This is mostly so I can have a permanent record of the event. No doubt the program I brought home will be lost some time soon.
This concert was on at Princess Sage's primary school. She plays percussion and tonight she was part of two different groups.
We'll start, as tradition dictates, with the the beginning.
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The first group to perform were River Of Strings. They are Grade 3 students who are starting out in the string music program. The idea is that students who start here progress all the way through to senior strings (in Grade 7, or soon-to-be Grade 6 when Grade 7 becomes part of high school). This means they play their string instrument for four or five years as part of their primary school education. Tonight they played four pieces, as follows:
Over The Rainbow (from Wizard Of Oz) by Harold Arlan
Minuet by Bach
Swallow Suite by Peter Davey
Mama Mia by ABBA
They looked so cute when they came out, especially with the 1/4 and 2/4 sized violins. There was a remarkable range in the appearance of the violins. I will confess to a moment of yearning for Patience at this point. The children played very well (though at times I wanted the conductor to go a little faster). They have only been learning since February so I was very impressed. At home I have been trying to learn Over The Rainbow. I can get the first few lines but I don't know the song well enough to get more, and as my sister-in-law Pip reminds me, it opens with a perfect eighth interval. If these youngsters can learn Bach's Minuet, then I can too so at some point soon I will track down the music for it.
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Next was the Concert Band. This was the first ensemble featuring my daughter. The played
Strike Force by Michael Sweeney
Beethoven's Ninth arranged by Paul Lavender
Royal March by Robert Sheldon
These guys were awesome too. I had heard my daughter playing some of this at home on the glockenspiel but it was quite something else to hear the whole performance.
In Strike Force she played glockenspiel, the bass drum in Beethoven's Ninth and snare drum in Royal March.
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The String Orchestra was next with their three pieces
Headin' West by Stephen Chin
Wooden Shoe Dance by Stephen Chin
Kookaburra by Keith Sharp
The first piece was in two movements. Despite the announcer telling us to hold our applause until the end of the second movement... you guessed it... there was copious clapping after the first. What can yo do? It was interesting to hear Kookaburra, because I played part of it for my violin teacher Laura some months ago. In the time since then, I have learned to play it better and with more confidence. I enjoyed the way the orchestra played, and once again I really loved the double bass.
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Following them was the Wind Ensemble. My daughter was playing with them as well.They performed
Royal Fireworks by George Frederic Handel
As Twilight Falls by Robert Sheldon
Dance Of The Tumblers by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
My daughter was very nervous about Royal Fireworks because it was her least favourite piece. I didn't hear any mistakes but she must have thought she made one judging by a grimace on her face at one point. I was very proud of her. She pushed through and kept going. The announcer told us in a competition last year this group received a Platinum medal. The school was, justifiably, very proud of them. I believe there is another competition later this year. It would be unreal for them to get another Platinum medal while my daughter was playing with them.
In Royal Fireworks she played glockenspiel, the bass drum in Twilight Falls (with a sweet bass drum roll) and timpani in Dance Of The Tumblers.
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After this was the Senior Strings with
Scottish Dances by N. Oostenbroek
Rooster Rag by Stephen Chin
Caulderon by Keith Sharp
This group was made up of Grade 7 students. They had started in Grade 3 like River Of Strings so it was a great chance to see just how far the beginning students could go in that time. They were excellent. The pieces were contrasting so they could show off more of what they had learned. The other interesting point is that all three of the composers are from Brisbane (or are in Brisbane now as some research shows). I think my favourite piece of the night was Caulderon. I wonder if I can get the music from one of the students and eventually learn to play it. Actually, one of the cellists - Jodie Leung - is the daughter of a man I worked with two jobs ago. I caught up with him afterwards. He told me it took a little while for Jodie to get a good sound from the cello but it has been great since then.
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The final group to perform were Symphonic Wind who played
Chant And Ceremony but Mark Williams
Misterioso by Steve Hodges
Muskoka Landing by Mark Williams
Again these were three contrasting pieces and were performed beautifully by the children.
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After tonight I must say the school has an excellent music program. The teachers work really hard with the children and thanked the parents for their support and for getting the children to school and performances as required. There are three ladies who come to the school to help out. They are Penny Williams, Helen Lowe and Robyn Forshaw. My wife spoke to the lady who deals with percussion and she told us our daughter is doing very well. Princess Sage was nervous to start with but had the best fun performing with her friends. She is looking forward to the competition later in the year. But for now she is looking forward to seeing Marimba Galaxy with her father. This time next week I will be posting about that.
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