Artspace
High School Art Exhibition
Our annual High School art exhibition was held in The Farrall Centre during Term 2, showcasing some stunning artworks from our talented High School students. It's always such a joy to see the creativity of our students on display.
Australian Music Theatre Festival, Launceston
In May, 15 Year 9 to 12 students travelled to Launceston to participate in the Schools Programme of the 2021 Australian Music Theatre Festival. The Festival enabled our students to work with music theatre professionals from across the country as well as mix with peers from other schools as they participated in a range of music theatre workshops. Highlights included a flash mob performance of Dancing Queen at a Launceston market and a karaoke performance featuring a variety of music theatre numbers.
We thank the parent group, FriendsMusic, for the financial support provided for this opportunity, and Alumnus and Director of the Bella Voce Choir, Tamika Crosbie, for the time and effort that went into preparing this trip.
Trolls with Tasdance!
Grade 9 and 10 dance students were fortunate to watch a live performance of Trolls by Tasdance. Following the performance, Tasdance took the students through an hour-long workshop where they got to learn some of the choreography from the show and employ their own choreographic skills to extend the piece.
School Music Concert
Our first Music concert in almost two years took place on Thursday 3 June in the School’s beautiful Farrall Centre. It was a delight to once again come together as a community to enjoy an evening of music performed by our students. We heard from all sections of the School and from a variety of ensembles representing the string, woodwind and brass, and choral programmes, as well as the 7-12 Guitar Ensemble and Chinese Music Ensemble. The evening concluded with the Clemes Combo Group and Camerata joining forces to perform Give Me the Night, as performed by George Benson, led by Year 12 student Ruby Dowling.
Food Art
Year 9/10 Food Art has been an amazing success this year with some truly stunning (and delicious) works of art coming out from our kitchens. Who knew art could be so tasty?
String Camp 2021
Although January 2021 seems like a long distant memory for many string players and Teachers at The Friends’ School, the Annual Camp Clayton String Camp run by the Launceston Youth and Community Orchestra (LYCO) is the highlight of their year. We were indeed fortunate that the 2021 String Camp was able to proceed with COVID protocols in place looking after the health of all participants.
With over 100 string players of all ages, abilities and regions around Tasmania, three orchestras were formed under the guidance of the expert conductors, Kim Bishop, Will Newberry and Christopher Bearman. Orchestral rehearsals were timetabled for at least 5 hours of the day, chamber music for two hours, and activities such as swimming, high ropes, flying fox for two hours in the afternoon. Of particular note, was the number of Friends’ students in attendance, with 21 present this year. It is tremendous to see so many Friends’ students attending this event.
String Camp is the highlight of the year for many of our young musicians. We all get to work with wonderful conductors and tutors, socialise with musicians from around the state. Many strong long-lasting friendships are made at the Camp.
We are so grateful every year to the organising team at LYCO for undertaking the enormous task of running a string camp. I know that for many young musicians string camp is vitally important, musically and socially.
I look forward to seeing our wonderful string players at Friends’ at String Camp again in 2022.
by Christine Akerman
High School Dance / Drama
The High School House Dance / Drama Competition was held at the end of Term 2 in The Farrall Centre. The audience was treated to some high intensity performances from some brave performers. Our judges chose Unwin House as the 2021 winners. Congratulations Unwin!
