Music in the Secondary Years (Curricular)

Stage 4 students are continuing to develop their aural skills through the practice of melodic and rhythmic dictations and preparing for their written exam later this term. Year 7 is exploring Music of a Culture and Year 8 is delving into the power of music in Films. Year 9 students have finished exploring Music for Small Ensembles and are currently practising for their performance task in Week 5. They have also been developing their sight singing skills to support their melodic dictations and will be looking at the development of the Orchestra from the Barque through to the Romantic period. Year 10 has been exploring 20th Century Music and will be exploring the power of music in Films. They too are working towards their performance recital in Week 6.

Year 11 HSC students are finishing their Mandatory topic, Music 1600-1900 and working towards their final preliminary exams and performances. Year 11 IB students have made a cracking start to their Exploring Music in Context and Experimenting with Music Portfolios.

Year 12 IB students are finalising their Presenting Music and Contemporary Music Maker Portfolios, ready for online submission. Year 12 has just begun their Trial exams and we wish them the best of luck!

Australian Music Composition Day – Student Reviews

The Annual Music Composition Day we hosted on 24 July included elective Years 9 to 11 Music students and eight other schools. This was hosted by Lisa Young, winner of the Art Music Award 2021 Choral Work of the Year for Sacred Stepping Stones, ARIA nominated performer/composer with Coco’s Lunch and Bell Jazz Award Winner Best Australian Jazz Vocal Album 2007. Throughout this session we learnt the konnakol a south Indian vocal percussion and sung Tempo of Humanity and Sacred Stepping Stones. We were all separated into different groups, soprano 1, soprano 2, alto 1, alto 2 and tenor which we all sung different parts together. This was overall an enjoyable experience which I found very interesting, as this type of music was something I had never heard/listened to before and it was very clear that Lisa Young has a very deep passion for this.

Ren Chao
Year 11 Music

The Australian Composition Day saw elective music students across years 9-11 engage in a day of music-related activities with other secondary schools across Sydney. Students participated in a workshop led by renowned Australian composer, Lisa Young, specialising in the development of konnakol (a South Indian art form including the use of vocal percussive syllables) and kanda chapu tala (a 2.5 beat cycle). The pieces Sacred Stepping Stones (2020) and Tempo of Humanity (a commissioned piece for the SSC 2024 Gala Concert) challenged students to explore foreign music traditions in the comfort of Lisa’s passion and skilled teaching style. We are truly grateful to Ms Young and the Santa Sabina music staff for the effort they put into organising such a fantastic day.

Elise Armour
Year 11 Music

We, along with multiple other schools, learned how to sing a piece called Tempo of Humanity (commissioned for the 2024 Gala Concert), which tied in with our learning of creating rhythms, improvisation and riffs. We discovered ‘Konnakol’, a way of singing found predominantly in South India, and got an idea of how it works. We also learnt a piece called Sacred Stepping Stones, and how to improvise riffs on our own using the Konnakol style. Overall, it was a very enlightening experience coming together with others of different cultures and learning of their own unique style of music. The rhythms were very catchy, and it was a very enjoyable way to increase our knowledge of music and the way we experience it as individuals.

Rose Hart
Year 11 Music

It was a really enriching experience where we learnt about the South Indian oral percussion sounds she has dedicated her life to learning and participate in a choir rendition of her new piece Tempo of Humanity. I enjoyed the day and particularly liked being able to hear lower bass and tenor parts provided by the male students from other schools, as there is usually that absence in our own school choir. I feel that I gathered new information and learnt about techniques that will benefit me in my final years of HSC music, especially as Lisa Young’s music falls under the category – Australian Music of the Last 25 Years.

Chloe Batchelor
Year 11 Music

Coming up

ARCO
Elective and ensemble music students will attend the final concert in the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra (ARCO) Voyage of Musical Discovery Concert series on Monday 7 August at the City Recital Hall. As one of Santa Sabina’s esteemed professional partners ARCO’s Voyage of Musical Discovery provides students with a unique concert series, with the final concert focusing on Musical Identities. Participants are asked to refer to correspondence from the Music Department for finer details.

IB HL Recital
On Friday 11 August, the Year 12 IB Music students will premiere their ‘Contemporary Music Maker’ projects and ‘Presenting Music’ performances, showcasing a selection of styles from Blues, Looping, to EDM composition and improvisations. Please join us in Holyrood Adams at 3:45pm!