Junior School Music Miss Natasha Rich Junior School Music Teacher
“Ah, music,” he said, wiping his eyes. “A magic beyond all we do here!” J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Music is magic! I truly believe that. I know I’m biased … terribly biased … but to see the way music can light up the faces of these Trinity College Junior School boys is as close to magic as I think you can get. It’s been another busy year in the Music Department at Trinity College! Here is a snap shot of the year: •
Workshop with Paul Jarman in Term 2 commissioning a work for the Year 5/6 Choir called Spirit, Curiosity, Opportunity
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Choir and String Ensemble performances at Junior & Middle School Music Night
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Year 4 String Concert afternoons in Term 2 and Term 4
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Junior Vocal Ensemble leading our weekly Mass services
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A Very Mary Sing-a-long combined dance and costume item to showcase works from Mary Poppins with Perth College Year 6 Choir, performed at the Perth Convention Centre
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Certificate of Honourable Mentions for Year 4 Choir and Year 5 Choir at the Catholic Performing Arts Festival
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Workshop with Celia Christmass and the Year 4 Choir for the piece Deep Blue
We were lucky enough to have two composers working with us throughout the year, Celia Christmass (Perth) and Paul Jarman (Brisbane) who were both involved with the choirs of the Junior School. The Year 4 Choir took delight in singing about all the creatures of the Ningaloo reef in Deep Blue! Celia wrote for us a brilliant but complex piano accompaniment, which mimicked that of the underwater life, aptly played by Ms Litis. I enjoyed watching the boys perform all of the actions and learn the joy of telling the audience a story through song. The Year 5/6 Choir worked with Paul Jarman to commission their work Spirit, Curiosity, Opportunity. Paul has a wonderful way with students and to learn from him as a teacher and music educator myself this year was a real treat! His work is based on three Mars Rovers who are named Spirit, Curiosity and Opportunity. This work asks many questions that we wonder as young children … Why is the sky blue? Why do the stars twinkle? Paul embraced the powerful energy these boys have in their sound to create a fantastic piece about space and the universe and captured the essence of what excites them. It was wonderful to see this work come to life from a brainstorm of ideas in Term 1 through to a world premiere performance in Term 4. To the Year 6 cohort who performed The Schoolyard at the Concert and Presentation Evening all I can say is “WOW”! You definitely impressed me with your ability to memorise the script. The title is from the poem “Heard it in the Playground” by Alan Ahlberg and adapted by Penrhos Drama Teacher, Vanessa Jensen. This fast paced speech rhyme tapped into what it truly means to be a student, both in the playground, the classroom and on the oval. Using actions, different groups, staggered entries and a whole lot of coordination this performance was definitely a highlight of my time at Trinity College. As always with these Trinity College Junior boys I finish the year so proud of them. They perform with gusto and heart. They embrace opportunities with energy and enthusiasm and they have camaraderie like no other. I hope many of you boys continue to sing and have music in your lives one way or another as you grow older. I will always cherish my time here at Trinity College. The way the staff, parents and community embrace music and welcome it into their lives is so wonderful and I feel lucky to have been a part of it. Miss Natasha Rich Junior School Music Teacher
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