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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