumpers and Jazz in July.

 

As usual, the musical year commenced with the traditional music camp over the first weekend back at school, held once again at Alexandra Headlands. Only a few weeks later, performances were already underway, including the Inaugural Mass, Champagnat Trust Lunch, Grade 5 Musical and the Autumn Concert.

 

Term 2 performances included the Ensembles Concert, Winter Concert and Marist Jazz Night. The choirs represented the College at the National Sorry Day Ceremony held at Teralba Park and the Queensland Youth Music Awards at St Peter’s. The College’s Big Band 1 celebrated International Jazz Day in April with an eclectic lunchtime performance in the Draney Foyer. This was soon followed by a well-received performance at the Brisbane Youth Jazz Festival, held in the Queensland Multicultural Centre, with the boys performing alongside many other outstanding school and professional Big Bands from across Brisbane. In June, we featured our leading ensembles with the Concert Celebration concert. Each group’s performance gave evidence to the rich musical culture that we enjoy here at Marist with the standard of excellence across all ensembles being very palpable to what was a highly appreciative audience. The night included a student performance on the Concert Harp for the first time in the College’s history. The Symphonic work “Stille Nacht” featured a duet between Oliver Betts on cello and Jeremy Vanderbyl on Harp proving to be a spectacular highlight of the concert. The semester concluded with our Year 5 boys commencing their instrumental performance journey in the Band and String Concert. The event featured several highlights including a vocal presentation from sibling members of our vocal program - Baxter Melrose, Hudson Melrose, Ben Warren and Sam Warren.

 

In Term 3 our premier string and choral ensembles presented a program befitting the venue of St Stephen’s Cathedral at the annual Cathedral Concert. This special event has now been running for close to twenty years showcasing our string and choral groups in a beautiful iconic venue with well-suited acoustics. During the early hours of a morning in July, Big Band 1 packed their instruments and backline onto a coach and travelled two hours south-west to perform at the annual Warwick Jumpers and Jazz Festival. This regional festival is one of Queensland’s premier jazz events, with over 60,000 patrons attending since its inception in 2004. Braving single-digit temperatures throughout the first set, the boys demonstrated a high level of musicianship with a captivating performance to a crowd of locals and visitors. Shortly after this event both rehearsals and performances were once again cancelled due to Government restrictions surrounding the Delta variant of COVID-19. Fortunately, Instrumental lessons were able to continue via an online format and after a short hiatus, all ensembles returned to rehearsing and preparing for the Grandparents Day and Soiree. Held in Term 3 for the first time, both of these concerts were a great celebration of live music. The 2021 Soiree once again provided an excellent forum to farewell our Senior musicians in a special night of high-quality music-making.

 

In Term 4 Marist musicians concluded the year performing at Graduation Mass and Senior Prizegiving. Another highlight for the year included several performances by the “Blue Suits”. Four Year 11 students - Jeremy Vanderbyl, Thomas Horton, Samuel Patterson and Rohan Sweeney - initiated a self-directed jazz ensemble throughout the year preparing a variety of repertoire. The group received a rousing reception from the full capacity audience at the Brisbane Jazz Club and performed at several other events including the Art Show and a Year 11 Parent Function.

 

Special thanks to Mr Enrico Le Mura, Mrs Kerri Engstrom and new member of staff, Ms Vanessa Mitchell, who have done an outstanding job in maintaining the smooth running of a vibrant and busy music department. To the full-time teaching staff - Miss Rhiannon Fenn, Ms Alison Braidwood, Mr Darian Johns, Mrs Catherine Wasserman, Ms Megan Harmston, Ms Melanie Stewart, Mr Joseph Rabjohns and Ms Janelle Lee Long - who have selflessly given much of their time and talent to the development of the Music Department here at Marist, your contribution is highly invaluable and most appreciated. As always, thank you to the part-time instrumental teaching staff - Mr Andrew Ball, Mrs Carmen Hooper, Mr Robert Schultz, Mr Caleb Colledge, Mr Aaron Jansz, Mr Craig Parry, Mr Isaac Ismail, Dr Jamie Kennedy, Mr Laurent Dubois, Ms Rachel Andrews, Ms Alexa Murray, Ms Kathryn Close, Mr Samuel Vincent, Mr Douglas McRae, Mr Sean Flynn, Mr Tony Vandermeer, Mr Brodie McAllister and Mr Kieran Stevenson - who have continued to bring such outstanding talent and expertise to the department.

 

Finally, a heartfelt thanks to all of the students, especially the Year 12 Class of 2021, who were involved in the Marist College Ashgrove Music Department this year. Without the dedication, talent and enthusiasm which they have displayed in rehearsals, concerts and recordings throughout a challenging year, the successes that we have enjoyed as a department would not have been possible. It has truly been a blessing to work with such an outstanding group of young men and boys.