3 minute read
Head of Music
FROM THE HEAD
OF MUSIC
MUSIC IS THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF MANKIND.
WHERE WORDS FAIL, MUSIC SPEAKS.
CREATIVITY IS THE FREEST FORM OF SELFEXPRESSION. THERE IS NOTHING MORE SATISFYING AND FULFILLING FOR CHILDREN THAN TO BE ABLE TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES OPENLY, WITHOUT JUDGEMENT. CREATIVE EXPRESSION PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN TO TRY NEW IDEAS AND DEVELOP THEIR IMAGINATION.
In our Music classes, students are encouraged to experiment and be creative. This process of risk-taking and individual expression teaches students that their abilities and contributions are highly valued.
All children are born with the ability to become musical. In our Early Years program, we nurture that potential so that it is realised in a lifetime of joyful music making.
In Prep, Ms Tonkin creates a spirit of wonder, encouraging individual student participation in a variety of movement and rhythm activities. As the children develop greater self-awareness, they become more able to listen perceptively and sing tunefully. In Year 1 they can sing their own melodies and compose their own rhythms. By Year 2 they can play their own melodies on the resonator bells and notate them on the stave. In Years 3 and 4, students have the confidence to express their own musical ideas and respond with their own musical answers, rather than echo copying. In Years 5 and 6, students enjoy group work writing their own arrangements, making instrumental choices and playing in canon. These activities harness student ownership, foster risk-taking and grow self-confidence.
The Junior Years are the fertile soil in which seeds grow. In our Middle Years program, we explicitly teach the craft of composition through structured projects and instrumental improvisation in Year 7. The Years 8 and 9 musicians, under the expert guidance of Mrs Fleming, composed an entire soundtrack to the well-loved children’s series, Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy, which they presented to the Prep students. Each student composed their own theme for each different dog and narrated the story interspersed with a performance of each dog’s theme. COMPOSITION – shining the spotlight on our young and emerging talent.
In our Senior Years program, we encourage and inspire innovation. Students invent and manipulate ideas to create a new body of work which has its own unique voice and style. Our students use a wide palette of compositional techniques in the pursuit of creativity.
This impressive body of student compositions showcased at our Kaleidoscope Concert, featured several live performances including Neo Yang’s Melissani Caves written for Chamber Strings, George Wang’s Himalaya’s featuring George playing two guitars in a highly innovative approach to instrumental technique, and Catherine Ju’s moving 9/11 tribute titled Never Forget, exploiting an experimental approach to a synthesized soundscape and narrative.
In the spirit of CELEBRATION, we would like to acknowledge the exceptional work of 2021 Music Captain and Graduate, Robert Blakeley, whose IA3 Performance Project for Music Extension was chosen by the Queensland Curriculum Assessment Authority to be developed as an exemplar on their website. This is an outstanding recognition of both Robert’s skilful mastery and our very own QCAA Assessor, Mrs Jillian Hunt, who was invited to develop Robert’s response for the QCAA website. We would also like to acknowledge the exceptional achievement of the 2021 Music and Music Extension cohorts who achieved outstanding results across all internal and external assessments!
COMPASSION – serving Him in faith through care and service of others.
The Music Department is a team of highly dedicated educators who care deeply for the well-being and growth of each Music student and one another. It is their willingness to serve with such devotion that truly demonstrates their Christ-led convictions and fills me with limitless hope and abundant love.
