Music at Gioia House (Curricular)

Gioia House Music Classes

At Gioia House, our fortnightly music classes offer students a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the fascinating world of score and note reading, while also exploring a variety of music genres. Each lesson begins with a listening activity where students identify the instruments being played, the volume, and the tempo of the music. This exercise sharpens their auditory skills, allowing them to engage with music on a deeper, more attentive level.

Gioia House Choral    

Students now have all four pieces that they will be performing at the Gala Concert at the Sydney Town Hall on Tuesday 24 June! They are working diligently on critical choral and ensemble skills like vowel blend, resonance, intonation, rhythmic precision and use of the voice across both registers. Additionally, they are working together to sing in parts – holding their own part against another. This develops what music teachers call ‘inner hearing’ and this has tremendous benefit for instrumental learning also. Respected Music educators all over the world swear by the learning process ‘see it; (inner) hear it; sing it; play it’. A weekly choir experience is a rare offering in the curriculum context, and we are thrilled to have the support of our Principal and Board to be able to afford such proven effective learning opportunities for our Santa students.

Supporting rehearsal resources for Gioia House Choir can be found on Veritas Online. We encourage students to use these resources at home to help their individual development. 

Gioia House Instrumental

As we conclude this term 1 of the Gioia House Instrumental Program, we’d like to reflect on the growth, achievements, and experiences of our students. Throughout the semester, students have demonstrated exceptional commitment and progress in both individual and group performances. We’ve explored a wide variety of musical styles, sharpened our technical skills, and worked together as an ensemble to create music.

This term, Year 5 Mini Maestros focused on developing their technique on their instruments and in Term 2 will begin to experience what it is like to rehearse in larger ensembles with different instruments. Year 6 Mini Maestros sharpened their ensembles skills of listening and following a conductor, and began to look at new repertoire like Beethoven’s Ninth and Dragon Dance. This is a good time to remind students that it is helpful to have a folder to ensure all music is kept in a safe place. Year 5 Strings and Year 6 Strings have looked at a variety of repertoire in preparation for the Gala Concert.

Each student has contributed to making this term a memorable and successful one. A special thank you goes out to all the students for their hard work, dedication, and passion for music. We also extend our gratitude to the parents and guardians for their continued support.

Looking ahead, we are excited for the next term where we will continue to challenge ourselves and build on the skills we’ve developed. We encourage students to keep practicing and to bring their best to every rehearsal and performance.

Thank you again for a wonderful term.

Veronica Tsang & Jameson Choe
Acting Co-Heads of Curricular Music 5-12

More Music…

Click below to find out more about Music events and co-curricular opportunities at Santa Sabina College.