General News
30 May, 2024
Region’s students learn from acclaimed musicians
SOME of the most talented young strings musicians across the region received a surprise visit from members of the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) this week.
ACO members Jacqui Cronin, Madeline Jevons, Hamish Jamieson, and Janet Anderson hosted a workshop at Terang College on Monday with students from Camperdown and Warrnambool joining in.
The workshop gave students the invaluable opportunity to play alongside acclaimed professionals and pick up some tricks along the way, according to music teacher Fiona Pugh.
“It’s great to expose the kids to professional musicians and see what kind of opportunities could be for them and their future,” she said.
“I think it’s great motivation to inspire them to practice harder and see what the future holds.”
The visit from the Australia Chamber Orchestra was a rare opportunity which Mrs Pugh took a gamble to bring to fruition.
“I always look at the Lighthouse Theatre program every year, and I noticed the ACO were bringing their ‘How to catch a star’ performance to Warrnambool with a string quartet,” she said.
“About eight years ago they came to Warrnambool and I was able to run a strings workshop with them in Warrnambool.
“I thought it would be really good for the kids in Terang and Camperdown to have this opportunity because they can often miss out on going to workshops; going to Warrnambool we have to organise busses and there can be quite a cost involved.
“I wanted to bring the ACO to a small country town - at first they were a bit surprised but I was able to convince them, and they very kindly were able to philanthropically fund this session for us.”
ACO’s Hamish Jamieson said there was some “great talent” on display between the schools.
“This was the kind of thing each of us probably had an experience with when we were young which made us obsessed with doing this and led us on this incredible career path,” he said.
“Not that we’re trying to create the next generation of classical musicians, but sharing the language and sharing the music with young people is an incredible opportunity.
“They have a teacher here who loves it, is super passionate and really gets the kids in to it and wanting to do it.”
Mrs Pugh thanked the ACO members for their willingness to dedicate their time to imparting words of wisdom to the students.
“They were pretty interactive and bringing up different points on how to make the music better,” she said.
“I think the students really listen when you have visiting artists.
“Instrumental music in this region is growing and one of the reasons is because the students are so hungry for music.
“A group of local music teachers and myself formed the South West Music Education Centre and we’re aiming to get more music in to schools - particularly primary schools, where students are often missing out on music.
“We’re about to embark on lots of projects to boost music in schools and give local students the ability to perform together.”