Scotch College

A High Note

Conductor in Beijing

Director of Music John Ferguson, was most fortunate to be invited to conduct in Beijing recently. He received an invitation to conduct the Peoples' Liberation Army Band early in the year, but the concert was cancelled due to SARS. The revised visit included concerts with the Cultural Palace Wind Orchestra and the Wind Orchestra of Beijing University High School. John commented that he has never eaten so many wonderful meals, and that the hospitality was wonderful, the concerts thrilling, and that he was pleased that his limited Mandarin was able to cope in rehearsals - some of the time!

At the recent Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Victoria Annual Competition held at the James Forbes Academy, Yang Li of Year 7 won both the novice clarinet section and also the 12 and under saxophone section.

Yang learns the saxophone from Mr Allan Yang, and clarinet from Mr Ian Morgan and is to be congratulated for these outstanding achievements. His victory in the clarinet section is all the more remarkable due to the fact that he has been learning the clarinet for less than a year. Yang is the leader of the Year 7 Saxophone Quartet and a member of the George Dreyfus Band. Later in the year, he will be playing the challenging Caprice for Saxophone by Stephen Bulla as the saxophone soloist with the George Dreyfus Band.

Peter Rickards - Staff