Volume 23, June 2011 - New England Conservatorium of Music

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REPORT Cantilena Cantilena shone at the Armidale Eisteddfod again this year taking out 2nd place in the Unison Event and winning the overall trophy for the 2-part event. Although a young group this year, they have worked hard to develop their choral sound and to learn to follow and respond to a conductor. Cantilena chorale have also continued to be one of the premier primary choral groups in Armidale, winning their event with the quirky Hungarian song ‘The Handsome Butcher’ and the lilting ‘Skye Boat Song’. They are now developing their sight reading skills and learning to maintain a melodic line more securely. Congratulations to both of these groups. Rowena Tall NECoM Seniors Choir The NECOM Seniors Choir began at the beginning of Term 3, 2010 under the baton of Wendy Huddleston and with Peter Maddox at the piano. The choir consists of a small group of “retired” folk who enjoy their hour of singing once a fortnight. The attendance is “flexible” with an average of 12 to 15 keen singers each rehearsal. NEW England Singers Report New England Singers have had a fantastic start to the year. The choir has more than doubled in size and has become an SATB Choir (Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass). We are now able to cater for our increasing number of male singers as their voices change, this has added great depth to the choir. Our numbers also swelled from the large number of singers who graduated from Cantilena last year. These students have been a welcome addition to NE Singers and have had a great grounding in singing from their time with Rowena Tall. The kodaly program that forms the basis of the choral program from Minisingers through to NE Singers is really coming to the fore. Another exciting initiative has been the formation of a NE Singers Vocal Ensemble led by Hannah Grigg, a talented Year 11 student from PLC, Armidale. Hannah has been fine tuning her conducting skills with this new ensemble and had great success at the Armidale Eisteddfod gaining first place in the Open Vocal Ensemble section. We are pleased to announce that this ensemble will continue next term and 12 NECOM NEWS JUNE 2011 will be held at 5:15pm after the NE Singers rehearsal. We also worked with a number of small vocal ensembles this year, achieving a first and a third in the Small Vocal Ensemble section. This year we farewelled our wonderful accompanist Rebecca Simon when she moved to Canberra with her husband Daniel, they are expecting their first baby and we wish them all the best. We welcomed Euna Yom as our new accompanist just weeks out from the Armidale Eisteddfod. Euna moved to Armidale from Sydney where she trained at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, she has fitted right in and is a versatile and accomplished pianist. We had a busy program for the start of the year, especially as we rehearsed two choirs (often simultaneously) in preparation for the Eisteddfod. Thank you to Heather Pavel and Constance Rolfe who have been the NE Singers support crew and have organised Music, t-shirts, supervision and so the list goes on. Thank you also to NECOM and the Acting Director Corinne Arter for supporting the choral program, it is exciting to see students from Uralla and every high school in Armidale joining together to sing, especially as they sing so beautifully! Leanne Roobol, Director NE Singers Cantilena enjoying their afterschool rehearsal The choir presented a Service of Lessons and Carols in the Uniting Church last Christmas which was much appreciated by the singers and the congregation. The lessons were read by members of the choir. We were also privileged to enjoy the performance on the organ of 2 Bach Chorale Preludes played by Peter Maddox. The choir has continued into 2011 with Rebecca Simon at the piano during 1st term and Sue Metcalfe in 2nd term. Wendy Huddleston The new additions to NES – the wonderful tenors & basses. Leanne with Ensemble Stanthorpe who won the Open Small Vocal Ensemble at the recent Eisteddfod. Conductor Hannah Grigg, with NES Vocal Ensemble members Tom Henderson, Nicola Traise & Nick Kelly, displaying their winning trophies.
PROFILE Introducing Gerard Larkins am pleased to have this opportunity to I introduce myself, Gerard Larkins, local Armidale resident. My area of interest is flute performance and music education, specifically woodwind teaching. After many years away from Armidale, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to return to the New England area about four years ago. Currently I have a modest flute teaching studio with a variety of students ranging from children to adults, from beginners to diploma and tertiary students. I also work part time for Orpheus Music, a specialist on line instruments & music store run by Zana Clarke. It is invigorating working in such a creative environment with a modern approach to business. I attended Ben Venue Primary and Duval High schools. I was a flute student of Margaret Hawkins, a wonderful teacher who would not shy away from any piece of music and was an organiser extraordinaire managing to regularly arrange for students to play in Eisteddfods in Tamworth and Inverell and encouraging annual music exams for a huge number of candidates. Margaret also had several A Mus A recipients including myself in 1985. In my last year in Armidale I was able to travel to Sydney to take lessons with the very accomplished flautist and teacher, Prue Page; whose efforts ultimately helped me to gain entry to the B Mus (orchestral MiniSingers We have enjoyed a great start to the year in Mini Singers! The group have been working very hard on lots of new repertoire and have been enjoying lots of fun singing games to get their voices in tune. Mini Singers enthusiastically performed at the Eisteddfod and the experience was fantastic. After the Eisteddfod, Mini Singers have been learning lots of new warm up songs, some very tricky repertoire and just loving singing together. It has been lovely to see some new people join our wonderful group. Amy Walsh performance) course at the Canberra School or Music in 1987. It was wonderful to learn for three years with Vernon Hill and in 1991 I attained the L Mus A diploma. As far as future aspirations go, I am contemplating working towards the F Mus A - a wonderful qualification to have as well as a goal to get my playing in tip top order. My teaching as a peripatetic staff member has included schools in Canberra, Queanbeyan, Goulbourn and Bowral and tertiary colleges such as Goulburn TAFE, Goulburn Regional Conservatorium Music Centre and Australian International Conservatorium in Harris Park. Since returning to Armidale, I have gained a great deal of pleasure from voluntary work that I do including Gerard performing at Autumn Lodge on Mothers’ Day regular performances at local nursing homes - Strathlea, ken Thompson Lodge and Autumn Village. I enjoy playing in the local musicals, at the March Choral and Orchestral weekend, and in the Market Sunday Concerts at the Uniting Church. In 2009, I gave the Australian premiere performance of an American Flute concerto “The Spirits of The Mask” by Bruce Miller with the ASO. I enjoy my teaching work and have experience teaching beginner single reed and recorder students. I have a fully equipped studio with recording and computer facilities. I also do music typesetting including transposition for singers/instrumentalists. Enquiries can be made by email to woodwindteacher@ dodo.com.au or by phone on 02 6771 4245. MiniSingers and Amy enjoying a singing-guessing game NECOM NEWS JUNE 2011 13
Page 1 and 2: Volume 23, June 2011 NECOM NEWS JUN
Page 3 and 4: WORkSHOP William Barton at Ross Hil
Page 5 and 6: REPORT Walcha Mini Minstrels The In
Page 7 and 8: WORkSHOP Jazz Workshops with Janet
Page 9 and 10: REPORT News from Inverell - Term 2
Page 11: REPORT Beginner Brass Program This
Page 15 and 16: Dalcroze), French music (toddlers,

Volume 23, June 2011 - New England Conservatorium of Music

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