Gala Concert 2019

The St Catherine’s Gala Concert at the Melbourne Recital Centre this week was a brilliant showcase of our talented musicians across Years 4 to 12. The theme ‘One Thread That Binds Us All’ was poignant and uplifting and provided a strong connection throughout each of the performances. The joy of music and care for each other shone through the night.

The visible and positive role modelling provided by our Senior School girls enabled an understanding of the journey of Music education throughout St Catherine’s. The Year 12 Quintet, involving Madison Hunt, Olivia Soong Zi Yuan, Lauren Lew, Sophie Turnbull and Clementine Aston provided a beautiful rendition of The Prayer, an inspiring and heart-warming crossover between the two versions sung by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. This provided for audience members and younger musicians a clear demonstration of what can result with dedicated hours of rehearsal, both individually and within ensembles. It was also a wonderful experience for all of our girls to perform at the Melbourne Recital Centre, a world-class venue with superb acoustics, enabling their talents to be truly uplifted.

I enjoyed watching throughout the evening the various ages and stages of each of the musical performances. The Barbreck Choir and Epstein Singers provided an insight into the introduction of Music education in our Junior School, and the sheer joy etched across their faces as they shared the stage with our Senior School Choirs: Sherren Singers and Viva Voci for the massed choral performance, Sail Away by Malcolm Dalglish. I was impressed by the girls’ precision, diction and confidence when singing. It was undoubtedly a wonderful team effort involving over 170 girls on stage led by four conductors.

Our musically gifted Year 9 student Catherine Chen’s solo performance on the piano was simply captivating; she became a hit sensation overnight with the Barbreck girls all wanting a photo with her backstage during the Interval. Catherine has recently achieved her Associate Diploma of Performance, also called the AMusA Piano. This is a remarkable achievement for someone so young, as it is usually attained at a tertiary level. Catherine played a highly advanced and complicated Hungarian piece: Rákóczi March, by Liszt. I delighted in watching the fineness of her hands over the ivory keys as her performance was projected to the screen above – it was truly remarkable.

Barbreck girls with the musically gifted Catherine Chen (Year 9).

I was also pleased to see a ‘full house’ for the girls performing; it is undoubtedly such an exhilarating experience for the girls as they lift their gaze, looking out for family members in the audience. Thank you to the whole community for supporting this event.

Congratulations to our Head of Music, Mr Tim Collins; Deputy Head of Music, Ms Liv Cher; Head of Performing Arts, Mr James Brown; and Coordinator of Junior School Music, Mrs Melissa Dods for their leadership, ingenuity and inspiration in creating such a wonderful evening of music for the School community. This team were ably supported throughout the evening by accompanist Mrs Kate Denmead who played in 13 pieces throughout the evening, Miss Jess Farrell for directing the Years 7 and 8 Concert Band, Mrs Lisa Cook for her outstanding leadership of the St Catherine’s Strings program and directing the Jorgensen Orchestra and Mrs Lyn Henshall for her continued work in our Choral programs with Viva Voci and the Epstein Singers. Thank you also to the Creative Arts Auxiliary for their continued support of the program.

Like many in the audience, I thoroughly enjoyed an opportunity to sit quietly and simply appreciate the music. With competing interests of time, our girls’ commitment to their music mastery is not without careful prioritising of other activities. As such, I congratulate all the Music performers and encourage their continued pursuit of music as they enter their senior years of schooling.

Snowsports

In the coming week, I wish the very best to our Snowsports Team as they compete in the Australian Interschools Championships taking place at Mount Buller in the first week of September. Following our success last week at the Victorian Interschools Championships, where St Catherine’s were awarded first place in the Secondary Girls Championships and second place in the Junior Girls Championships, we once again enter a strong team for the National titles. With a late season at Mount Buller, the race conditions are favourable for some exciting spring skiing. Good luck girls!

School Captain – 2020 Announcement

This week, I had the pleasure of announcing Alexandra Shergold and Sophie Boyce as the School Co-Captains for 2020. On behalf of the School community, I wish both Alexandra and Sophie the very best as they step into this important role from Term 4 this year. As a School community, we also look forward to acknowledging the work and enthusiasm of our 2019 Kavina Kalaichelvam and Georgie Cottrill in the coming weeks.

Staff News

This week, the School wishes Humanities Faculty member and Careers Advisor, Ms Sally Wilkinson the very best as she commences her parental leave from Monday. We look forward to hearing of the joyous news of the arrival of her second baby in the coming weeks.

Next Tuesday, we welcome to the Careers Department, Ms Julie O’Donohue, who will guiding our Year 12 students with their VTAC Preferences and assisting our younger students with their subject selections across Term 4. Ms O’Donohue provides a wealth of experience and expertise in career development. She has worked as a Consultant and Careers Practitioner at Career Me Now in Hawthorn and Balwyn North and prior to this worked at Genazzano College for ten years as a Careers Advisor and Methodist Ladies College, Kew.