Music Matters
Diana Springford – Head of Music
This week has been rich in music performances. Three Emanuel School ensembles were featured during the special JNF guest speaker event on Tuesday, attended by Year 9 – 10 students from Moriah College, Masada College and BJE students as well as Emanuel School. Mazal Tov to Mr Hone and the Senior Stage Band for their amazing rendition of the Jazz standard The Chicken by Kris Berg, as well as to our Year 10 Rock Band, whose performance of Pompeii by Bastille with their director Mr Banks, rounded off the event. This event saw the inaugural performance of the Senior Girls Vocal Ensemble, who sang Salaam beautifully, arranged by Mr Remington Owen. Their ensemble was formed especially for this occasion, but the girls are looking forward to continuing to rehearse with choir director, Ms Alice Girle. Thanks also to Mr Burley for accompanying the anthems.
Mazal Tov to Guy Rein in Year 10 for his solo performance at High School Assembly. Guy played Tenth Caprice by Rode on tenor saxophone. To perform unaccompanied in front of a large audience of your peers is a testimony to the confidence achieved by much practice.
Night of Instrumental Music
We held our annual Night of Instrumental Music (NOIM) on Wednesday evening. This exciting event, organised into two concerts with an interval in between, showcased the skills of nearly three hundred young musicians from Years 2 – 12, performing in concert bands, jazz ensembles and string orchestras. The evening provided an important performance and concert experience for many of our younger musicians who are just starting to learn an instrument and also scaled the dizzy heights of our most accomplished High School extracurricular ensembles.
Our Years 3 – 6 students who are learning to play an instrument as part of our compulsory Instrumental Program, performed in ensembles comprised of their year group. It was impressive to see the progression in skill level achieved by each successive year of tuition and practice. We congratulate all performers and thank parents for their ongoing support of their musical endeavours.
These large concerts cannot happen without a great deal of organisation behind-the-scenes. I would like to thank the whole Music Department as well as our great team of music tutors and conductors, Mr Ben Marshall for sound reinforcement, our student MCs and all the teachers who volunteered to supervise and assist on the night. Special thanks to Mrs Joanne De Araujo who organised this complex event.
How learning an instrument benefits your brain – (Dr Anita Collins)
Last week I was lucky enough to spend two days with Dr Anita Collins, who shared the current scholarly research findings on the relationship between music, the brain, and therefore also, the importance of music education. It turns out that learning music, through singing and then through playing an instrument, is excellent for language acquisition and development, executive function and social skill development. The small video below is rather topical for us this week, since we had our Night of Instrumental Music. It is only 5 minutes and summarises the research available in 2014 (there is much, much more now), so I encourage everyone to take a moment to learn how lucky we are that Emanuel School is so supportive of instrumental music playing.
www.ted.com/talks/anita_collins_how_playing_an_instrument_benefits_your_brain?language=en
Private Music Tuition and Infant Strings Program
Thank you to those who have already advised us of changes to private tuition and Infant Strings Program enrolments for next term. The deadline for new enrolments, notification of changes or intention to discontinue for Term 4 has now passed. All students currently receiving private music tuition and ISP will be automatically re-enrolled into tutor schedules for next term along with students commencing lessons for the first time and liable for fees. If you have any questions please contact Matilda Grieve by email: music@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au
The schedules for Term 4, 2019 will be created during term break and emailed prior to lessons resuming.
Links to online forms
New enrolment requests for private tuition: http://tinyurl.com/NewPrivateTuitionEnrolment
To discontinue private tuition for next term: http://tinyurl.com/PrivateTuitionDiscontinuation
To enrol into the Infant Strings Program: http://tinyurl.com/InfantStringsEnrolment
To discontinue ISP for next term: http://tinyurl.com/InfantStringsDiscontinuations