An Open Letter to the Music Department

It is customary for the music captains to say a few words at the final concert. Unfortunately, this year the weather got the better of us and by the time the final concert came around – the Twilight Concert – we were unable to attend. However, we’re still determined to let the music department know how grateful we are.

Princes Hill is known for having an amazing music department and that reputation is well deserved. Some of us have been passionate musicians since we were very young, while others only started playing our instruments because our parents forced us to, or as a way to get into Princes Hill on curriculum grounds. Either way, many of us are now seriously considering a career in music and it’s safe to say that that’s largely thanks to the encouragement and opportunities given by the music department. Those opportunities have included performing at fetes, festivals, intimate soirees, gigs at the Spotted Mallard and concerts in large venues. For some of us it has included traveling to compete at Generations in Jazz or making professional recordings of our bands and compositions. Of course, none of this would be possible without the hard work and dedication of Susie the amazing music administrator. We all know the whole system would fall apart without her.

We have been spoiled by the instrumental teachers at Princes Hill. The value of the opportunity to be taught by such an extraordinary array of talented and accomplished instrumental teachers can’t be overestimated. And many of them such as Lyndal, Andy and Miriam (who maybe does too much work) also put in extraordinary energy to running numerous ensembles giving so many students the chance to perform with others. We particularly want to acknowledge Miriam who has led our vocal groups to so much success and will be a great loss to the school when she leaves.

Which bring us to our classroom music teachers. Firstly Ash – Oh Ash! We didn’t know how someone would fill the shoes of Andre Lobanov, and while you are very different to him, we have not been disappointed. You’ve been a mentor and provided support to many of us, and you’re also good for a chat.

And last but not least, our extraordinary coordinator Tahnee. Tahnee has played an incredible part in the nurturing of the sense of family that comes out of the music department. She has strongly encouraged all students to pursue music, many of whom may not have seen that as an option otherwise. We are all going to miss story time with Tahnee and we don’t know of any other teachers who would bring in breakfast on a Tuesday morning for her class. Tahnee (along with Ash) has also been incredibly generous with her time, particularly for the VCE music students – coming in over the holidays and staying late night after night so we could practice for performance exams. We are so grateful to her and to her family for lending her to us for this.

It is no coincidence that past PHSC music students seem to come back year after year to concerts and events – it really is a family. We will miss you all but have no doubt we will see you around.

Yours in gratitude

The 2018 Music Captains – Jack Dobson, Grace Robinson, Ffion Stokes and Jasmine Depalma on behalf of the departing year 12 music students.

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