2018 Events |
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Year 8 Parent Information Evening
We were delighted to see the Year 12 Music students take the initiative and organise games and a BBQ to make the Year 8s feel welcome before moving inside the Brighton Concert Hall for the Year 8 Parent Information Evening on Monday the 19th February. The evening was bookended by fine performances by Chelsea Easton and Emma Richardson. Thanks to the Music Parent Support Group for their help with the bbq and drinks.
The Lost and Found Orchestra
The Lost and Found Orchestra, from the creators of Stomp, are a group of 23 percussionists from the UK who create rhythm with everyday objects. They transform those everyday objects into a plethora of invented instruments. This year, the Adelaide Festival is bringing the highly-acclaimed show to Adelaide and local musicians were given the opportunity to perform alongside the orchestra. Fellow music student Ben Coleman (Year 9) and I have been attending rehearsals twice a week as a part of the brass section in the orchestra. We will be performing at Elder Park on the 3rd and 4th of March at 8:30pm. Tickets are available through the Adelaide Festival website.
Alevia Evci (Year 12)
Alevia Evci (Year 12)
Governing Council AGM
Thanks to year 10 students Katerina Angione, Jereyll Chia, Leah Komad-Antic and Spencer Marshall for providing background music as people arrived for the Governing Council’s AGM on Monday the 5th March in the Brighton Theatre.
Naomi Crellin Workshop Day
On Thursday 8th March, Naomi Crellin visited Brighton Music offering her musical expertise to our many choirs, and vocal students. Naomi, is an amazing and accomplished vocalist and the musical director and alto singer from the internationally successful acapella group “The Idea of North”.
Naomi addressed many different things to help the students engage with their pieces more, often asking students various questions such as,
Natalie Bertram (Year 11)
- What the piece was really about?
- What was the aim of the melody or the lyrics?
- What emotion should each lyric be sung in?
- What is the story you’re trying to tell?
Natalie Bertram (Year 11)
Mark Ferguson Workshop
On Thursday 15th March week 7, We were fortunate to have Mark Ferguson a well-known Adelaide jazz musician, composer and newly appointed Head of Jazz at The Elder Conservatorium in for a workshop with Big Band 1 and Big Band 2. It was great to have him share his knowledge and musical expertise.
In Big Band 2 he worked on “Right in the Block”, “The Nearness of you” and “Out of the Dog House.” These are all pieces we are working on for Generations in Jazz in May and we all learnt a lot more about performing these pieces during the workshop. It was a great experience for myself and I’m sure for everyone else in the Band and Big Band 1.
Alison Marton (Year 10)
In Big Band 2 he worked on “Right in the Block”, “The Nearness of you” and “Out of the Dog House.” These are all pieces we are working on for Generations in Jazz in May and we all learnt a lot more about performing these pieces during the workshop. It was a great experience for myself and I’m sure for everyone else in the Band and Big Band 1.
Alison Marton (Year 10)
Special Olympics
On Monday the 16th of April, the first day of the holidays, the Amoroso String Quartet (Emma Richardson, Lauren Owens, Mattea Osenk and Charlotte Rayner) performed at the opening ceremony of the National Special Olympic Games. We provided an hour of music in the main marquee at the Titanium Security Arena in Findon while guests and athletes gathered prior to the beginning of the ceremony. The Special Olympic Games is a distinguished event in which hundreds of athletes with an intellectual disability demonstrate their sportsmanship and skills in an encouraging, safe atmosphere. It was an honour to represent Brighton at the highly publicised event and to support such a special cause.
Emma Richardson – Year 12
Emma Richardson – Year 12
ASO Pierrot Project
During the Pierrot Project I learned many things - one being that scales and tone rows are extremely important in every aspect of music. Before doing the project, I knew nothing of tone rows and I certainly didn’t ever contemplate playing such extraordinary compositions. I learnt that the clashing of notes and mistakes in classical improvisations doesn’t matter as its learning from the mistake made, but sometimes that mistake sounds good. This project was also good for me in many ways especially in the social aspect, not only making new friends but making friends that have the same interests as me.
The experience of playing alongside Adelaide Symphony Orchestra musicians definitely inspired me. In particular, Paul Rissman (UK composer), Emma Perkins (violin) and Martin Phillipson (trumpet) were extremely supportive and gave me an incite as to what life in an orchestra could possibly be like. Being part of the symphony orchestra for a week felt incredible. Also participating in this project from Brighton were Gina Sinclair, Shelby Bertram and Natalie Bertram (all year 11).
Isabelle Mason – Year 10
Isabelle Mason – Year 10
ANZAC Day

Students from the Concert Choir braved the early morning cold during the holidays to perform at the 2018 ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Brighton Jetty. The choir sang O Valiant Hearts, Abide with Me, Coming Home and the national anthems of Australian and New Zealand to a crowd of roughly 4000-5000 people. As head prefects, we had the privilege of speaking about the centenary of key battles that happened during the First World War, personal family accounts from war, while paying tribute to all who had been affected by war. We were honored to play our part in this truly beautiful service remembering all those who have fought and died for our country.
Charlie Barwa and Alex Witty (Year 12)
Charlie Barwa and Alex Witty (Year 12)
Generations in Jazz
On Friday 4th May, Big Band 1 and 2 travelled to Mount Gambier to participate in the Australia-wide competition, Generations in Jazz. With the opening night filled with incredible acts including Patti Austin (voice), Shannon Barnett (trombone), Jeff Clayton (alto saxophone), Nasrine Rahmani (percussion) and James Morrison (trumpet), all 6,000 school students created a buzz in the tent. On Saturday, everyone was filled with butterflies and excitement ahead of their performances. Big band 2, directed by Mr Cameron-Smith, played first in the Ed Wilson Pavilion, performing their set brilliantly and receiving an honourable mention for division 3. Big band 1, conducted by Mr Bentley, played on the main stage in the James Morrison Pavilion and played the set our highest potential. Playing against such dedicated and hard working bands in division 1, Big Band 1 received eighth place.
While the Big Bands are being adjudicated, the best musicians are selected to form a superband for each division. Brighton Secondary was lucky enough to have two members selected to take part. Yoni Rex-McGirr and I were selected to be in the division 1 superband, playing the set piece “Hunter” by Ross Irwin in front of all of the school students, teachers and parents. The opportunity to take part in this incredible superband with outstanding musicians whose main focus is to bring the music alive through music was my highlight of the weekend. All the hard work and practice from the past term had paid off!
Angela Winter – Year 12
While the Big Bands are being adjudicated, the best musicians are selected to form a superband for each division. Brighton Secondary was lucky enough to have two members selected to take part. Yoni Rex-McGirr and I were selected to be in the division 1 superband, playing the set piece “Hunter” by Ross Irwin in front of all of the school students, teachers and parents. The opportunity to take part in this incredible superband with outstanding musicians whose main focus is to bring the music alive through music was my highlight of the weekend. All the hard work and practice from the past term had paid off!
Angela Winter – Year 12
Choral Workshop Day with Christie Anderson
Brighton had the pleasure of hosting Christie Anderson, Artistic Director of Young Adelaide Voices for workshops with Bel Canto, Boys Chamber Choir, Concert Choir, and Treble Choir on Wednesday 6th June. Christie has conducted choirs for over 14 years and her experience and success in international choral festivals was evident in her work with our choirs. She shared valuable warm-ups, new perspectives on pieces and helped us to improve our vocal production. It was a timely visit with only one week to go until the Adelaide Choral Eisteddfods and her advice enabled us to further polish our performances. Christie was very impressed with all of our choirs and we thank her for working with us.
Emma Borgas – Music Staff
Emma Borgas – Music Staff
Kapara Aged Care Concert
On the 12th of June, Jasmine, Chloe, Zoe, Natalie and I together with two music teachers, Mrs Whelan and Ms Borgas were invited to perform at Kapara Aged Care, Glenelg.
The weather on that morning was rainy and cold. We caught public transport from our school, and it took about 10 minutes to reach the centre. Once we arrived, we were warmly received and led to the community room to have a warm up session. Each of us took turns to perform our pieces for the elderly, and they enjoyed our performances. This performance was a valuable opportunity for us to practise our pieces for our SACE assessment in Week 8.
We also took some photos with the elderly before we said goodbye. It was an amazing experience to perform and ‘give back’ to our local community, and we thank Kapara Aged Care for giving us this privilege to perform at their centre.
Samantha Wong (Year 12)
The weather on that morning was rainy and cold. We caught public transport from our school, and it took about 10 minutes to reach the centre. Once we arrived, we were warmly received and led to the community room to have a warm up session. Each of us took turns to perform our pieces for the elderly, and they enjoyed our performances. This performance was a valuable opportunity for us to practise our pieces for our SACE assessment in Week 8.
We also took some photos with the elderly before we said goodbye. It was an amazing experience to perform and ‘give back’ to our local community, and we thank Kapara Aged Care for giving us this privilege to perform at their centre.
Samantha Wong (Year 12)
Adelaide Choral Eisteddfod
In week 7, our four main co-curricular choirs competed in the Adelaide Choral Eisteddfod, held in Elder Hall and Pilgrim Uniting Church. All choirs presented very professionally with three of the choirs receiving awards:
- Boys Chamber Choir – 2nd place
- Concert Choir – 3rd place
- Bel Canto – honourable mention
“Disney Faves” Lunchtime Concert
Over the course of the term, our year 8 SIM class (accompanied by Ms Whelan) organised a lunchtime concert as part of our term’s learning. This included planning and organising all aspects of the ‘gig’ which included marketing, venue and programming. We themed our lunchtime concert “Disney Faves” and presented it on Tuesday week 8 in the Brighton Concert Hall, with the proceeds going towards White Ribbon. A selection of various entertaining Disney tunes was performed by the students resulting in a fun filled lunchtime. Thanks to all who attended our concert and for your donations!
Molly Thomas (Year 8)
Molly Thomas (Year 8)
Percussion Showcase
Percussion Showcase on Monday 27 August was another highlight of term 3 with all of our percussion students presenting a highly entertaining program, assisted by guest artists Ryszard Pusz, and SASPE (the South Australian Secondary Percussion Ensemble) directed by Amanda Grigg.
Essentially Ellington Festival
On Wednesday 29 August, Big Band 1 and 2 took part in the Essentially Ellington Festival, held in Brighton’s Concert Hall.
Vincent Gardner and Jerome Jennings, 2 highly renowned jazz musicians from the Jazz at the Lincoln Centre Orchestra, took bands through extensive workshops and helped players to understand their individual and ensemble potential. Along with the workshops, each band had the opportunity to perform and receive feedback from Vincent and Jerome. Overall, it was a great learning experience and we greatly appreciate the contributions by Mr Cameron-Smith and Mr Bentley to making the festival happen.
Ben Waltho (Year 11)
Vincent Gardner and Jerome Jennings, 2 highly renowned jazz musicians from the Jazz at the Lincoln Centre Orchestra, took bands through extensive workshops and helped players to understand their individual and ensemble potential. Along with the workshops, each band had the opportunity to perform and receive feedback from Vincent and Jerome. Overall, it was a great learning experience and we greatly appreciate the contributions by Mr Cameron-Smith and Mr Bentley to making the festival happen.
Ben Waltho (Year 11)
Music Spectacular
Over 3 nights of week 8, all of Brighton's cocurricular ensembles participated in the annual Music Spectacular concert series. This year’s theme was movie music, with the Concert Hall transformed into an old-fashioned movie theatre. There were film posters for each ensemble, a red carpet, popcorn and choc tops.
A huge effort was made by the music staff in organising and preparing the many ensembles and the students also took on large responsibilities, like setting the stage, compering the event and, of course, performing. For the year 12 students, it was a memorable and emotional final performance that soundly wrapped up a music tradition. Overall, the weekend was an absolute success and thoroughly enjoyed by students, teachers and the many family and friends who filled the audience.
Stacey Laverty (Year 12 student)
A huge effort was made by the music staff in organising and preparing the many ensembles and the students also took on large responsibilities, like setting the stage, compering the event and, of course, performing. For the year 12 students, it was a memorable and emotional final performance that soundly wrapped up a music tradition. Overall, the weekend was an absolute success and thoroughly enjoyed by students, teachers and the many family and friends who filled the audience.
Stacey Laverty (Year 12 student)
Jazz Cabaret
One of our big calendar events, the Jazz Cabaret, took place at the Grand Ballroom on the Thursday 26 October. The sell-out crowd danced the night away to the hip sounds of the jazz combo, JB1, JB2, the year 10 jazz choir, the Dixieland Band, Big Band 1 and Big Band 2, plus several featured vocal soloists. Thanks to Billy James and the year 11 sound tech class (with Martin Oakley) for providing sound reinforcement for the Jazz Cabaret.