Music

Friday Performance Class

A staple on the Music Academy calender, the Friday Performance classes continued via Zoom to motivate Music Academy students to keep up regular practice.

Music Competitions

The Music Academy held several competitions during lockdown to create motivation and fun for music students: The Scale and Arpeggio ‘Championship’ for Academy String players and the Scale and Arpeggio ‘Battle’ for Academy Woodwind players.

The Scale and Arpeggio Championship for Academy String players

String players competed against each other live on Zoom. Their mission was to perform their scales as accurately and cleanly as possible. It was a brilliant spectacle with many students performing better on the day than expected.

RESULTS:

Winners of the Upper Strings Division

Leo Qi (Year 6) and Steven Wang (Year 9) (performing their Galamian accelerated scales at a mind blowing 110 BPM)

Winner of the Lower Strings Division

Nicholas Branson (Year 7)

Highly Commended

Daniel Feng (Year 7)

Woodwind Scales and Arpeggios Battle

Woodwind players submitted their recordings of scales, studies and arpeggios. The finalists from each division made new recordings which were adjudicated by Wendy Clarke, Associate Principal Flautist of the MSO.

RESULTS:

Winner of the Woodwind Scale Battle:

Freddy Branson (Year 10)

Highly Commended

Rhys Campbell (Year 12)

Wendy Clarke was impressed with Freddy and Rhys’ accuracy of pitch and evenness of tone, particularly in the higher registers.

The Watson Report

In a rare collaboration between the Sports and Music Academy, Mr Jamie Watson, Director of the Sports Academy, provided a humorous commentary on the results of both competitions, which can be viewed here:

Click here to view

In addition to the music classes and competitions, we have enjoyed a number of outstanding virtual musical performances from our music students this term.

TOWARDS INFINITY PERFORMANCE

A group of Year 11 and 12 students were rehearsing a piece called Towards Infinity during the final weeks of school before the second lockdown. Instead of letting this situation get to them, they put together a virtual performance of the piece – and we were very impressed! When the composer, Mr Paul Jarman, heard the recording this is what he had to say: “Thank you so much for your thought and care, leadership and passion for the music....I am just so inspired by you guys. …..COVID-19 has been very tough on many of us ….you remind me of how important it is to all have each other and I am so grateful. You guys are the future….”.

YEAR 7 STUDENTS NICHOLAS AND DERRICK PERFORM VIVALDI

Year 7 cellists Nicholas Branson and Derrick Kwon performed a Vivaldi movement with enviable precision and expression. It seems hard to believe that they are not in the same room as they play together.

I t seems hard to believe that they are not in the same room as they playtogether.

MIDDLE SCHOOL CELLISTS PERFORM ELEANOR RIGBY

Cellists from the Middle School Orchestra program performed Eleanor Rigby while in isolation. They also submitted short clips of daily activities which remind them of complex rhythms in music. The result was a wonderful virtual performance.

SENIOR CELLISTS PERFORM BACH’S AIR ON G STRING

The cello section of the Senior School Orchestra performed Bach’s famous Air on G String. We also saw a lighthearted glimpse of pre-performance preparation and a guest appearance from last year’s Music Captain!

MAURO GIULIANI – VARIATIONS 3 AND 5

This is a charming piece by Italian Guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani (1781 - 1829).

Charlie Campbell-Cowan (Year 9) and Matthew Treagus (Year 8) performed this work with Anne Walters’ beautiful photographs of fragrant spring flowers interwoven throughout the clip. Watch the performance by clicking on video (left).

MIDDLE SCHOOL STRING QUARTET

Middle School musicians Hamish Westcott, William Kopke on violin, Joshua Morgan (Year 8), viola and cellist Derrick Kwon (Year 7) have created a recording of the Finale of David Stone’s Miniature String Quartet No.2. This project was part of the Elva Allan evening of chamber music which takes place in September every year. Thanks to Mr Campbell Phillips for the wonderful video which can be viewed here (left).

The Senior School Guitar Ensemble worked hard during lockdown, tackling the 80s classic The Final Countdown by Europe. We thoroughly enjoyed their group performance, edited by guitar teacher Mr Jamie McGee.

In the absence of a normal concert, the Music Department would like to share some of the work that has been going on during Lockdown 2, Term 3. In ‘Notes from the Inside’, we’ve broken our large ensembles into smaller sections and have taken the opportunity to brush up on our technique and learn some different repertoire too. We also have more videos in the pipeline that we look forward to sharing with you next term. To view the concert, please follow this link:

Click here to access

#cgsfromhome #CGSMusic

Monash University Day of Piano 2020

Music Captain Arman Cakmakcioglu (Year 12) performed part of his VCE program at the Monash University Day of Piano on Sunday 6 September. He participated in masterclasses, discussions and a Q&A with Aura Go, Tomoe Kawabata and Konstantin Shamray.

Music Academy Masterclass with Rachael Beesley

One of the highlights of this term’s Music Academy events was Rachael Beesley’s Masterclass. The Music Academy was excited to welcome this world-renowned Baroque violinist on Friday 28 August. In this image, the celebrated Baroque violinist is holding different baroque bows to the class of violinists and violists. She then discussed the composer’s intentions through the language of bowing patterns.

Ms Beesley worked with Music Academy violinists on the nuances of Baroque style, providing a great learning opportunity for the students.