Music

Music Retreat

All students in our Ensemble Immersion Program were invited to the newly formatted Music Retreat, that was held on 30 April and 1 May at the Kingston Arts Centre. The inspiring venue of concert halls, a banquet room, second level bar style foyer and the function room complete with skyline view, made for an inspiring environment for students to focus on developing their skills in an intensive yet encouraging environment.

Students rotated through rehearsal sessions with all ensembles, some of which were led by industry professionals. Mark Puddy, resident composer and arranger for the Australian Girls Choir, led the Kilbreda Chorale in a series of sessions focusing on posture, enunciation of vowels and diphthongs and presenting with energy. Dr Andrew Mathers, Musical Director of Southern Area Concert Band, worked with the Orchestra and Concert Band, encouraging students in their skills and focussing on articulation and tuning. Kilbreda staff, including Rebecca Harkin, Marc Law, Bernardo Soler, Amanda Hargreaves, Kara-Lee Rabbetts, Sarah Bloomer and Wanda Elton, also took sessions where each group worked on a variety of performance skills.

In the afternoon, a massed rehearsal with all students occurred, to prepare an item involving all instruments and singers for our upcoming concert. We were entertained by individuals and small groups with our continued Kilbreda Festival Heats, where the students were able to perform to judges using the Main Hall stage. The Tuesday program finished with an Open Rehearsal, where parents were invited to observe, and in the Choir’s case, get involved, in rehearsal techniques and strategies! On Wednesday afternoon, the students and staff delighted in a highly competitive game of tenpin bowling, which further increased the excitement and team spirit amongst the Music Community.

A huge thank you to all of our conductors, to our amazing accompanist, Ms Rosa Hwang and teaching staff who supported the program; Nadia Andary, Joyce Sendeckyj, Carole Downie, Julie Clark, Jacinta Devlin and Dominic Schepis. Also special thanks to the Maintenance Team, Simon Wilksch and Sabir Sawari for ensuring our two loads of instrumental equipment was transported safely to and from the venue!

We look forward to our upcoming concert, “Music By Candlelight” on 5 June, where students can showcase what they learnt at the Music Retreat to families.

Kara-Lee Rabbetts
Learning Leader: Performing Arts – Music

Student Reflections

The Music Retreat was super cool! I had a such a good time hanging out with my friends and learning from our amazing teachers. My favourite part was playing guitar with the ensemble and chorale. We were a small group and we helped each other to sound better. I felt so grateful to have such an amazing opportunity to learn how it is to be a musician. I can’t wait for the next retreat!

Abril Letelier
Year 8

While we were on Music Retreat there were different sessions for orchestra, string ensemble, beginner strings, choir, band academy and guitar ensemble. We also had guests come in and help us improve our technique, projection and skill. They were very friendly and a great help to us. We also had the Kilbreda Festival Heats and we got to see people sing and play their instruments. My friends and I also performed. We performed Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Some of us played our instruments and others sang. At the end of Music Retreat everyone got to go bowling and it was so much fun, and overall a wonderful experience. I hope we can do Music Retreat again. I would also like to thank Ms Rabbetts for organising the Music Retreat.
Kayleigh Loo
Year 8

Music Retreat was a magical world. The participants had the pleasure to experience music filling our minds and souls. We had a two-day session where we got to meet intelligent and passionate people of the music world and they helped make our music journey better. We also had time to practise the musical pieces that we were learning at school. We ended the retreat by going bowling, which was really entertaining. In conclusion, Music Retreat was amazing and all the students who attended just couldn’t stop thanking the staff who organised the program. I cannot wait to go again!

Rebecca Joyal
Year 7