Senior School
Senior School
Music
Keeping music live!
CHAMBER MUSIC DINNER
If there has been a theme to music at Scotch this year, it has been to extol the virtue of keeping music live.‘ Keep Music Live’ was the slogan that the Musicians’ Union in the UK used, and like many of my fellow musicians, I drove around with the big round yellow sticker prominently displayed on my car, urging this sentiment!
Obviously the Musicians’ Union had the vested interests of its members in mind, but the slogan was borrowed by the UK’ s National Festival of Music for Youth, adapting it to‘ Keep Music Live in Our Schools’.
A number of performances happened this year to remind me of the importance of listening to music live, as against the convenience of recordings. While we all have favourite recordings of particular works, it is the live performances that one attends which tend to be memorable.
I can recall particular performances over many years, even from school days, that have had a major influence on me – something one does not get from recordings. Listening to, and watching, high level performers in concert gives the student of music an important insight into how( for example) players in a chamber ensemble interact with each other, and how they achieve poise, intensity, precision and a oneness of artistic purpose.
One particular project this year gave our string students in particular a wonderful opportunity to see how top professional performers work, and gave eight of our players a chance to work in that environment. Wilma Smith, until recently, leader( or concertmaster) of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, dreamt up a project to bring together seven members of quartets that she had worked with in her earlier professional life.
I think everyone involved was surprised when this project( a year in the making) actually worked – and high level performers flew in from the USA, Spain, France and New Zealand to work together for a week at Scotch, teach some of our boys, and rehearse as a 17-piece ensemble with eight of our own most advanced players. This culminated in the first ScotchArts concert for the year, with performances from two professional quartets, followed by the chamber ensemble with our boys, and, in the second half, a stunning performance of the Mendelssohn Octet. I know that our boys found this experience incredibly enriching, and our guests blew a lovely breath of fresh air through the department for all of us.
Other performances included the Autumn Season, known in days of yore as the‘ May Concert’. It featured all the large ensembles over two nights. There were exceptional performances from advanced musicians, particularly Dion Quach’ s( Year 10) brilliant performance of Bruch’ s Violin Concerto. However, I am always keen to hear the younger players – our musical future – and all ensembles performed remarkably well, with young players often displaying musicianship beyond their years.
The annual Winter Concert was presented, as always, by the Symphony Orchestra. Following movements of three cello concerti by
40 Great Scot Number 149 – December 2016