from the director of music - westminster school, adelaide...jade monkey gig music week the larger...
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MU
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Edition 1 2019
Westminster Music Department
Since having Dr Anita Collins here at Westminster in 2018, the launch of the BBB website (Bigger Better Brains) has emerged. There is a growing amount of evidence and research to show that music is such an important and, in fact, vital part of a child’s education in developing not only a whole range of skills but enhancing brain function.
Don’t Stop the Music, a 3-part documentary on the ABC last year, featured Dr Collins as well as Guy Sebastian and James Morrison. The impact of a music program became very evident in this short series, so we simply cannot ignore its benefits.
In turn, we are fortunate at Westminster to have a music program that is sequenced from ELC to Year 12, along with a large and expansive co-curricular program that allows students to get involved in a range of rehearsals, performances and even tours, as well as work with music industry professionals.
During Term 2, Dave Newdick, lead trumpeter from the musical Aladdin, came to work with Big Band 1 and some of our brass players. Dave had a residency in Hey Hey It’s Saturday for 10 years before doing the musical circuit. He has been in countless musicals and worked with international artists such as Shirley Bassey, Hugh Jackman, Debbie Reynolds and Michael Buble. It was wonderful to have Dave work with our students.
Our Music Night this year will be based on Past, Present and Future - and include links with music and musicians under that banner. In doing so, we will welcome back quite a few old scholars who will join our current ensembles and perhaps even perform a few numbers themselves. Keep Friday 13 September free for that one!
With a large amount of performances again this year in Music, I would urge and encourage you
F r o m t h e D i r e c t o r o f M u s i c
In this edition …
From the Director of Music
Prep Music Focus
Westminster Jazz Night
Generations in Jazz
Autumn Gala
Sing Sing Sing
Music Captain Profile
Annie
Dates for your Diary
Upcoming events Term 3 …
ABODA SA Band Festival
Jade Monkey Gig
Music Week
Big Band & Vocal Jazz Bonanza
to come along and support the talents of our students.
Enjoy this edition of Muse News.
Michael Degenhart Director of Music
Westminster Autumn Gala 2019
Thank you to everyone
who attended this year’s
Autumn Gala event at the
Latvian Hall, Wayville. The
concert was sold out and
with over 130 students
involved, they were
delighted to perform for
such an appreciative audience. Ensembles included the
Senior Concert Band, Big Bands, Prep Concert Band, Senior
Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble and Rock Bands.
The larger ensembles played first, followed by our rock
bands, who entertained a number of the Prep students as
they took over the dance floor.
P r e p M u s i c F o c u s . . .
Our Preparatory School children enjoy weekly curricular music lessons. They learn about the elements of music through singing, moving, creating, playing and responding to a wide variety of music. We would like to share with you some news about both our curricular and co-curricular groups from the Prep School. ELC In the Early Learning Centre, all students receive at least one lesson of Music per week. Some lucky students receive two lessons per week! We have a wonderful time singing, dancing and playing percussion instruments - while linking into the EYLF learning outcomes that the ELCs are covering.
Junior Choir - Co-curricular We have many wonderful co-curricular groups in the Preparatory School at Westminster. Our youngest ensemble is the Junior Choir, which consists of students in Years 2 and 3. We have a wonderful time rehearsing on Tuesday mornings in the Chapel. Mrs Hunter directs the choir while Ms Gould accompanies the ensemble. We begin with a vocal warm-up, where students are taught vocal techniques and exercises to support and
protect their voices. We then launch into rehearsing our repertoire. Students particularly enjoy songs with choreography and from varying styles and eras. We were very excited about performing in our annual SING SING SING concert!
Year 3 Strings Program - Curricular Our Year 3 students learn a string instrument for the entire year. So far, they have learnt about posture, basic technique and care of their instrument, and how to use the bow. They begin by learning how to play on open strings and have recently begun to learn about placement of fingers. They are very clever.
P r e p M u s i c F o c u s C o n t i n u e d . . .
Year 4 Music - Curricular
In Year 4 Music, the students have recently been
exploring pentatonic scales, playing and
improvising using the xylophones. Students have
also worked on their theoretical skills, composing
a melody and rhythm based on C pentatonic.
Year 5 Band Program - Curricular
Our Year 5 students have small group lessons on
Tuesdays and a combined class band on
Thursdays. Imagine 60 beginner students … … Ms
Wandel’s favourite morning! Year 5 students are already learning a repertoire of songs. We have also
discovered a wealth of talent among our Year 5 drummers, who are regularly asked to play along
with the class band.
Prep Concert Band - Co-curricular and Music Tour 2019
Prep Concert Band has been working incredibly hard this year and has already learnt quite a number
of charts. This is because we are touring for the first time ever. Along with the Rock Band, we are
putting together a show to present to primary
school audiences in metropolitan Adelaide and
the Yorke Peninsula. This show will be woven
together with a script and a small group of Year
6/7 actors. A great deal of effort goes into
organising and preparing for tours but the
benefits for both our students and their audiences
will be well worth it.
Karen Wandel & Tiffany Hunter Prep Music Teachers
S t u d e n t P r o f i l e
Name: Steve Dinning
Age: 18
How long have you been at
Westminster? Since Year 8 (5 years)
Favourite food: Chocolate
Favourite drink: Water
Favourite movie: A Star is Born
Favourite footy team: Adelaide Crows
Favourite subject: Music and Maths
What do you listen to? Mix of everything
Likes: Music, sport, outdoors, 4-wheel driving
Dislikes: Talking about traffic while stuck in traffic
What do you want to do when you leave school?
Music, specifically playing gigs and producing, as
well as travelling and hopefully 4-wheel driving in
a Hilux
What sports do you play? Don’t play anymore,
but used to play footy and basketball
Instrument: Drums and guitar
Role model: Zac Farro, Matt Mcguire and George
Daniel
Vision for Music: Combining different groups and
ages to make more interesting and diverse
performances
Steve is Captain of Music for 2019
S i n g S i n g S i n g
This concert, on June 19, was a wonderful snapshot of the progression of choirs throughout the school with our three Prep choirs - Junior Choir, Canto Choir and Vox Pops, followed by Vocal Jazz 1, Vocal Jazz 2 and our Senior Vocal Ensemble. It’s always wonderful to see all choirs on stage at the end in the “finale spectacular”… 260-plus students, including the Dance Collective, with a great rendition of a medley of songs from The Lion King. Thank you to all the directors of the choirs, accompanists and musicians who played on the evening, and congratulations to all students involved for another memorable Sing Sing Sing concert. Thanks also to the Friends of Music for providing refreshments before the event. Finally, well done to Ms Christine Gould for organising and coordinating this event.
On Monday 20 May, Big Band 1 was invited to perform at
the Grainger Studios (the home of the Adelaide
Symphony Orchestra) in a concert for the Friends of the
ASO. They were joined by Marryatville High School
Baroque Ensemble and some students from Adelaide
University, including old scholar Kyle Chenoweth on
trombone.
Big Band 1 were very well received by the audience. They
performed two pieces: Bye Bye Blackbird, which featured
a solo by Riley Nixon Burns (11 Kelly) on trumpet, and
When Sunny gets Blue, a ballad featuring Tyler Leung (12
Clark) on alto saxophone.
A S O G i g
String Ensemble at Government House for the Gold Duke of Edinburgh award ceremony. Thirty gold awards and 15 were Westminster students … not including the strings!
S t a f f i n g N e w s
At the end of 2018 we farewelled Mrs Elena Harrison who took up a position (very late) at the new Botanic High School in the city. By all reports, Elena is working hard (so no changes there!) but enjoying the challenge of setting up her department. We wish Elena well and thank her for her wonderful input to the Music Dept over the last 10 years. Over the summer holidays, we welcomed Jenni Stam to take Elena’s place. Jenni is teaching Years 7-12 Music. We also welcomed Old Scholar Josh Chenoweth (‘15) to teach trumpet, Mark Stefanoff (voice) and Cassandra Boath (flute).
M u s i c N o t e s . . .
Vocal Jazz 1 is a joyous and energetic group that
rehearses every Wednesday afternoon from 3.30 to
5.15pm. Organising the group this year has been a bit
crazy, as many were involved in the fantastic production
of Annie. Term 1 consisted of a lot of lunchtime
rehearsals and last minute changes, and the group has
done an excellent job so far of getting a few challenging
pieces ready to perform, while also sight reading and
looking over some easier pieces during rehearsals. Vocal
Jazz 1 performed in Holy Week assembly and were very
excited to finally put all their hard work on to the stage
for the annual SING SING SING concert in Week 8. Some
other upcoming performances for VJ1 include Music
Night, the Big Band and Vocal Jazz Bonanza, Speech Day
and the Nativity. VJ1 has received the very exciting news
that they will be performing at the Football Federation of
South Australia “Celebration of Football” awards night.
The group is very excited about this amazing
opportunity.
Lizzy Williamson
Vocal Jazz 1 Leader
Strings and Orchestra
The Senior String Ensemble and Orchestra rehearse on
Mondays after school. Both groups are comprised of
senior school string players, with the orchestra having a
small woodwind and brass section as well, including
percussion on the piano and occasionally the drums. The
ensembles have performed twice so far this year, with
the Senior Strings being involved in the Tenebrae service
for Holy Week, as part of the lead up to Easter. The
Senior Orchestra was recently involved in the Autumn
Gala at the Latvian Hall at Wayville, which was our
annual Bandstand concert.
Later in the year, the Senior Strings and Orchestra
will be performing in multiple concerts, including
ABODA and the annual Strings and Orchestra
concert. Music Night and the Year 3 Strings Night are
also in the books for the String Ensemble. The Year 3
Strings Night is always an exciting and informative
night for all students from Years 3 to 12, as it
showcases all of the string players and different
levels of difficulty of the instruments to the audience.
Both ensembles have been learning music from
multiple genres, varying from classical to more recent
songs. During rehearsals, we will often have lots of
laughs, as it is a good way to end the first day of the
week.
In previous years, we have been missing violas in the
ensembles, but we are extremely lucky this year to
have three viola players in the Senior Strings and
Orchestra, who are all in Year 8!
Dayna Holroyd
Senior Orchestra Leader
Senior Vocal Ensemble
The Senior Vocal Ensemble rehearses before school
on Friday mornings, from 7.30am. The group is
comprised of students from Years 8 to 12. The
ensemble has performed three times this year,
including Holy Week and Tenebrae.
We had another fantastic SING SING SING concert
this year, with all vocal groups across the school. This
year we sang a few favourite Broadway tunes,
including the finale with all choirs combined.
This year, we have had a wonderful increase in our
boys section, so much so that they may be bigger
than our alto section!
The SVE is a highlight of the week for many kids. We
start our Friday mornings off with a fun and inclusive
time, where all the different year levels can create a
bond unlike any other!
Bronwyn Mahoney
Senior Vocal Ensemble Leader
M u s i c N o t e s C o n t i n u e d . . .
Generations in Jazz
This year’s trip to Generations in Jazz saw 54 students
attend the 3-day competition and festival. Westminster
was represented by three Big Bands and our Small Jazz
Ensemble. There were well over 5000 students from
almost 140 schools at Mt Gambier this year,
representing almost every state in Australia. As always, it
was inspiring to be involved in and we thoroughly
enjoyed the experience.
Our Jazz Night at the GOV was also a great event,
with the same GiJ groups involved and a few old
scholars back to provide some background music.
Gata featured Dan Wakim, Grant Robertson, Kiri
Gerbi and Kyle Chenoweth from 2018. They were
joined by current scholars, Jasper Cundell on bass
and Steve Dinning on drum set.
[Gata performs at the Publishers Hotel every
Wednesday night at 7pm]
Jazz SA Superbands
Congratulations to Jasper Cundell (12) and Tyler
Leung (12) who both successfully auditioned for the
2019 Jazz SA Superbands. Jasper made Superband 1,
which is a wonderful endorsement for him. Old
scholars, Kyle Chenoweth (‘18) and James McLachlan
(‘18), are also taking part in the bands. Each term
they have a new director and put on a concert at the
end of the term.
D a t e s f o r y o u r D i a r y
Music Calendar Term 3 2019
Week 1 Mon 22 July TERM 3 BEGINS
Week 3 Wed 7 August Assembly: Big Band 2
Visit from China School (period 4)
Week 4 Mon 12 August
Visit from Experimental High School
Affiliation to Shanghai Conservatory
of Music
Tues 13 August Assembly: Big Band 1
Wed 14 Aug - Fri 16 Aug ABODA SA Band Festival
Sunday 18 August Marion Uniting Church Concert
Week 5 Mon 19 August Solo Performance
5.30pm Music Studio 1
Thurs 22 August Cloisters Concert
Rock Bands
Week 6 Mon 26 August Assembly: Senior Rock Band
Thurs 29 August Jade Monkey Gig
Rock Bands & Jazz Ens 6pm
Week 7 Mon 2 September Student free day
Wed 4 September Assembly: Yr 11 Drama
Sunday 8 September Big Band Bash
The GOV Big Band 1
Week 8
Mon 9 Sept - Fri 13 Sept MUSIC WEEK
Wed 11 September Assembly: Vocal Jazz 1
Friday 13 September MUSIC NIGHT 2019
Week 9 Wed 18 Sept Assembly: SACE Dance
Wed 18 Sept - Fri 20 Sept Prep Music Tour
Week 10 Wed 25 Sept Big Band & Vocal Jazz Bonanza
Osmond Terrace Function Centre 7pm
Saturday 12 October Celebration of Football FFSA Awards
Night Vocal Jazz 1 7pm
Tuesday 15 October Southern Jazz Club Big Band 1 7pm
It had been six years
since our previous
musical, Anything
Goes, so it was
wonderful to stage
Annie and open up
the MMC pit once
again.
The cast and crew
worked hard during
Term 4 2018 and
Term 1 2019 - and
the musical was
staged in Week 11!
A number of our best musicians took to the stage
so the pit orchestra was a mixture of current
scholars and a few old scholars.
It was especially encouraging to perform to a
capacity Murray Centre, and our students rose to
the occasion.
Annie was played by Anna Symonds who did an
outstanding job, along with a number of student
lead roles, supporting actors and dancers.
Thanks to all who attended Annie to support the
large cast, orchestra and crew.
Well done to Ms Kat Elliot (Director) and Ms Chris
Gould (Musical Director) and a number of staff
involved in making this a successful and
memorable event.
A n n i e !
Music in Pictures
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