PERFORMING ARTS

What an amazing fortnight we have had! After two years where performances to a wide and live audience were minimal, it is wonderful to finally be able to perform to our friends and family. Over the next few weeks we will have more opportunities for you to see your child perform - and we extend that invitation to you.

At this point we wish the wonderful Theresa Ford well as she goes on maternity leave. She will be missed, but know that the family are excited in anticipation of the birth of their second child.

We welcome Kevin Nguyen as the replacement for Theresa Ford and know that the students will enjoy working with such a highly accomplished musician.

STRINGFEST 2022

On Thursday 19 May, McKinnon string students from Years 7 to 9 participated in Stringfest, a day when high schools from the South East region come together to perform music and then at the end of the day record the pieces they have played.

It was held at Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School with several other schools. The guest conductor for the day was Danielle Arcaro. We played various songs and learnt the different ways to express different genres of pieces.

Meeting people from other schools and making new friends was definitely an added bonus. It was a great way to experience new ways of playing and being exposed to new ideas. For example, we started with the relative scale of the piece and warmed up our ears. Everyone explored something new during our experience of Stringfest and this annual event is very recommended to all string players.

Yeri Soung & Julia Rodda

Year 8 Students

Thank you also to Clare Bugeja and the string teachers for organising the students to participate in this fantastic opportunity.

GIGS ON THE GREEN

At the main campus we have been enjoying the lunchtime concert series over the last few weeks. Thank you to Baltazar Kurowski and the Gigs on the Green committee for their ongoing organisation of this series.

Friday 20 May we saw a fantastic and enthusiastic group of students from the Year 10 Music Performance class perform to a very warm and welcoming crowd. Thanks to Adi Bornstein, Gisele Hennequin, Cecelia Hong, Libby O’Mara, Jack Sweeney, Kevin Yu and Ava Zhang for their fantastic work. Thank you also to Katarina Vrisk for her work in class preparing these students.

Tuesday May 31, 2022 the wonderful Minh Dang, Antonia Darmos, Gisele Hennequin and Ruben Stein-Fooks performed a great set to help warm the souls on a wintery day.

Congratulations to all the performers for the work that they undertook to prepare for these performances.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Congratulations to the Orchestra who performed the Barber of Seville Overture by Giachino Rossini at the General Assembly held on Friday 27 May. Thank you also to Ruben Stein-Fooks for his singing of the National Anthem. It was an amazing performance. Thank you to Tracy Videon for her ongoing work in developing this fantastic ensemble.

YEAR 11 THEATRE STUDIES

Congratulations to the Year 11 Theatre Studies students for their outstanding performance of two scenes from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream on the evening of Friday 27 May. It was evident to all in the audience that there had been an extraordinary amount of thought and preparation into the performance. The focus, drive and energy from all students was palpable. Thank you to Lucy Angell for her ongoing work with these students.

SENIOR ENSEMBLES CONCERT

What a fantastic night of performance was held on Wednesday 1 June at the Senior Ensembles Concert. It was wonderful to see and hear the work that these students had been undertaking over the past few months in rehearsal. Thank you to the Orchestra, Choir, Chamber Strings, Wind Symphony, Flute Ensemble, Senior Singers and Senior Stage Band for the amazing program presented. Thank you to Tracy Videon, Clare Bugeja, Blanka West, Dmitry Serebrianik and Bernadette Russo for the development of the musicians in their ensembles, and for their preparation of this concert.

All of these concerts and performances would not be possible without the support of the amazing Audio Visual team headed by Nick Xanthoudakis - and we thank them for the work they continue to do to make these performances outstanding!

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES

Year 12 Theatre Studies Production:

Tickets at try booking
Spontaneous Human Combustion by Daniel Evans
Friday 3 June 7pm AND Saturday 4 June 1pm, 7pm

Tickets Available Here

Year 12 Music Evening

Thursday 16 June 5:30pm - Lecture Theatre

EAST CAMPUS CONCERT Thursday 9 June 5:30pm (East gym)

Year 8 Bands
Year 8 Strings
Keenan Strings
Ovenden Band
East Choir
Percussion Ensemble
Junior Stage Band
World Music Ensemble

YEAR 7 CONCERT Tuesday 21 June 5:30pm (Hall)

Year 7 Bands
Year 7 Strings
Intermediate Stage Band
Percussion Ensemble
Flute Ensemble

FINAL REMINDERS

All instrumental students are reminded to take their instruments home with them after their lessons so they can work on improving their musical skills!

ENSEMBLES

Students who are learning an instrument at the school are required to be part of the core ensemble program, and again being part of the instrumental program is dependent on commitment and attendance at ensembles.

These ensembles are an integral part of the music program, where students can apply the musical skills that they have covered in their individual or small group lessons. If students are unable to attend the rehearsal, this needs to be communicated with the ensemble director before the rehearsal takes place.

Core ensembles days and times

Main campus (Auditorium)

Wind Symphony - Tuesday after school (3:30 - 5pm)
Choir (vocal students Years 10-12) - Thursday lunchtime
Orchestra - Thursday after school (3:30 - 5pm)

East campus (VG.1)

East Campus Choir (Vocal students Years 8 - 9) Monday lunchtime
Keenan Strings - Monday after school (3:30 - 4:30pm)
Ovenden Band - Wednesday after school (3:30 - 4:30pm)

All other ensembles are by invitation and/or audition only, and dependent on ongoing commitment to the core ensemble.

Megan Papworth

Head of Performing Arts