THIS PHOTO AND BELOW RIGHT : THE COMBINED SCHOOLS ’
ORCHESTRA , CONDUCTED BY NEIL WANG ( YEAR 12 ), RECEIVING
APPLAUSE DURING THEIR CONCERT
BELOW LEFT : CAMERON ROBERTS (' 94 ) PERFORMING MOZART ' S PIANO
CONCERTO NO . 23
MIDDLE TWO PHOTOS : COMBINED SCHOOLS ORCHESTRA
IN REHEARSAL
School , Ivanhoe Girls ’ Grammar School , Korowa Anglican Girls ' School , Lauriston Girls ' School , Mac . Robertson Girls ’ High School , Melbourne Girls ' Grammar , Methodist Ladies ' College , Presbyterian Ladies ' College , the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School , and , of course , Scotch .
The 87-piece orchestra was superbly conducted by Neil Wang , and led by Geoff Liu . The program comprised highlights from Tchaikovsky ’ s Nutcracker and Swan Lake , Danzon No 2 by Marquez , Spartakus by Khachaturian , Town with an Ocean View by Hisaishi , and movements from Rachmaninov ’ s Symphony No 2 , and Dvorak ’ s Symphony No 7 . The program was ambitious , but the quality of playing was superb , and the Ian Roach Hall was sold out to a delighted audience . Proceeds this year went to The Song Room which provides multi-artform arts learning experiences to children in need and in remote areas .
The committee did a brilliant job , organising repertoire , coordinating the musicians from 12 schools , handling the publicity and programs , and the sheer musical challenges of rehearsing and performing . When looking at these splendid young people , selflessly giving their time and talents , as well as enjoying making music together , one could not help but think that Australia ’ s future is in good hands !
As I write this , we are preparing to take almost 200 boys to Choir Camp , three jazz bands and a small jazz ensemble are getting ready to depart for Mount Gambier for the annual Generations in Jazz festival , the biennial Piano Festival is imminent , and the three concert Autumn Festival tickets are on sale . So , plenty of music for everyone !
DR JOHN FERGUSON – DIRECTOR OF MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY : DR JOHN FERGUSON
Great Scot 45