Head of Performance Music

COVID-19 has presented the Performance Music world with new and seemingly endless obstacles to overcome. Despite this, Music continues to be for Everyone, and working out what this means for co-curricular music education has certainly been a thought-provoking experience, focusing on how we can best ‘pivot’ to serve our music students. Hiding amongst the 2021 lockdowns were rescheduled concerts, cancelled workshops and competitions, online music tuition with all of its technical and musical challenges, masked rehearsals, outdoor rehearsals, rescheduled rehearsals, split rehearsals, online rehearsals, pre-recorded rehearsals, no rehearsals, and, of course, all of the corresponding emotional frustrations. Nonetheless, our dedicated Music students remain genuinely hungry for the joy of music; always thrilled to be working together, taking care of one another, and striving for excellence. Despite the global challenges, we were able to mount a series of very fine concerts including, Jubilant Sounds in March, Kaleidoscope in June, a sensational Senior School Finale Concert in September, and a memorable Carols in the Cathedral in November. Music is for Everyone at Redeemer, and our students prove this each and every day.

Our musicians continue to care for each other. A great way that they show this care is in their punctual attendance at rehearsals and concerts, and the diligent work they do between rehearsals and lessons for each other. Redeemer musicians know that home practice and preparation is a weekly gift they give their ensemble peers. It goes without saying that, if you improve and grow as an individual musician, the whole group lifts. Whilst this commitment can be seen more overtly in the College’s premier ensembles, it is no less prevalent in the developing ensembles, too. Once again in 2021, our Piccolo Strings, Junior Voices and Year 5 Band beginner programs have introduced our younger musicians to the endless rewards of meaningful and joyful music-making. We can’t wait for these students to move through the Music Tuition program at Redeemer, where they will be nurtured and encouraged by our team of extraordinary Music Tutors. We all sincerely thank each of these music specialists for their service again in 2021, especially given the complicated nature of the musical world and the unprecedented impact COVID-19 is having on their lives and performing careers.

At the very core of music-making, at all levels of the young musician’s journey, lies communication. Sometimes it’s overt, as in the programmatic music we share when we play or sing. At other times it can be more covert, communicating hours (even years) of hard work and preparation that results in beautifully formed harmonies or intoxicating musical drama. Music-making teaches communication, and good communicators become leaders. For a brief moment of time, Queensland enjoyed a COVID-free window in which we were able to miraculously present a sumptuous production of the 2005 Broadway Musical, Little Women, with our student-only orchestra, as is now tradition, performing the full original Broadway score. A monumentous achievement for schoolaged instrumentalists. It is our hope, as educators, that our students look back on their achievements with deep pride and an understanding of the hard work required to reach unimaginable heights, such as mounting a first-class, expressive piece of theatre. It IS possible, and it can be “astonishing”.

When I was a young musician, I used to love playing the piano for my grandparents. I remember being excited by letting them choose what I’d play, even though I knew that this could result in a less-than-perfect performance of a piece that wasn’t fully prepared. Of course, there were inevitable mistakes and stumbles and, sometimes, this meant that I needed to stop playing and pick it up again from the nearest bar-line. It was at this point that my grandmother would say, “no, no, no … a great musician never stops … a great

I had no idea that this advice would be so salient for those of us facing ongoing, unexpected challenges in the music-making world. But, let’s not “just keep going” … let’s keep growing.