Music at Gioia House
Curriculum Music in Years 5 and 6
Curriculum Music Class
Gioia House curriculum Music classes continue to drill down into the valuable skills and ideas presented through choral and instrumental programs. Our 130th St Dominic’s Day repertoire afforded us the opportunity to look at different expressions of the Catholic Mass – from a musical and historical perspective. In addition to continuing to develop their notation and score-reading skills, students were able to learn about the history of music notation – looking back as far as the Gregorian Era to explore ‘neumes’ and other forms of early music notation that were the precursor to forms of notation we use today.
Cecilia Pensini
Music Teacher Years 5-6
Curriculum Choral – Gioia House Choir
Singing isn’t just about learning songs. Like all curriculum experiences, (and much like a parent hiding vegetables in the lasagne!) we ensure that our students are developing critical aural skills through all these activities! These skills then inform all other directions of musical exploration.
In our weekly Choral time on Tuesdays, we lean towards rich Kodaly and Orff-based pedagogies that support understanding of rhythms and pitches, with students experiencing the use of ‘solfa’ to develop their relative pitch skills and understanding of intervallic structure within a melody. Use of Kodaly Quodlibet and Canons help develop confidence in part-singing, vocal placement and ensemble blend. It is our intention that these foundational choral experiences will be of life-long benefit to our Gioia House students.
Curriculum Instrumental – Gioia House Strings & Band Program ‘Mini Maestros’
Students are experiencing both small group tuition and large ensemble experiences in Gioia House Strings and Band a.k.a. ‘Mini Maestros’. Brass, Woodwind and Percussion students are now able to apply their understanding of the scale to create new and old melodies, and will be applying these skills in the ‘Band’ context for the coming weeks. At the end of the year we will host an ‘open’ rehearsal for parents of ‘Mini Maestro’ students to celebrate the growth of these young players, while Gioia House Strings students (who are accelerated by weekly individual private tuition) will work hard to perform as part of the Sinfonietta Open Rehearsal later this term.
For those Year 6 students in the final semester of their Curriculum instrumental experience, now is a perfect time to consider joining the College Concert Band or Sinfonietta Strings as a way to maximise learning and growth and to realise the potential of these experiences!
To sign up for either of these ensembles you can click this link. If you have any questions, please email Mr Jameson Choe who oversees the Gioia House Instrumental program, and he will assist you with your query.
Jameson Choe & Veronica Tsang
Acting Heads of Curricular Music 5-12
To keep up to speed with all the Co-curricular Music offerings and happenings from P-12 at Santa Sabina College, be sure to jump over to our Director’s Page. Reach out to the Music Office if we can assist you with any queries you may have about the opportunities available to your child at Santa Sabina College.