What a wonderful fortnight we have had with school gatherings, services and assemblies opening up to the whole student body. 

Ash Wednesday Service

The K-12 Ash Wednesday service was beautiful, and I would really like to take this opportunity to thank the students in Highly Strung and the Performance Choir for performing at this service. Special thank you to Ms Sandra Smith for her work leading Highly Strung, Ms Freeman for her Choir conducting and Mrs Linda Morgan for accompanying. The music was outstanding and was a great opportunity for our students of all ages to perform together again. I am looking forward to our next K-12 service - the Easter service - which will be held on the last Friday of term.

You can see some of the photos and videos from our performers at the service below:

Lord of the Dance

Staff Departures

Sadly Ms Charlotte Wilkins (cello teacher) has finished teaching at Bishop Druitt College. Charlotte joined the Music team in 2020 and quickly developed a great rapport with our cello students and the music staff. She will be missed but we wish her well as she focuses on completing her university studies.

Cello lessons will be on hold for the rest of the term. Georgie Ostenfeld will be taking over the cello lessons starting Term 2. A new day and time for our cello students will be advised prior to term 2 resuming.

Mr Santo Cimino

It is with great sadness that I share the news that Mr Santo Cimino will be retiring at the end of this term. Santo has been with the College for 10 years and in that time has developed the guitar program to include 3 guitar teachers and 4 guitar ensembles across the primary and secondary schools. Santo was also instrumental in establishing the Jazz Band at the college for our more advanced music students. 

I would like to thank Santo for all of his work for our students at BDC, in particular our guitarists. He has been a great team member within the faculty and a wonderful support for many of our colleagues. His gentle, caring and encouraging nature, as well as his immense talent on the guitar, will be missed by the staff, students and parents alike.

Santo will be taking the time to focus on practice and performing. You will see him playing at The Spare Room in Sawtell most Sunday evenings.

Thank you Santo for all of your commitment to the college.

Performances

Thank you to Emily Hodges for performing at the Week 6 Assembly and Teo Ross at the Week 7 Assembly. It was wonderful to have some dance items presented!

Marimba

We are very excited to announce that we have purchased a marimba! Students have been very excited about the addition to the instrumental program and have enjoyed playing it this week. The marimba will be highly utilised across many of our classroom and ensemble programs, including our up and coming Percussion Ensemble.

Classroom Music

Students in 3N have been learning how to play as an ensemble through rhythmic patterns and the use of various percussion instruments. Students followed rhythm patterns on the board and rotated through a number of different percussion instruments.

Students in Year 5 have been learning how to read basic music notation and play guitar this term. So far they have covered some of the basic chords and are playing along with some great songs. You can see 5M are really enjoying The Lion Sleeps Tonight in the photos and video.

Primary Training Band

After a rocky start to the year with covid and isolation, training band rehearsals are back in full swing. The students enjoyed being able to play together on their instruments. Training band is for beginner band students (no experience on a band instrument is required) and new students are welcome to join. Please see the music department for information on how to enrol.

Music Information Evening

Thank you to all of the parents and students who attended our Music Information Evening on Monday evening. It was a great opportunity for our music tutors to talk a little about their instruments, their lessons and also share some of their technical abilities. Parents and students were also able to find out more information regarding our ensemble program. If you have any further queries regarding the instrumental program please do not hesitate to contact the performing arts team.

Upcoming Secondary Assessments Due

Week 9 (21st - 27th March)

Year 11 Music 1 Individual Performance and Composition Topic One

Week 10 (28th March - 3rd April)

Year 11 Dance Presentation of Solo Composition

Music Performance Shirts

Just a reminder that the music performance shirts are available for purchase from the Uniform Shop. These shirts will become a uniform requirement for any music student who participates in performances both at college events on campus and also in the community. This includes students in ensembles as well as soloists. The price of the shirts are $30.

String Teaching Position

We are currently seeking a violin teacher to join our amazing team. If you know of anyone who may be interested, please ask them to contact the college. This position is currently 2 full days of teaching with the ability to expand this. The job is also advertised externally.

Friends of Performing Arts

Thank you to all of the parents who attended our Friends of Performing Arts Breakfast last fortnight. The parents were given a tour of the Performing Arts facilities and engaged in some Q and A around the current programs on offer. It was great to see some familiar and new faces joining the team. The Friends of Performing Arts is a group of friendly parents who are willing to help across a range of areas in the college to provide the best opportunities for our performing arts students. If you would like to be included in the mailing list to keep up to date with events, meetings and fundraising ideas, please send your details through to kfreeman@bdc.nsw.edu.au

The next meeting will be held on Friday 29th April at 8am in the Music Department.

Eisteddfod

A reminder that the Coffs Harbour Eisteddfod is open for entries across all disciplines - dance, drama, instrumental, piano and speech. This is a great opportunity for all performing arts students to gain valuable performance experience and feedback. Details on sections that you can enter, costs and venues can be found on the website:

Coffs Eisteddfod

UPCOMING EVENTS FOR YOUR DIARY

8th April - Easter Service and Grandparents Day

Rebecca Day
Head of Performing Arts