Music Matters

Important Dates for 2020 Calendar – Music Workshops

To celebrate the school’s 125^th Birthday celebration, a special concert will be held in the Town Hall on Thursday 18 June.  The concert will feature exciting pieces of music by Australian composers and will feature many of our ensembles.

To facilitate with the preparation of this concert, the Music Department will be holding two weekend workshops for the featured ensembles.  The dates are as follows:

Workshop 1 – Monday 27 April (Day before the commencement of Term 2)

Workshop 2 – Sunday 14 June (Sunday before the concert)

The attendance of both workshops is compulsory for students who will be performing.  We would appreciate your support with your daughters’ regular attendance of rehearsals and for both workshops.  Further information about each of the workshops will be provided closer to the time.

The concert will be a wonderful celebration of the school’s birthday. It will be a wonderful evening of music!

HSC NESA Encore Nomination

Congratulations to the following students who have received a NESA Encore Nomination in the following:

• Hiroi Migita – Music 2 and Extension (Performance)
• Thareni Parameswaran – Music 2 (Composition)
• Elizabeth Armour – Music 1 (Performance)
• Diana Sideris – Music 1 (Performance)
• Zoe Biggs – Music 1 (Composition and Musicology)

We are incredibly proud of all our students’ achievements in each of the Music courses.  Whilst our students were not in the final selection for the ENCORE concert program, the nomination themselves is an incredible honour and a testament to their hard work.

I would also like to acknowledge the hard work and contribution from the Music staff as everyone has made a substantial contribution to the learning journey of each student in 2019.

Music Ensemble sign-up at the Co-Curricular Expo – Wednesday 5 February

If you are keen to join an ensemble so you can exercise your musical talents, the Music Department would love to see you at the Co-curricular Expo on Wednesday 5 February – Sports Hall.

 This year our sign-up process for NEW members will take place as part of the school’s Co-curricular Expo.  Come see the ensembles we have on offer and meet our ensemble directors (Choral, Band, String), the 2020 Music captain and Music leaders. For a full list of the school’s music ensembles – please consult page 34 & 35 of the school diary.

 Students who were involved in an ensemble last year will be automatically included in this year’s roll.  If you want to start something NEW then you will need to come and sign up.

When? Wednesday 5 February 1:00pm

Where? Sports Hall

Who should come? Anyone NEW to SCEGGS or those would like to join a music ensemble.

We look forward to seeing YOU there!

Music Ensemble Rehearsals

Rehearsals for your ensembles commence in Week 3. Students who are taking Music as an elective study MUST participate in at least one Music Ensemble. If for whatever reason you cannot attend your rehearsal, please do the courtesy of letting your conductor or Mr Jewitt know ahead of the rehearsal.

Director of Bands – Mr Michael Tierney

We welcome Mr Michael Tierney as our new Director of Bands.  Mr Tierney has a background as a classroom music teacher and was also the Co-ordinator of Bands at The Scots College.  He has also had many years’ experience conducting and developing band programs in both the Sydney metropolitan and in regional areas including Newcastle.  Mr Tierney’s principal instrument is the trumpet, and he has also had extensive conducting experience with wind orchestras. Not only will Mr Tierney be overseeing the Band program from K-12, but he will also be teaching some secondary Music classes. We look forward to Mr Tierney’s contribution to the SCEGGS Music Department.

Music Tuition

Music tuition will begin on Monday 3 February Week 2. Please contact your instrumental tutor if you are unsure of your lesson time. If you would like to commence instrumental or vocal tuition, please do not hesitate to request for an Instrumental Tuition form. The form is available on Cognito or from the Music Department.

Primary Strings Ensemble Rehearsals

All Primary String Ensembles will start rehearsals next week as follows at 7.30am in the Primary Music Room:

Pauline Chow
Head of Music