Music 2017 has been a full and rewarding year for the St Joseph’s College Music Department. Continued growth in all our ensembles has been very pleasing. As well as our traditional large ensembles, we have seen the rebirth of smaller ensembles and the beginning of new ones. The Clarinet Ensemble, Flute Ensemble and Junior Drumline have all had successful beginnings and we look forward to them developing and performing at future concerts. It has been pleasing also to have a couple of younger contemporary bands begin this year and hopefully they too can develop further and follow the example of the Year 12 Rock Band, Infinite Steps. Our Intermediate and Senior students were able to enjoy the benefits of some excellent workshops and tutoring through the regular ACC Workshops in Melbourne and Geelong throughout the year. The Vocal and Percussion Workshop was hosted at St Joseph’s College Geelong in May. We were fortunate to host some excellent presenters, Dr Jonathon Welch from the Choir of Hard Knocks, Bert LaBonte, professional actor and singer and our own John Seal, percussion teacher extraordinaire. Another great opportunity was a Band Workshop hosted by Belmont High School. The Intermediate Band combined with other Geelong school bands and worked with Dr Rob McWilliam. An addition to the program this year was the involvement of the Senior Band, Intermediate Band and Drumline in the Geelong ANZAC Day Parade. This involved quite some time and effort in getting the boys and music staff to march in step and play recognisable sounds. However, after some considerable square bashing and quite a few laughs, the boys presented extremely well on ANZAC Day and were excellent ambassadors for the College. It is hoped that this can become an annual event on the music calendar. All of our Ensembles participated in the various Victorian School Music Festivals this year. Whilst no ensemble achieved an outstanding result, the performances all had much to commend and demonstrated a large amount of work and commitment. The Junior Band performed for the first time quite early this year at a Festival in Geelong and performed with very pleasing confidence. Congratulations to Angus O’Connell who has had such a great year on saxophone. Angus has featured in the prizes of three major music competitions in the city. Angus, as well as
leading the saxophone sections in the Senior and Stage Bands, undertook VCE Music as a Year 11 student. That is a great effort from a boy who only began playing the saxophone in Year 7. The Second Semester Music Concert broke from tradition this year and featured a tribute to the music of The Beatles, as this year was the 50 year anniversary of the Sergeant Pepper Album. Staff and students embraced the concept wholeheartedly and many positive comments were received. We bid farewell to an excellent group of Year 12 students all of whom have been exceptional in their musicianship and commitment to the College Music Program. Thanks to James Bowers and Patrick Consedine our Music Captains and Sean Doherty, Liam Jelley, Finbar Kinna, Aiden Sweeney, Thomas Veitch and Nelson Wilcox. Finally, thanks to all the music staff who through their continued efforts and commitment help provide such a great environment for music to thrive. - David Gallaher, Director of Music SOLO NIGHT RESULTS A GRADE 1st Angus O’Connell 2nd Jake Raimondo 3rd Patrick Consedine
Alto Saxophone Trumpet Marimba
B GRADE 1st Calum Boyce Trumpet 2nd Christopher Bortoletto Bass Guitar 3rd Thomas Anderson Violin C GRADE 1st Harry Scanlon 2nd Henry Stephensen 3rd Calum Boyce
Voice Voice Voice
D GRADE 1st Aidan Stynes 2nd Luke Carra 3rd Jaime Warren
Guitar Tuba Tenor Saxophone
LEARNERS GRADE 1st Hudson Jones 2nd Gabriel Brdar 3rd Tane Berends
Clarinet Percussion Alto Saxophone
Geelong Show
Solo N
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ANZAC Parade
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Solo Night
