The Arts

Head of Department – Dramatic Arts & Performance

Alyssa Kelly

Speech Night

 

Audiences both live and virtual were recently treated to a visual spectacular with Music, Visual Art and Dance students coming together to showcase ‘Ocean Dreaming’ as the opening act for Speech Night, 2020. Year 11 student, Chloe Dickinson graced the stage dressed in sustainably created wearable art and wowed audiences as she sang the opening verse of Dvorark’s Song to the Moon.  As this Queen of the Ocean sang to the moon for guidance, she was surrounded by waves in the form of dancers who swirled around her and gave life to her watery home. At the climax of the piece, the Queen of the Ocean beckoned her reef guardians, warriors who represented the human ability to protect the ocean from destruction. These girls were also dressed in sustainable garments, with long staffs lighting their passage.

This major work was inspired by our very own Reef Guardian students who take time each year to clean plastics and rubbish from the reef. Teachers and students alike worked for weeks to pull the entire piece together.  Dancers worked collaboratively with Ms Kelly and Ms Hudson to trial the new curriculum dance program, allowing senior students to work alongside Year 7 students to mentor them through some of the more difficult movement. Visual Art students assisted Ms Geater-Johnson and Ms Costopoulos to create the three stunning wearable art pieces, and Mr Goulter worked with Chloe Dickinson to teach her to sing in Czech.

Ocean Dreaming can be viewed on the College Website

 

Head of Department – Visual Arts & Exhibitions 

Harriet Geater-Johnson

 

 

 

 

 

 

In residence artists

12 Visual Arts in Practice students have been lucky enough to work with local artist Isabella Shatte during their silkscreen printmaking project. Isabella has run her own commercial business and guided the girls through technical information about the printing process, creating stencil designs and using multiple layers.

A big thank you to Isabella and the Percival Tucker Regional Gallery who made this possible through the Artist in Schools program.

 

 

Young Indigenous Printmakers

11VAP students have been working with artists Martina Ah Sam and Margaret Robertson from Umbrella Studios on a relief printmaking project. The artist came to work with the girls in school for two hours to establish their designs, the class will then go to the printmaking studio on Flinders Street for a day to learn about professional printmaking in a working studio environment.

 

 

Speech Night Preparations

Creating outfits for a special speech night performance kept visual art students (and teachers) very busy for the last few weeks. Students from Y11, 12 and 10 have all contributed to the making of some exciting wearable art outfits which were worn on Speech Night. Working on extra projects is a really big commitment and we are very proud of the effort the girls put into creating pieces with a big impact! The theme was Reef Guardians, and Chloe was flanked by two warrior protectors in a dramatic performance with dance students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 12 Students in PNG

Students Barbara and Gwendoline from Year 12 Visual Art have not been able to return from PNG since Term 1, as such they had to adapt their initial plan for folios and both submitted photos.

Whilst we have really missed the girls, both presented a beautiful series that celebrates PNG culture and landscape and gave us a little insight into their home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Head of Department – Music & Performance

Johnathon Goulter

 

Other music items on Speechnight included the Guitar Ensemble who performed a rocking and bopping arrangement of Queens “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”. Emma Watts featured on Guitar three while Guitar two was played by

Chloe Ferrara, Nia Newman and Keely Adebahr. Guitar one, featuring Chloe Dickinson and Georgia Frakes, played sections of the virtuosic original solo. Congratulations must be given to Guitar Ensemble teacher, Ms Georgia Martel who after preparing the students, could not be present on the night. Mr Goulter generously offered to fill in on bass guitar.

This year, the Concert Band combined with the Chamber String Ensemble and College Choir to create our first ever St Patrick’s College orchestra in a performance of Cold Play’s, Viva la Vida. To produce such a huge group performance took great courage and patience from teachers and students as they had to rehearse their sections separately, only coming together a small number of times before performing on the night. The piece was specially arranged by our very own woodwind/brass tutor, Dr Mark Smith, to suit the playing ability of each individual member of the orchestra. Dr Smith was

joined on the night by teachers, Mr Paul Neilson, Mr James Jellyman, Ms Monica Licciardello, Ms Rike Wolf, Ms Megan Donnelly, Ms Rachel Cairns, Mr John Goulter and Ms Alyssa Kelly. Students were thrilled to play alongside their teachers, and the piece was well received by all viewers.  The concert band combined again with the College Choir at the end of the night to perform a roaring version of “St Patrick’s By The Sea” which was arranged by Dr Mark Smith.

Special thanks must also be given to the Liturgy choir who performed their usual duties including singing the Australian National Anthem, the Hymn “To the Ends of the Earth” and the Acknowledgment of Country with the pre-recorded Year 7 Music students who learnt the song as apart of their curriculum studies.