Instrumental Music Program News

Annual General Meeting
The IMP Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 5 November 2018 at 7:30pm in the school hall. This is an excellent opportunity to have your say on the direction the IMP will take in 2019, and all IMP parents are encouraged to attend. The meeting will include reports on 2018 activity, discussion of the budget, events and plans for 2019 and beyond, and election of office bearers for 2019.
If you would like more detail about any of the committee roles or to nominate yourself for one of them, please email fortstreetimp+convenor@gmail.com. Please let us know if you plan to nominate for a role, as it will help us plan the meeting.

HSC Compositions
Last term the Wind Ensemble workshopped and then recorded a number of HSC compositions, which was a great opportunity for composers to troubleshoot their works with live players. The Wind Ensemble sounded fantastic as usual, and sight read and offered feedback on these new compositions with maturity and musicality beyond their years. We encourage all HSC composers to consider writing for the ensemble they know best.

Performances

On Sunday Chamber Choir performed in concert with the Sydney Male Choir to a very appreciative audience at the Petersham Town Hall.

Keep up to date with all IMP events including performances via the IMP calendar:

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=fortstreetimp@gmail.com&ctz=Australia/Sydney&pli=1

Conservatorium Students at Fort Street
Last week a group of students studying jazz at the Sydney Conservatorium came to Fort Street to study the art of running a high school jazz rehearsal. Under the guidance of Ray Cassar, members of the next generation of band directors were put through their paces, working with Big Band in rehearsal. This is an invaluable experience both for the Big band and for the undergraduates participating. A number of IMP students have gone on to study at the Con, and it is great to keep the relationship between our two music institutions strong.

Congratulations to Pat Wu (Year 10) on achieving his Licentiate in Music (LMusA) in Piano, a diploma awarded by the Australian Music Examinations Board to outstanding candidates in the fields of musical performance.

Staff Training
The IMP is committed to offering opportunities for our conductors to undertake professional development. In recent months the IMP has arranged for Ray Cassar (jazz) to attend the Essentially EllingtonTeacher’s Workshops, and helped Rachel Pogson (strings) to attend the Australian National Band and Orchestra Conference in Brisbane.

Instrument Storage
From Term 4, school rooms will be locked when not in use. This includes the Cottage and R2, so instruments should now be stored in the basement or in the student’s own locker
The basement will be opened each morning, and will remain open throughout the day while tutors are there. There is plenty of shelf space for all IMP members to store their instruments in the basement. Instruments must not be left on the floor or on the stairs.
For students who rehearse in R2, the usual rules about storing small instruments still apply. For tuba and double bass students, your tutor will have access to R2 if you need to collect an instrument for a lesson.

Sydney Youth Orchestra
Summer school registrations now open, suited to students Grade 3-7 or equivalent.
https://syo.com.au/programs/syo-open-holiday-programs/2019-summer-school/