Chelsea • Mordialloc • Mentone Your guide to what’s on this weekend for peninsula families
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MARCH 2016
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Wednesday 23 March 2016
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Schools hit the high notes IT was Patterson River Secondary College’s turn to host the annual Singfest that sees choirs from schools across the South Eastern Region meet, learn and perform choral music under the leadership of a guest conductor. Conductor Dr Kathleen McGuire, co-artistic director of the School of Hard Knocks, took up the baton in Carrum last Wednesday (16 March) to lead about 200 students from ten schools across the south east this year. Dr McGuire’s career as a conductor, composer and educator spans more than three decades and five countries. She has earned multiple degrees including the Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Colorado at Boulder. A variety of choral music was composed and arranged by Dr McGuire to help students improve their musicality, intonation and sight reading abilities. Since the guest conductor was also the composer and arranger of this year’s music at Singfest it gave students a greater insight into the music learned and performed. Nineteen Patterson River Secondary students from years 7 to 12 took part in Singfest. “The day ran very smoothly with students very happy to go out of their way to meet and help students from other schools,” principal Maree Vinocuroff said. Dr McGuire was assisted over the course of the day by accompanist Yollette Stewart. Gather round: Singing teacher and conductor Kathleen McGuire, centre, and pianist Yolette Stewart lead the way for Patterson River Secondary College students at Singfest. Picture: Yanni
Spotlight on gang Neil Walker neil@baysidenews.com.au A WILD brawl in Melbourne’s city centre has put the focus on a gang involved in brazen violent burglaries and car thefts in the south east suburbs over the past few months. Members of the Apex gang clashed with police at Federation Square and
surrounding streets last Saturday evening (12 March) as terrified bystanders attending the Moomba Festival fled for safety. The high-profile clash caused Premier Daniel Andrews to vow to get tough with violent gangs. “What happened on Saturday evening was completely unacceptable,” Mr Andrews said at a press confer-
ence the day after the brawl. “I will make sure that Victoria Police has whatever they need to smash these gangs and make sure we don’t have a repeat.” Mr Andrews said those responsible would “feel the full force of the law”. Police say the Apex gang, initially young men of Sudanese descent, now has more than 150 members from
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various backgrounds including Sudanese, Caucasian, Pacific Islander and Middle Eastern youths. The gang formed about 18 months ago and is named after a street in Dandenong where the gang’s founders lived. Police in the south east suburbs have noted gangs such as Apex have been responsible for violent carjack-
ings in the area. The gangs use social media, including Facebook, and encryption apps to target the homes of owners of luxury cars to steal the vehicles. In some cases, the offenders smash their way into homes at night and demand the car keys from owners at gunpoint. Continued Page 6