MUSICAL NOTES

Grammarpalooza

Grammar’s annual rockfest took place in the second week of Term II, and once again the evening did not disappoint, with acts from across all forms providing energetic and entertaining musical performances, all accompanied by an impressive light show. Of particular note this year was the group Fortunate Sons, who brought along a huge number of groupies, all decked out in their bespoke merch! For a number of our Form VI boys, this was their final gig on the Alastair Mackerras Theatre stage, and we acknowledge the significant contribution many of them have made to Grammar rock music over the last six years.

Term II Concerts

Early in June, the Term II concert was held in the John Vallance Hall. The programme featured a broad range of ensembles from across the entire music ensemble programme, including bands, orchestras, choirs and chamber ensembles. Highlights included excerpts from Bach cantatas by the Cantorum Choir, accompanied by AMCO, and the rousing ‘Overture’ from The Force of Destiny by Verdi, performed by the School Orchestra. In the final week of Term II, the annual Woodwind Ensembles concert was held in the Alastair Mackerras Theatre. This concert highlighted the variety of specialist woodwind chamber ensembles at the School. Performances were heard from groups such as the Oboe Ensemble, Flute Ensemble, Bassoon Ensemble, Saxophone Ensemble, and Clarinet Choir, amongst others.

Term III Concerts

This year, the two major Term III concerts were held within the same week. The first, Concert A, predominantly featured junior ensembles such as Stringendo, Junior Vocal Ensemble and Sheldon Strings, as well as Zephyr Winds, Croonivores, Thursday Lunch Jazz Combo, Camerata and Seymour Orchestra. Of special note was the world premiere of a new composition written for the Corelli and Concertante string ensembles by our very own Dr Nicholas Vines, entitled Tales from the Upper Playground. This multimovement, programmatic work describes the life of a junior boy who begins his school journey within the surrounds of the Upper Playground. The boys thoroughly enjoyed performing this work which was very well received.

Grammar guitarists were also kept busy during Term III, with two special concerts in August. The first was the annual Grammar guitar concert, featuring 28 solo performances as well as a small ensemble work. This was closely followed by the annual combined guitar concert which this year, was hosted by Cranbrook School. Almost 60 Grammar guitarists travelled to Cranbrook to perform in a concert that featured guitar ensembles from both schools. The final piece in the performance brought all of the guitarists together for a combined item which involved over 100 guitarists!

HSC Recital Day

This year’s HSC Recital Day featured 18 boys from the Music 1, Music 2 and Music Extension courses. Performances were held across four venues at the School, and a wide range of repertoire was presented, from Mozart opera arias to Brahms chamber music, to progressive metal. This was the final opportunity for the Form VI boys to perform their HSC performance programmes before the HSC practical examinations. The audience members, which included family and friends, thoroughly enjoyed listening to the various performance programmes througout the afternoon.