Celebrating Our Musicians
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been privileged to hear so many of our students perform to an exceptionally high standard. Whether at our Spring Concert in the Union Theatre or through our VCE and VET Music Performance evenings, it has been a joy to see all their hard work come to life.
Spring Concert
What an incredible evening of music-making at our Spring Concert on Monday 8 September at the Wonthaggi Union Theatre. Every student who took the stage should feel immensely proud of their hard work, commitment, and creativity.
The concert opened with a strong performance from our Senior Guitar Ensemble led by Sam Rainey. It was wonderful to hear the development of our string players in the Junior School Orchestra and Chamber Strings under the direction of Rebecca Scully. Special congratulations to our Year 4 Strings, who presented a heartfelt rendition of Lanterns by Birds of Tokyo.
Our Junior Taiko Ensemble brought energy with their performance of Dakokara by Yuta Kato. The Junior School Choir, led by Nina Prideaux, delivered their usual animated storytelling—this time with The Elves and the Shoemaker. The Middle School Choir impressed with Sara Bareilles’ Opening Up and Marvin Gaye’s 1960s classic Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.
The Senior Vocal Ensemble showcased their beautifully blended choral sound with Schubert’s An Die Musik and an exciting West Side Story medley (Something’s Coming and Tonight). The choirs combined to perform their award-winning pieces from the VSMF Competition (Follow My Own Dream and Running Up That Hill), closing the first half with a moving rendition of Lean On Me.
After interval, our young musicians gave a big finish. The Year 5 Band performed admirably with A Ceremonial March and Taio Cruz’s Dynamite—remarkable given they only began playing their instruments in February! The Year 6 Bands impressed with James Ryan’s arrangements of Tequila (6P)and When the Saints (6OD). Many of these students also contributed to the Intermediate Concert Band, which performed Ryan’s original compositions (Triumphal Entry and Mango Smoothie) before closing with Funky Town.
Jono Wright’s Percussion Ensemble captivated the audience with Frank Corniola’s City Lights, a vivid musical take on the movement and sounds of a bustling city.
The Senior Concert Band thrilled with a mix of classics and comedy, opening with Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and following with Rollo Takes a Walk, featuring Michael in a debut kazoo solo. Sam Armer then led a superb performance of Ravel’s Bolero before closing with Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
To end the evening, our Big Band presented four dynamic tunes: Strollin’ (featuring solos by Gabe Di Falco on double bass and Hayden Hopkins on tenor saxophone), Soul Chicken (with Madi King on alto saxophone), The Nearness of You (with guest soloist Aoife O’Connell), and the lively Pink Panther Mambo (featuring Felix Fothergill on trumpet and Midi Klin on alto saxophone).
Congratulations to all students and staff on presenting such a diverse and high-quality program. It was truly inspirational.
We're thrilled to announce the winners of the fabulous Spring Concert Raffle were Felix Fothergill, Linda Hopkins and Peter Rhee.
Keep Making Music
We encourage all students to continue their musical journey by joining or continuing with our MusicPlus ensembles and choirs. Whether you are already part of the program or considering getting involved—we want you!
MusicPlus Rehearsal Schedule
Monday 3:30–4:45
- Intermediate Concert Band
- Senior Vocal Ensemble
- Chamber Strings
Tuesday 7:30–8:45am
- Guitar Ensemble
- Junior School Orchestra
Tuesday 1:30–2:05
- Percussion Ensemble
Wednesday 7:30–8:45am
- Middle School Choir
Wednesday 2:05
- Junior School Choir
Wednesday 3:30–4:45
- Senior Concert Band
Thursday 7:30–8:45
- Taiko Drumming
Thursday 1:30
- Junior Guitar Ensemble
Thursday 3:30–4:45
- Big Band
VET Performance Night
On Thursday 11 September, our VET Music Performance students took to the stage in the Back Box. This was a valuable opportunity to polish their setlists ahead of their Term 4 exams. Congratulations to Campbell Dunstan, Felix Fothergill, Finn McLean, Eve Oakley, Aoife O’Connell, Jemilla Prideaux, Indigo Aurora, and Eddy Kratz on their outstanding performances. Thank you also to our dedicated staff for mentoring these students throughout the year. We wish them all the best in the final stretch!
VCE Soiree
To finish the term, our VCE Contemporary Music Unit 4 class presented their program of works. These students have worked diligently throughout the year to achieve such a high standard.
Congratulations to Indigo Aurora, Mackenzie Cameron, Cecily de Gooyer, Grace Farmer, Bailie Patton, Archie Robson, and Isaac Savona for their outstanding performances. We wish them all the very best for their upcoming exams and their musical futures.
Upcoming Events
We have many exciting events to round off the year, and we hope you can join us as part of the audience. All events, except AMEB exams, are open to the public—and everyone is welcome!
- Annual Bands Night – Monday 13 October, Westernport Hotel, 6:00–9:00pm
- Spring Soirée (new date) – Tuesday 11 November, Performing Arts Centre, 6:00–8:30pm
- AMEB Examinations – Monday 17 to Friday 21 November
Well done once again to all our students—your dedication, talent, and passion for music continue to inspire us all.
Matthew Goss
Director of Music
House Visual Arts Exhibition
On Wednesday 27 August in the Performing Arts Wing foyer, we held our second House Visual Arts Exhibition with a total of 19 works from 16 artists across Middle school and Senior School. The artworks were of a very high standard created by students in their own time.
Artworks could be from the following media: Pencil, Pastel, Water colour, Oil/acrylic painting, Mixed media 2D, 3D Sculpture, Digital, Video and Photography
Criteria Judges looked for:
- Communication of an idea or meaning through use of art elements and principles
- Skill with materials and techniques
- Originality.
- Composition
Our four judges Ms Power, Mr Sipthorp, Mr Appleby and Mrs Anastasi were really pleased with the very high standard of student contributions and support for this year’s exhibition.
The overall winner of the House Visual Arts was Gabby Slattery with her two artworks, Honesty’ and ‘Kindness’ created in alcohol marker pen, Derwent pencil and paint pens on paper.
The winner of Middle School was Sam Bowtell with his series of seascapes in oil on canvas
Senior School was awarded two winners Kiera Rowe,‘Voidling’s Trip’, mixed media prints and Kalani Jenkins, ‘Fire Lookout’, acrylic on canvas
Honorable mention went to Lucy Glen ‘Abstract’ and Marley Brown with his computer game called ‘There are 99 machines and 1 of me’
Students and teachers were able to vote for the ‘People’s Choice. The winner was Elsa Osabutey with her self-portrait acrylic paint on canvas.
House points for the winners and all submissions will be awarded accordingly.
Fiona Anastasi
Specialist Teacher
Year 6H Pizza Art
Year 6H has been consumed with making pizzas for the term in Art. Fantastic achievement in that every student finished one by the deadline. It was a lot of fun in the Art Room, first making bases from cardboard and adding crusts with materials soaked in PVA for stiffening. Once dried the bases were covered in gesso and then painted to make burnt crusts and add tomato paste with paints. The final stage was to add toping. The theme, MY FAVOURITE PIZZA, meant they could draw small images of anything they loved to add to the topic. Icons added included sporting items, aircraft, tractors, animals and food items.
Well done to all the students in 6P who took the task on with great enthusiasm.
Rodney Sipthorp
