Music

Jazz Under the Stars – James Morrison

Last week, it was revealed in the newsletter that James Morrison will be the guest artist. If that wasn’t enough, he is bringing his number one choice vocalist Darren Percival, to sing once again at Jazz Under the Stars. Ladies and Gentlemen, it does not get any better than this and what an opportunity for young students to see live music outdoors in the open air. Tell your friends, invite your whole family and get ready to book your table of 10. As always Jazz Under the Stars is open to the entire community and we’d like to make this one the biggest and best yet with your support!

Here’s some more information about James Morrison in addition to last week’s announcement:

Following his debut at the Monterey Jazz Festival (USA) were performances at the world’s major jazz festivals, including Montreux, North Sea, Nice and the Hollywood Bowl, playing with many of the legends of jazz – Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, George Benson, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Quincy Jones, Ray Brown and Wynton Marsalis to name a few. James also frequents the world’s most famous jazz clubs – Birdland, The Blue Note and Village Vanguard in New York, New Morning in Paris, The Tokyo Blue Note and Ronnie Scott’s in London.

Churchie Choral Concert

Congratulations to Mrs Oxenford, Ms Pincott and Mrs Black on leading a wonderful choral concert last Thursday. Singing is one of the best ways to communicate with an audience. Rarely do we use sheet music and the addition of words adds so much meaning to the concert. As a result, the audience was engaged and entranced by the wonderful repertoire. After a false start, the Prep Junior Choir showed that the future of choral music is bright at Churchie with their version of ‘Unbreakable’by Birds of Tokyo accompanied by an energetic backing track. A big thank you to Madame Washington, Mr Williamson and Mr Gante for accompanying Blessed Be with the traditional handbells as a nice way of performing music with both students and staff.

Viking Vocals 3 enjoyed the power of the microphones with a crowd favourite ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’before the Viking Vocals Generations in Jazz showed that they could mix it with the best in the nation with their Division 2 set piece ‘Beyond the City’ and ‘Centrepiece’ featuring the velvet solo tones of Alex Ma (Year 11) and Caspar West (Year 10). Senior Voices walked down the aisle in a flashmob entrance to further engage the very obliging audience with a group singing the song ‘Calypso Canon’ by Jan Holdstock. After a great performance at Headmaster’s Assembly earlier in the morning, Viking Vocals showed why they are the school’s premiere vocal group with the upbeat and toe-tapping version of ‘Sh-Boom’ from The Chords.

A special mention must go to Thomas Dwyer (Year 12 Choir Captain) who was a constant source of energy and inspiration amongst all the choral groups with some really eloquent MC contributions in addition to getting the audience involved in the group singing opportunities. The program finished with a massed finale choir featuring all the singers throughout the school and in so demonstrating that singing is for everyone and has no boundaries when it comes to performing together. Thank you to all the parents for your wonderful and continued support of the boys who love to sing!

Please follow this link to a recording of the Choral Concert last Thursday night:

Big Band 1 Brisbane Youth Big Band Festival

Congratulations to Big Band 1 on their performance at the Brisbane Multicultural and Arts Centre as part of the Brisbane Youth Big Band Festival. Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young was in attendance as a patron for the arts and youth jazz music. The students lifted to the occasion and performed with wonderful enthusiasm and virtuosity. For the first time, the band performed a Division 2, Generations in Jazz set piece composed by Ross Irwin entitled ‘Hudson Dusters’ and Charlie Hartwright (Year 12) performed a wonderful rendition of  Harry Connick Jnr’s ‘Come By Me’with a splendid piano accompaniment intro from James Aralar (Year 12 Music Captain). Thank you to all the friends and family for coming out to support the students as they refine their performing skills and have fun doing so at the same time.

Please follow this link to a recording of last night’s performance:

QYMA Chamber Strings 1

Congratulations to Chamber Strings 1 who were awarded Silver at the Queensland Youth Music Awards last Thursday. The boys played both of their pieces to the best of their ability and their award placed them in the top five of all competitors on the night. The boys worked incredibly hard to deliver a high standard of performance with extra sectionals and great leadership amongst the senior boys. One of the other schools commented on how well Churchie performed since they had heard them at Stringsfest. Other schools suggested Churchie should have finished higher in the overall placings. Unfortunately, the subjective nature of an adjudication is never easy on an adjudicator. In Churchie Music, we will always pride ourselves on the way we represent the school first and foremost, followed closely by the music and the effort that we put into realising authentic and stylistically appropriate music. Mr Hooper said that the strings played their very best and that everyone could be very proud of their performance – well done Chamber Strings 1.

QYMA Morris Wind Symphony

Congratulations to Morris Wind Symphony who were awarded gold at the Queensland Youth Music Awards last Wednesday night. The band represented the school with a full complement of instrumentation as one of the larger ensembles on the night. The band played two very ambitious works and worked hard to play and adapt to their new surroundings.  A big thank you to all the students who performed in both Big Band 1 and Morris Wind Symphony in the one evening; with an even bigger thank you to all the parents who supported both events. The opportunity to perform on St Peter’s wonderful stage was an amazing experience and one that the younger students will be able to build upon in future years. The adjudicator was very complimentary towards all soloists and encouraged the students to play with more articulation, precision and intonation. Congratulations Morris Wind Symphony!

Please follow this link to a recording of Morris Wind Symphony at QYMA:

May Concert Series – Strings Concert

In the final instalment of the May Concert Series, the Strings department under the Direction of Mr Ben Hooper will be performing music from the all time great composers with the Symphony Orchestra performing Beethoven’s ‘Egmont Overture‘ for the finale alongside music from Elgar, Grainger and McCartney. Even the Prep Strings will be paying tribute to the great Brahms with an arrangement of ‘Finale from Symphony No 1’. Please bring your friends and family along to support all of our wonderful string players on what will be an amazing night of music making.

James Duffy QYO3 Concerto

Congratulations to James Duffy (Year 10), who has been selected to perform the Chaminade Flute Concerto with QYO3 on 9 June 2024 at 3 pm in the Old Museum. Only three students were selected, and the opportunity to perform a concerto in front of a full orchestra will be an amazing experience for James.

Viking Vocals 1 Headmaster’s Assembly

Congratulations to Viking Vocals 1 on their acapella performance of Billy Joel’s masterpiece, ‘And So It Goes’. To sing unaccompanied with complex harmonies is an enormous achievement. Please listen below to a recording of their performance at Headmaster’s Assembly:

Soiree

As part of the upcoming Signature Concert Series in Term 3, all students will be performing a solo piece as part of the Soiree studio recitals. This is a fantastic opportunity for parents to see their sons perform in a warm and friendly environment as we encourage students to improve their performing skills. Please note the date, time and location of your Soiree below. You should also receive further, more detailed, communication from your tutor by the end of the term.

State Honours Ensemble Program

Congratulations to the following students who have been selected for the State Honours Ensemble Program in Brisbane and South East Queensland. The weekend allows students to work with the best conductors in the state and refine their instrumental skills while meeting with students from all over Brisbane and South East Queensland. To be nominated for this experience, continue to speak with your teacher about AMEB examinations on your instrument.

South East Queensland

Student	Instrument	Ensemble
Rémy Gaffney	Vocal Soprano	Magenta Vocal Ensemble
Archie Goodison	Vocal Soprano	Silver Vocal Ensemble
Rehan Mubarak	Vocal Alto	Magenta Vocal Ensemble
Benjamin Shepherd	Vocal Soprano	Magenta Vocal Ensemble
Zachary Stumer	Vocal Soprano	Magenta Vocal Ensemble

Brisbane

Student	Instrument
Ryan Mullins	Vocal Soprano
Lucas Shan	Tenor Saxophone

Bohdan Davison
Director of Music