The Shoreline Opening

In Week 4, Bishop Druitt College was offered to assist with the official opening of The Shoreline Aged Care and Independent Living facility at Park Beach. Students from Highly Strung, along with Jaela Hibbard and Tim Hardman, attended both the VIP opening Tuesday evening and the residents opening on Wednesday. Over the two days, the students performed approximately 2 hours of music, including some traditional Israeli folk songs for the family who own the building. The General Manager along with the residents and guests were very complimentary of our students and have extended offers of further performances in the future.

Thank you to Ms Sandra Smith for all her work preparing the students in Highly Strung and offering extra rehearsals in the lead up to the performance. And thank you to Mr Simon Doyle for driving the students to the venue on Wednesday in the Barracuda Bus.

Dance Academy - Teo Ross

The Secondary Dance Academy has been fortunate at welcoming BDC Alumni Teo Ross (class of 2022) this term as a guest choreographer. Teo will be working with the students in a dance item that will be performed at the Easter Service at the end of term.

It is so lovely to have Teo back at BDC in our Dance program.

Ash Wednesday Service

Thank you to the students in Highly Strung and the Primary Performance Choir for their performances at the Ash Wednesday Service in Week 4. These students had only a limited number of rehearsals to prepare for their first performance at the College and they did a great job. Thank you to Ms Sandra Smith, Mrs Rachel Caesar and Ms Rachel Crismale for all of their work preparing the students for these items.

Music Through the Ages

Thank you to Dr Phillip Rutherford from the Central Coast Conservatorium who delivered workshops all day for our elective and High Performance music students on Music Through the Ages on Monday. Phillip gave an extensive overview of how music has evolved over time with an analysis of Western Art Music and the Concepts of Music. He concluded the day with a HSC Aural analysis workshop, aimed at creating Band 6 written responses for our students. This was a great opportunity for our music students.

Year 7 Classroom Music

The Year 7 students have been busy in music class this term, learning about the keyboard and how to play simple melodies using their right hands. This week they have also been challenging themselves to learn to play both right and left hands together. For many students, this is their first time playing the keyboard and they are doing a great job. A reminder that all students must bring their headphones to every music class.

Mud Run

A massive thank you to all the Friends of Performing Arts parents who assisted with the Mud Run on Friday through either cooking the BBQ, selling cakes and food or preparing items to be sold. Thank you so much - we really appreciate your support. All profits from the fundraiser will be going towards purchasing items for the Performing Arts faculty. A massive thank you to Ms Rachel Caesar for all her work coordinating the fundraising for this event.

Primary Music Camp

It is so wonderful to have our annual Primary Music Camp back on the calendar. This year will be the first time we have been able to run this camp since 2019 and Covid restrictions. 

The Primary Music camp will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday of week 9 (28th-29th March) at the Coffs Adventure Centre at Bonville. Students who are currently in the Primary ensembles Superstrings, Primary Band and Primary Performance Choir have been invited to attend. The camp will be a valuable opportunity for students to come together in their groups and focus on repertoire that they will be performing at upcoming concerts, events, and competitions. 

Parents are encouraged to please log onto Parent Lounge and except for their children to attend this camp by Friday 10th March.

Some photos from our previous years are below

Secondary Assembly Performances

Thank you to the students who have performed at Secondary Assembly in the past fortnight. The Year 12 Music class performed one of Max Egan’s HSC Performance Pieces “Minor Swing” by Djengo Reinhardt at the week 4 assembly and Jaela Hibbard presented her tap routine “Rio” at week 5. It is so great seeing our Performing Arts students share their talents with the Secondary school.

Spots for Term 1 assembly are filling up but there are some spaces if any students want to take the performance opportunity. Term 2 bookings are now available as well.

High Performance Performing Arts Program

Congratulations to the following students who were inducted into the High Performance Performing Arts Program for Semester 1 2023 at the Week 5 Secondary Assembly;

Dance

• Freya Eather (Year 7)
• Sienna O’Brien (Year 7)
• Adelaide Robinson (Year 7)
• Jess Peters (Year 8)
• Darcie McInally (Year 10)

Music

• Frank Lane (Year 7)

Coffs Coast - Dancing with the Stars

Our dance teacher, Ms Hannah Johnson, will be participating in the upcoming Coffs Coast Dancing with the Stars on Saturday 1st April at CHEC. Hannah is a choreographer for the event and will be dancing with the Coffs local Melissa Duncan from Victor Rullis Funeral Services. The event is to raise funds for Cancer. To purchase tickets, please visit the website:https://stars.cancercouncil.com.au/event/stars-of-coffs-coast/home

Well done, Hannah!

Music Tutor Spotlight - Emiliano Beltzer (guitar)

My name is Emiliano Beltzer, although since I was 4, most people call me Memo. I am originally from Santa Fe, Argentina.

I started my musical education at 6, and at 10, I started learning Classical Guitar. At 18 I finished my Music Teaching Degree, and I went on to study a Bachelor in music with a specialisation on Guitar at the Universidad Nacional del Litoral, always in my hometown.

At the same time, I started playing electric bass, and I haven’t stopped ever since.

I have performed, toured, and recorded with several bands of original music as a bass player, but also as a guitarist and a singer, and I’ve played various different styles, mostly rock and Latin American music. 

In 2013 I moved to Melbourne and started all over again, becoming quite active as a bass player mainly (but not only) within the Latin music scene.

I also started the slow process of learning to play double bass!

Just before moving to Bellingen 3 years ago, I finished a Diploma in Sound Production at SAE (Melbourne). In my life, I have done several recordings and mixes for my own musical projects as well as for other people. 

I have been at BDC for just under 3 years now, and I really enjoy it. I feel very lucky to work in a place that has a dedicated space for music, with great facilities and teachers with such great disposition to accompany students in their musical journey.

As a teacher, I love to be exposed to the music students bring to the class, and that is usually my starting point with them. At the same time, I enjoy showing the basic concepts of music theory and notation, as I strongly believe that having that knowledge gives them independence to develop their musical interest in whichever direction they choose.

Thanks for reading!

If you want to have a chat or a play, I am at the school every Tuesday and Thursday morning. 

Upcoming Events for your Diary

• Tuesday 28th March - Primary Music Camp - Bonville Adventure Centre
• Wednesday 29th March - Primary Music Camp - Bonville Adventure Centre
• Thursday 30th March - Primary Music Camp performances at Primary Assembly
• Friday 31st March - Connections at Dusk featuring Pablo Blitzer - Music Lawn 5:30pm
• Thursday 6th April - K-12 Easter Service - Branson Centre

Rebecca Day
Head of Performing Arts