Scotch College

Autumn Concert Series hits the spot

About one-third of the entire Senior School was involved in the very successful 2006 Autumn Concert Series during Term 2.

The first night of the series (which replaced the old ‘May Concert’) featured performances by the senior ensembles. The Symphonic Wind was in superb form under the baton of Roger Schmidli. There were also lovely performances from the 140-voice choir, just back from another successful choir camp, the Chamber Choir, and the newly named Academy Strings (formerly Senior Strings) under the direction of the Head of Strings, James deRozario.

The Symphony Orchestra performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto Number 3 with outstanding soloist Matthew Ng. Matthew gave a dramatic and assured account of this colourful concerto, and the orchestra comfortably rose to the challenge of the (at times) spectacular parts. The Show Band was particularly good, contrasting some quite dazzling playing with some exceptionally subtle work.

The second night saw the remarkable array of the large intermediate ensembles – the Touzeau Strings, the Amadeus Strings, the Ted Joyner Band and the Intermediate Band, the last enjoying its final performance under the direction of Glenn Bardwell. Glenn will remain at Scotch, but his duties have been changed to include formal use of his exceptional technical expertise. There were also performances from the Monday Big Band and Saxobrass. All the ensembles left us with the feeling that the future looks good!

However, the night was stolen by Peter Rickard and the George Dreyfus Band. Peter and his band performed a medley of cartoon tunes, matched with video clips of ‘Tweety Bird’ from the Looney Tunes cartoons projected onto a large screen. It delighted the audience to have, in effect, an entire band of 70 taking the part of a pianist from the days of silent films! The sheer control of tempo to make sure that the film and music remained matched was most impressive, as was Mr Rickard’s patience and expertise in putting the whole thing together. Great fun!

Tait Memorial Trust Concert

Presented jointly in May by the Chamber Strings of Melbourne under their conductor Chris Martin and the Scotch College Symphony Orchestra, this concert featured another performance of the Prokofiev Piano Concerto Number 3, with pianist Matthew Ng.

The Tait Memorial Trust was formed in 1992 by Isla Baring in memory of Sir Frank and Lady Tait and the Tait brothers, who played such an important part in the establishment of theatre and the performing arts in Australia. The trust offers awards/grants for postgraduate study, performance opportunities for young Australian musicians and performing artists, and general help in furthering their careers while they are resident in the UK.

Isla Baring attended the concert, which raised several thousand dollars for the trust. We were delighted to be part of this event, particularly as so many of our musicians do indeed further their studies in the UK.

John Ferguson
Director of Music