Isabelle Musson is a VCE Music Performance student who has been preparing for the second Senior Recital this term, held on 9 September. To give you a sneak peek of her tremendous skill please enjoy the following video as she plays Romance by Jean Sibelius.

This work was written in the Romantic period. Sibelius was a Finnish composer and violinist, and he helped Finland to develop a national identity during its struggle for independence from Russia through his music. Some of the characteristics of romantic music that you can listen for in this theme-based free form piece, are the song-like melodies and dramatic contrasts of dynamics and mood. In studying and interpreting this work, Isabelle encourages her audience to imagine the Finnish landscape with its beautiful forests, lakes and snow-capped mountains whilst listening to this piece.