Scotch College

Foundation Day Concert

This year, for some reason, nobody was asked to write a review of the concert, so I hope you will forgive me for writing a few observations of my own!

This was my 13th Foundation Day Concert, and sitting at rehearsal at the Concert Hall I found myself thinking, as I do every year, what a privilege it is to be surrounded by such competence. Competent staff who have great musical expertise and work with their various ensembles to standards which are among the highest in the land. Competent students who take a genuine pride in the performances, not just at Foundation Day but throughout the year. Competent non-music staff from within Scotch College who assist with organising huge numbers of students to participate in this annual concert, referred to by the Chairman of Council as 'Scotch's signature event'.

.The concert opened with the National Anthem, that superb arrangement by David Stanhope, written for the Olympic Games hosted in Sydney. Wilson Zhang had the privilege of opening the concert in earnest with a wonderful performance of the Violin Concerto by Brahms. Wilson had really worked in great depth at the nuances of every single phrase, and it was a great pleasure for me to conduct the orchestra in partnership with that quite remarkable performance Many individuals in the orchestra were given an opportunity to shine in the work that followed, the colourful Roman Carnival Overture by Hector Berlioz. As well as dazzling string passages and powerful moments from the brass, there were also some stunning woodwind sections, particularly the horn ping solo for cor anglais played so beautifully by Oliver Blake. The first bracket of songs from the united voices from the boys years 10 to 12 included two songs which I composed for Visions Through Time, the musical about Scotch written for the 2001 celebrations, with words by David Paul. These were included, probably for the last time ever, because 2003 is the last year where a number of boys involved in that production are still at the school, and it is also David Paul's retirement year. The boys sang the songs very well indeed, and even the harmonies in that first bracket of songs were handled most commendably by the boys from years 10 and 11. One of the great pleasures I have at Music Camp is to watch Robert Wakely working with the Senior Strings. His detailed and measured instruction has been playing increasing dividends over the last few years, and this year the Senior Strings performance as part of the St Paul's Suite by Gustav Holst was among the finest performances by that ensemble that has been heard in recent years.

The first half of the concert concluded with Symphonic Wind under direction of the Head of Brass, Roger Schmidli. The band's first piece, Leonard Bernstein's Slava, was played with great enthusiasm and panache. It was followed by a remarkable, interesting piece - Cloudburst by Eric Whitacre. The piece was inspired by a spectacular rainstorm witnessed by the composer, and at its conclusion, requires the audience to all click their fingers in the manner of falling rain. The effect, sitting in the audience, was quite magical and certainly memorable. I think I had more comments about that piece than any other piece in the concert this year. It is typical of Roger to always find exciting and varied repertoire which inspires our boys to such heights.

Military Band marched on to open the second half of the concert. Military Band in recent years has proved a popular addition to the concert, and justly so in their splendid uniforms and sheer stage presence. They were followed by that great institution of Scotch, the Pipes and Drums. Their largely traditional program concluded with one of my favourite stalwarts, The Black Bear, with which they marched off to a justifiable and well deserved show of appreciation from the audience. The Showband combined with the Senior Strings was another innovation of Roger Schmidli, and he provided the string players with some music to play in a style they were not always accustomed to. This was followed by the Showband on its own featuring a number of soloists including James Hillis on piano, Stephen Dower on vibraphone, Edward Waters on alto saxophone, Angus Tiernan on baritone saxophone and Scot Maxwell on trombone. A particularly fine set of soloists who had the audience enthralled. In recent years the number of boys involved in the Choir has grown enormously. There are now around 130 boys in the Choir all of whom have had to audition for a place. The annual Choir Camp is almost as large as the main Music Camp, and the Choir works just as hard as any other ensemble. This year's repertoire was completely unaccompanied, and featured a selection of island songs arranged by the Australian composer Stephen Leek. Andrew Hunter's meticulous preparation and outstanding direction drew the very best from the boys in tone, diction, phrasing and the sheer blend of the ensemble.

The full Choir then gave way to the Chamber Choir which sang two spirituals, Deep River arranged by Larry Farrow and featuring soloist Toby Cooper, and a recent arrangement of Plenty Good Room arranged by the late Moses Hogan. The soloist was Aleksy Bialeki. Once again Andrew Hunter had every reason to feel proud of the beauty of the performance. I was indeed enjoying listening to the concert so much that it was another highly competent staff member, Megan Philip, who had the presence of mind to remind me that I was due back on stage to conduct the concert finale. This year's finale was selected by the Captain and one of the Vice Captains of Music Edward Tudor and James Hillis respectively, with the enthusiastic support of School Captain Michael Starke. Once again the school united to sing two numbers made famous by John Farnham, Touch of Paradise and You're The Voice. It would be fair to say that Edward Tudor and his pals worked hard to convince me of the wisdom of these songs, but they did indeed provide a memorable finale. You're The Voice opened with a beautiful unaccompanied treble soloist from Timothy Daly in year 7, the silence that fell over the audience and other performers as the spotlighted soloist, surrounded by the darkened stage, sang the first verse hauntingly and with a beautiful tone. It captured and enthralled the audience.

Michael Starke and Edward Tudor then did their best to emulate their great idol in singing the opening solo verses. The chorus comprised the school, the audience, and even the bagpipes who marched on at the appropriate moment through the swirling smoke and coloured lights. The Foundation Day Concert, which had opened with such a refined classical performance by Wilson Zhang, was transformed to a rock spectacular drawing the Foundation Day Concert for 2003 to a close (hailed by many as 'the best yet', but then again, someone says that every year!).

John Ferguson
Director of Music