Music

Mahler 1

Congratulations to Luka Roberts (Year 11), Alex Smith (Year 10) and Hunter Luostarinen (Year 9) who all performed in the Queensland Youth Symphony on Saturday 17 August 2024 at QPAC. The performance was a rare opportunity to recite Mahler 1, renowned for its narrative, including folk songs with a ghostly reworking of ‘Frère Jacques’ in the third movement before the hero is exposed in the final movement with a victorious chorale and plenty of Sturm und Drang in the timpani and brass.

Headmaster’s Assembly performance: Hunter Luostarinen

Congratulations to Hunter Luostarinen on his recent performance at Headmaster’s Assembly. The Grøndahl Trombone Concerto is one of the most technically demanding concertos, with large intervals and challenging harmonic pitches, resulting in a masterpiece of melodic and motivic beauty. Hunter has had a wonderful year after being selected for the Queensland Youth Symphony, recently completing his Grade 8 AMEB exam, and again being selected to take part in the AYO Young Symphonists programme later this year.

Please follow this link to a recording of Hunter’s performance at Headmaster’s Assembly:

Sheet music return

All Year 7 to 12 students with barcoded music are to return their original copies to the textbook room next to The Centenary Library lecture theatre. You will notice an overdue notice on this music. Those members in Morris Winds and Symphony Orchestra, please retain your Speech Night and Tri-Service Cadets Graduation Parade music, including ‘Jupiter,’ ‘Interstellar,’ and ‘American Barndance.’

Strike a Chord

Eric Kim (Year 11) has made the finals of the National Chamber Music Programme’s Strike a Chord competition at the Melbourne Recital Hall with his group, Take 6. The final will take place this Saturday 31 August 2024, and you can see a livestream of his performance below by following the link provided. Best of luck to Eric and his group Take 6.

Man Up!

Congratulations to Big Band 1, who performed an outstanding set of music at the Man Up! charity event on Saturday 24 August 2024 at Emporium Hotel. The event began with the Big Band in full flight, performing their favourite instrumental tune ‘Birdland.’ The band then featured various vocalists, including Charlie Hartwright singing Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good,’ Tom Dwyer getting the crowd clapping during Harry Connick Jr’s ‘Come By Me,’ and finally Caspar West demanding that the audience get up and dance while performing Eddie Floyd’s version of ‘Knock on Wood.’ The students all had an amazing time and were grateful for the opportunity to support a great cause as part of the Churchie tenet of service. Thank you to all the parents who arranged transport in support of this great cause. The impact of your music crosses endless borders of our community, exemplified by the following comments from an attendee:

‘We attended the Man Up! charity lunch on Saturday. What an incredible performance by your Big Band and vocalists. Thank you so much to your young men and their conductor for donating your time to support this event. You were incredible to listen to.’

Lucas Ding LMusA

Congratulations to Lucas Ding (Year 9) who was recently awarded his LMusA on Violin. This is an outstanding achievement for a Year 9 student. We look forward to hearing Lucas perform in his remaining years at Churchie.

Bohdan Davison
Director of Music