2014 School Magazine

MUSIC CLAUDIA CAMERON (12B) — BAND MERINDA DIAS-JAYASINHA (12G) — CHORAL CATHERINE CHAN (12R) — STRINGS MUSIC CAPTAINS

in a strong and harmonious (pardon the pun) music department. Term I also saw the Welcome to New Families concert, where Symphonic Winds, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Singers and our combined choirs provided the new Year 8s and their families a taste of what is on offer within the BGGS music department. Another major highlight of Term I was the annual Cathedral Concert held in St Stephen’s Cathedral, featuring our senior choirs, along with Symphonic Winds and Chamber Orchestra. This year we were also fortunate to have French Horn players from the Queensland Symphony Orchestra perform for us. The polished performances combined with the truly unique venue culminated in a special and unforgettable night. This year, girls also had the opportunity to perform at external community events. A group of Year 12 girls sang at the Victoria Barracks Anzac Day Dawn Service for the 100 year anniversary of ANZACs at Gallipoli. Also, to commemorate the sinking of the Centaur, Chamber Singers were invited to sing at the annual Centaur service. In May, senior music students participated in BGGS’ annual instrumental competitions. After weeks of rehearsing leading up to the final performance, a winner was announced from each of the sections — Brass, Violin, Strings, Voice, Woodwind, Percussion, Junior Piano and Senior Piano. The semi-finals saw four students, Georgina Nichols (12M) – Brass, Fiona Qui (9R) – Violin, Young Min Kim (9G) – Strings (Cello), and Merinda Dias-Jayasinha (12G) – Voice, progress to the final and compete for the R.T. Jeffries Bursary. After an evening concert exhibiting each student’s talents, Fiona Qui was announced the winner for her spectacular performance of Allemanda from Partita in D minor no.2 BWV 1004 by Bach and Zigeunerweisen by Sarasate. During the June/July holidays, twenty-two Grammar girls performed in one of the largest productions ever staged of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats . The girls appeared alongside leading musical theatre star Marina Prior and thoroughly enjoyed this unique experience.

What a year!

2014 has been a phenomenal year of musical achievement from all groups and individuals. Whether it be a band, choir or orchestra, all girls have excelled and improved their ensemble skills and musical ability. As Music Captains, we hoped this year would abound with incredible displays of musicianship and create bonds between older and younger grades, as we had witnessed and experienced in our previous four years in the department. The year began with a bang at Music Camp in the first weekend back from school holidays, where the girls from Symphonic Winds, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra and Vivaldi Strings worked long and hard to prepare themselves for the year ahead in music. We believe the great rapport created at the beginning of the year at Music Camp between the senior musicians has filtered through to all music students and manifested at concerts, workshops, competitions and rehearsals. This has resulted

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