Congratulations to our HSC students and teachers across the Performing Arts areas who have completed their HSC Practical examinations. Dance, Drama and Music have now all been completed and a huge thank you to Ms Johnson, Ms Gudgeon and Ms Smith for all of their work with their classes.

This year was the first HSC Dance class for BDC and all students in the course received CallBack nominations for their dance major works. Callback is a selection of outstanding performances and projects from Higher School Certificate dance students across the state, and is held at the Seymour Centre in February 2023. This is such wonderful recognition for our Dance Program at BDC. Congratulations to Teo Ross, Kate Clerkin and Emily Hodges on their nominations and a special thank you to their teacher Ms Hannah Johnson for all of her work in preparing the students.

Congratulations to Teo Ross for Drama as he received an OnStage nomination for his Individual Performance - Stealing Christmas for Dummies. OnStage is a selection of performances and individual projects from HSC Drama students and will be held at the Seymour Centre in February 2023. Thank you to Ms Katie Gudgeon for all of her work preparing the students for their Drama practical exam.

HSC Music Recital Evening

The Year 12 Music students presented one of their Major Work Performance pieces in a recital evening last Wednesday night. The students have all been working hard on developing their performance pieces in preparation for their HSC Performance Exam which was held on Tuesday.

Regional Youth Orchestra - Olivia Hoare

Congratulations to Olivia Hoare (9) who spent the week last week in Sydney as part of the Regional Youth Orchestra on Double Bass.

The week consisted of not only learning repertoire in the RYO but also participating in conducting masterclasses and learning about Baroque playing and historically informed performance.

The students in the RYO were also able to watch the Australian World Orchestra and the final evening of the week culminated with a performance at the Sydney Opera House with the finale consisting of 120 musicians on stage from the RYO, AWO, The Arts Unit Symphony Orchestra and North Sydney Girls High Orchestra.

The RYO program is an instrumental stepping stone to creating career paths and inspiring students to achieve at the highest level. The RYO is the orchestral benchmark for orchestral training in regional NSW. BDC Alumni Julia Magri attended RYO programs regularly as a student and last week, Olivia was able to reconnect with Julia in Sydney which was great.

Liv said the highlight of the week was getting to play with 6 other double bass students!

Congratulations Liv!

AHEP and SHEP

Good luck to the following students who will be attending the Australian Honors Ensemble Program and State Honors Ensemble Program at Griffith University in QLD in the holidays:

Imogen Daymond (12), Mahi Khobrogade (10), Marisol Taylor (10), Camble Scott (9), Olivia Hoare (9), Amelie Howard (8) and Julius Taylor (7).

The students will be representing the college at these programs and participate in a range of performance opportunities and masterclasses with the staff from the conservatorium. Good luck and have fun!

Year 3 Strings 

Our Year 3 Strings students enjoyed their lessons during Book Week. The students had such a great time playing their violins and cellos while dressed up in their costumes!

BDC Alumni Visit - Jacob Egan

Jacob Egan (HSC class 2017) visited BDC on Thursday 1st September. Jacob studied music through to HSC at BDC and achieved a Band 6 result in Music 1. He majored in performance on electric guitar and studied guitar with BDC Music tutor, Mr Santo Cimino.

After graduating, Jacob went on to study music at the Australian Institute of Music and then completed a Bachelor of Music Majoring in Jazz Guitar at the Conservatorium of Music. Jacob is now a full time musician in the Australian Army, based in Canberra, playing Guitar and Upright Bass (Double Bass).

Jacob shared with the Elective Music students his journey and his experiences with HSC Music and then tertiary studies. He spoke about his job in the Army and what a normal day as a musician in the Army looks like. Jacob also performed for the students a number of pieces he learned for University and also the Army.

The students learned a lot from the presentation and opened up possible ideas for the students beyond school.

Thank you so much to Jacob for visiting the college and sharing his journey with the music students.

Fathers Day Breakfast

Thank you to Max Egan (11), Jacob Egan (BDC Alumni), and Marley Crook (12) who entertained the dads and their children at the Father's Day Breakfast earlier in the term. The music was great!!

Music Lessons in Term 4

Just a reminder that all instrumental lessons roll over into Term 4. If you are planning on not returning to lessons, please notify the music department. We do have some waiting lists for some instruments so we appreciate you notifying us if you are not returning in Term 4.

Coffs Harbour City Orchestra

On the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of September, the Coffs Harbour City Orchestra presented a Generations Gala concert at the Sawtell RSL Club.

The concert was aptly called Generations as it showcased musicians from all ages - some of our BDC students, parents and staff included!

Congratulations to the following who were in the orchestra:

Students:

* Daniel Vivas-Gutierrez (violin) - who performed a duet “Der Spiegel" by Mozart - with Ruth Egan (Dani being year 6 and Ruth 86 years old) 

* Simon Vivas-Gutierrez (saxophone)

* Daniel Langley (clarinet) 

Staff:

* Truus Muelenbroeks (saxophone) and her husband Mart (clarinet)

* Josh Jeremy (oboe)

BDC Alumni

* Jacob Egan (double bass)

* Nick Murray (percussion/piano)

BDC Parents

* Wendy Nathan (concertmaster - Violin)

* Stephanie Abbott (cello)

* Tom Langley (trombone)

It was great to see so many people from our BDC community sharing a love of music.

Music Tutor Spotlight - Pablo Blitzer

Hi my name is Pablo Blitzer, I teach piano and woodwind at BDC. 

I'm originally from Argentina, where I studied the degree of professional interpreter of music with specialisation in jazz and later a music teaching degree. 

I've been a professional musician and teacher for over 13 years. My main passion is composition, arrangement and improvisation. 

I've composed and arranged for theatre and circus. I've worked in artistic stimulation programs with remote communities across South America and toured South America, Europe, Australia and Japan with different projects over the years. 

I've recorded 2 albums under my own name and I’m currently working on recording a third with my latest works for jazz piano trio and string quartet (soon to be presented at the Muse Festival at the Jetty theatre on the 23rd of September). In this project I collaborate with the masterful BDC teachers Danny Stitt and Peter Skelton amongst others. 

I have always enjoyed teaching music. I think it is partly because I'm so passionate about learning, and especially about learning music, and I love to share that process with others.

I feel privileged to be able to help students figure out their goals and achieve their potential. I think everyone has something incredibly valuable and unique to say and share, and when they do, it gives me great joy to know I played a small part in making that happen.

Concerts - Emiliano Beltzer (BDC Guitar Teacher)

Our guitar teacher, Emiliano Beltzer will be performing in a Jazz Concert at the Coffs Harbour Conservatorium on Saturday 17th September at 5pm. Emiliano will be playing Double Bass in this concert. See the flyer for details on tickets

Bellingen Muse Festival

Formally known as The Bellingen Fine Music Festival, Muse Festival will occur from 22nd - 25th September at locations in Bellingen and the Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium of Music. There are a number of amazing ensembles playing throughout the Festival. You can see the full program here:

https://www.bellingenmuse.com....

Coffs Harbour Music Society 

The next concert in the Coffs Harbour Music Society concert series is the Shoshin Trio featuring Amber Davis on violin, Liz Neville on cello and Berndatte Harvey on piano. The Trio will be performing works from Mendelssohn, Lyatoshynsky and Ravel. The concert will be held on Friday 14th October at 7:30pm at CHEC Lecture Theatre D. To find out more information and purchase tickets, visit their website:

https://coffsmusicsociety.com....

Upcoming Dates for your Diary

• Saturday 17th September - Emiliano Beltzer Jazz Concert at the Con 5pm
• Wednesday 21st September - Year 12 Valedictory Assembly
• Friday 23rd September - Sunday 25th September - Bellingen Muse Festival
• Friday 14th October - Coffs Harbour Music Society Concert - Shoshin Trio 7:30pm CHEC Lecture Theatre D

Rebecca Day
Head of Performing Arts