Friday, December 17, 2010

Through Evans' Eyes

Marcus Milton, Beatrice and Adelaide Kenworthy with Will Schoenmaker

Nine year old Mitchell Conservatorium student, Will Schoenmaker was the joint winner of the Arts Alive 2795 Children's Writing Prize for 2010. He wrote a great story called Through Evans' Eyes in which Governor Macquarie's surveyor looks at Bathurst  in 2010.

In Will's story, the Conservatorium even gets a mention, as you will see when you read this extract from his story:
Hello everyone. My name is George William Evans. My statue was erected in King's Parade in 1913 and now I can see all around the area and watch how Bathurst has changed since I was alive.

I can hear laughter from the children coming out of Annie's Ice Cream Parlour, their faces covered in ice cream and fudge dripping down their arms.

Last year I watched as the builders completed the new bell tower at All Saints' Cathedral. It was exciting to hear the bells ring for the first time for the new Catholic Bishop of Bathurst, bishop Michael McKenna, the eleventh Bishop of Bathurst.

Every afternoon I see the children going into the Mitchell Conservatorium for their music lessons. Each Tuesday I see one boy called Will Schoenmaker as he goes to his piano lessons. He is getting better. I can hear him play Alouette and The Quarrel.

I can also see the Western Advocate building where each night journalists write the stories and the editors produce the newspaper. Early in the morning the newspapers are delivered to the people of Bathurst and the businesses I can see up and down George St ...

At Christmas time I hear the sounds of Christmas carols coming from Machattie Park. The children are excited waiting for Santa to arrive. Maybe this year Santa will leave a present for me at the base of my statue.

But I already have a great gift - I have the perfect place to watch life in Bathurst go by.

What a great story! You can read the whole thing in the Western Times 16th December, 2010 issue. And you can hear Will playing in a recent student concert here.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Mitchell Con students head off to hospital



Performing at Bathurst Base Hospital is challenging and rewarding. You have to forget about having a stationary audience, and pretend you are making a radio program, realising that people are going to be making noises and walking across the stage area while you play.

Zoe Rodwell, Arts Coordinator, assures us that the music is greatly appreciated and can be heard all over the hospital.

With this in mind, Felicity and Cheryl McKellar played some beautiful music on flute and piccolo (Felicity) and classical guitar (Cheryl), which included a suite of pieces by Pujol describing Buenos Aires and the terrific Christmas song, Carol of the Bells.



Stephen Aveling-Rowe played Burgmuller's Gewitter and Tansman's Le Petit Oiseau on a digital keyboard and later played some cello pieces, accompanied by his mother Merilyn. Unfortunately the memory card on the digital camera filled up before he played a beautiful rendition of Saint-Saëns Le Cygne, but we did manage to capture some of Let Me Call You Sweetheart. We apologise for the sudden early ending and for all the hospital goings on during the performances we have put up here.

Friday, December 10, 2010

The man who plays the instrument made the instrument


What a lot of fun! How many of the songs do you recognise?
(Spoiler alert: Snubby J reveals the pieces played if you click on the description box.)

He says he made the instrument with Dad's help during the long summer break.

Onya Snubby!

Our talented students



At last we have some of our own music to share! Come on over to TheMitchellCon Youtube site and enjoy some great piano, trumpet, classical guitar and flute choir music from an end of year student concert and our annual Scholarship concert.

More to come!

You will also find links to sites that Youtube sites hosted by our staff and students.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Magic!



Eusebius requests your indulgence, please. Normal service will be resumed soon, but today he is reminscing. Today is our first baby's birthday. Daniel is 36 today and is busy rehearsing for a new duo guitar recording with Anthony Field, to be distributed by MOVE Records. It will include music by Phillip Houghton and Nigel Westlake, two great Australian composers for classical guitar.

But I'm remembering him as a little boy doing the percussion for our $1.99 Music For Pleasure Greatest Hits of The Tijuana Brass record.

He used to love the first track, The Magic Trumpet, which begins with a rhythmic motif for 2 trumpets, and is answered by the bass drum's BOOM, BOOM.

Today I discovered that the song was composed by Bert Kaempfert, who was born on my birthday and died on my Nanna's birthday. I used to love to listen to Bert Kaempfert's A Swingin' Safari when I visited my Uncle, Aunt and cousins. We thought Uncle Ben was a cool dude, with a great-sounding stereo and such a wonderful brassy, bassy record to play us.

If you'd like to make some great sounds on a trumpet, guitar or almost any other instrument (no vuvuzela lessons currently, though), you can enrol now to start your journey in music-making next year at Mitchell Conservatorium, which is located in the West Wing of Bathurst's Courthouse in Russell St. Phone 6331 6622 for more information.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Mitchell Con Youtube site is live



Belinda Macri performed this piano piece on Sunday, 5th December, 2010 at a Mitchell Con end of year student concert.

Do you like the Mixolydian flavour at the beginning?

The piece is called Larrikin and it is by Elissa Milne, one of Australia's best-known and best-loved composers of pieces for students. We hope you enjoy our very first video, and look forward to sharing lots more with you in 2011.
I'm sorry that the video is only taking up a small part of the screen. But I don't think it is distorting our performer by making her look stretched out or elongated.


Our second video features, Will Schoenmaker, playing at the same student concert.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Do you have a video of your performance?



Mitchell Conservatorium now has its own Youtube channel. We would love to feature good quality recordings of excellent performances of Mitchell Conservatorium students on our channel.

And I would love to use your videos on this blog.

The video above features Stephen Aveling-Rowe playing Bach's Toccata in D Minor on the Opera House pipe organ. Stephen learns cello from David Pereira and piano from David McKay. We can't claim credit for his great organ playing, but we can chuckle that his organ teacher is also a David: David Clark from Cooranbong.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Watch a master teacher at work

Mitchell Young Voices at our Open Day, 2008
In this short video, Bobby McFerrin makes teaching an audience to sing a five note scale look so easy. But I think that it looks easy because he does it so effectively, not because anyone can do it.

What do you think?

Singing teachers around the world use this Pentatonic scale to teach beginners to sing because leaving out two notes from the more frequently used major scale make it much easier to sing and to improvise on. And the scale is used in a lot of well-known music. You might find yourself using it on New Year's Eve, if you get in a huddle to belt out Auld Lang Syne.

Thanks to Michelle Griffin for pointing out this great little video. Michelle conducts Mitchell Young Voices, and teaches piano and singing at Mitchell Conservatorium in Bathurst.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

How to get an audience

The Aston method

Choose a song that is currently very popular, and create your own great version of it.
Make a great live video of your performance
Result? Over 957,000 views on Youtube.




The Alphabet Photography method
Choose a piece of music that has been popular from the time it was written over 250 years ago.
Hire a terrific set of singers, including soprano Stephanie Tritchew and Chorus Niagara, a professional 80 voice choir.
Find a suitable venue.
Liaise with the management of venue
Set up seven hidden cameras
Perform your song unannounced, as a flashmob at midday when the centre is buzzing
Result: 936,000 views on Youtube in one week!


Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Christmas flashmob


Do you know what a flashmob is? Wikipedia defines it as
a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and pointless act for a brief time, then disperse.
It is usually organised via mobile phones or internet sites such as Facebook.

The Christmas flashmob above took place on 13th November, 2010 at a shopping centre food court.

Hope you enjoy this wonderful performance of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. Eat your heart out, Leonard Cohen. Please forgive Eusebius, but that song is one of his pet hates. (Cohen's, not Handel's.)

Merry Christmas!

Monday, November 22, 2010

U3A?

Cheryl McKellar and David McKay, with Joan and Bill Bergen in the corner
U3A, or University of the Third Age, is an organisation for people over fifty, no longer working full time. The Bathurst branch is very popular and always has lots of different programs to appeal to a wide range of interests.

The Music Appreciation program has been going for over ten years. It is currently run at the beginning of the fourth school term. Each week we listen to some live music, hear some fascinating information about an aspect of Music, and also listen to some recordings to complement the talk and live music.

Over the past eight years we have explored
J S Bach
Mozart
Chopin, Schumann and Mendelssohn (all born within a year of one another)
the beginnings of Russian classical Music
British Music of the Twentieth Century
G F Handel
Australian Classical Music
French Music

Proposed future topics include:
Haydn
Beethoven
Bach's sons

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Music Is For Life


For the past six weeks, Mitchell Conservatorium has been hosting a Music Appreciation program for Bathurst's University of the Third Age. Each year in Term 4, David McKay presents a one hour program which includes interesting top-quality performances and recordings of music on a selected theme. This year we have been focussing on French Music from the past two hundred years.

Performers have included Julia Romano, who sang French chansons by Debussy and Fauré, Glen Wholohan, who played movements from an enjoyable, jazzy saxophone suite by Jean Françaix, Chloe Walker, who played an arrangement of Debussy's first Arabesque for flute and piano, and Joan and David McKay, who played Fauré's beloved Dolly suite for piano duet.

For the final week's program, Cheryl McKellar played Tango en Skai by Roland Dyens, which you can hear played by the composer himself in the video at the head of this post.

Mitchell Conservatorium's first director, Laurie Orchard, inaugurated the Bathurst Music Appreciation program in the 1990s. David McKay is humbled and honoured to be following in his distinguished footsteps. (Laurie, an octogenarian, is still hosting a U3A Music Appreciation program in Lismore, where he now lives.)

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Tory Roth with some of Bathurst's future stars
You're never too young (nor too old) to start exploring music at Mitchell Conservatorium. We have classes for toddlers and a well-developed Early Childhood program which gives pre-schoolers and children in Infants School the resources to build on for a lifetime of creating music.


Our newest Early Childhood teacher is Catriona McKay. She has her A Mus A in Voice, and lots of experience performing in ensembles, operas, and choirs, such as The Sydney Philharmonia. She enjoys composing, arranging and recording music for children. She has developed her own Early Childhood music programs known as Little Sings and Song Club. Catriona is now using materials developed in these groups at Mitchell Conservatorium on Fridays.

If you'd like to enrol your children in one of our Early Music programs, please phone our office on 02 6331 6622 between 10 AM and 5 PM, Mondays to Fridays, or come along and meet our friendly staff, in the west wing of Bathurst Court House, in Russell St.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Masterclasses

Mitchell Conservatorium is hosting three masterclasses on Sunday, 7th November at 11 AM in which three distinguished musicians will share their love of Music and expertise with selected performers and also interested observers.
David Miller, AM will conduct a masterclass in piano and accompanying. David is widely recognised as one of Australia's leading pianists and accompanists. He has been appointed a member of the Order of Australia for his services to Music.






Philippa Paige, member of Sydney Symphony, teaches violin at Sydney Conservatorium, as well as teaching string teachers their craft. She will also be conducting a masterclass, where she will be sharing insights into violin playing and teaching at 11 AM on Sunday, 7th November.

Peter Jenkin teaches clarinet at Sydney Conservatorium and is one of Australia's most versatile performers on the clarinet. He plays in a diverse range of styles and is eager to share his specialist knowledge with teachers and students in Bathurst on Sunday, 7th November at 11 AM.

He will be joined by David Miller, AM in a concert at 3 PM, which features works by Scriabin, Verdi and  Brahms. The concert will conclude with Elena Kats-Chernin's wonderful Russian Rag.

David Miller will also be conducting a masterclass in piano and piano accompanying, earlier in the day.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Music Is For Life



A charming trailer for a heart-warming new documentary. I hope we get to see it in Bathurst!

When are you too old enough to play and sing? Alice is 106 and is still playing, every morning and afternoon.

During the time she was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, she performed over 100 concerts for fellow inmates and played all of Chopin's Etudes from memory. (This camp was intended as a showpiece to the world, to deceive people into thinking that Jewish inmates of all concentration camps were being well-treated.)

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Beat That!


When we think of a child-genius, it is natural to think of Mozart. He was performing and composing at the age of five. But other composers also began very early. And some even surpassed his considerable feats.

Did you know that Chopin wrote pieces from the age of seven that were much more demanding to write and play than many of the pieces that Wolfie wrote, even in his maturity?

But the one who is impressing me at the moment is Camille Saint-Saëns. Consider this: at the age of two he could already read and write and was picking out melodies on the piano. He began composing shortly after his third birthday, and by the age of five had given his first piano recital.

At seven he was reading Latin, studying botany and investigating butterflies [the last of which he continued to do for the next eighty years].

When he was ten he made his formal debut as a concert pianist, performing a Mozart piano concerto in B flat and Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto in C Minor. For an encore, he offered to play any of the thirty-two Beethoven piano sonatas from memory!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

A bit of fun


The Good, The Bad and The Ugly performed by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, from their DVD Anarchy in the UKulele.

I wish to advise that I was not thinking of any staff or students when I made this post. Honest.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Sunday, 31st October Bicentenary Tribute

Elena Day-Hakker, at a previous Mitchell Conservatorium recital
This year is the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Chopin and Schumann, two of the most-performed composers for the piano. On Sunday, 31st October, Elena Day-Hakker will perform some of their most beloved compositions, as well as works by Moskowski and Shamo.

Starting at 2.30 PM, the concert is free for Mitchell Conservatorium students and costs just $20 for adults and $15 concession. There is also a two-for-one deal for U3A members.

Please join us for some delightful music at our first Spring Season concert, at West Wing, Court House in Russell St.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

How to ensure your kids don't practise

Mum, I can't find my music book...

One way to ensure your kids don't practise is to make it impossible for them to find their instrument! You could follow the method above, but it can also be done by being too tidy. Eusebius will never fall into the latter category; just ask Mrs E.

But it has been done. One parent used to carefully pack away the keyboard in its original wrapping and put it on top of the cupboard after use. And another family kept the sheet music on a high shelf where their child couldn't see it.

Can you think of any other creative ways to stop your kids practising?

Alternatively, you might reverse this and think of ways to encourage them!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Keep Music Live


Clever videos accompanying prerecorded music can be fun, but you can't beat a great live performance. Local musician, Alyce Kissell shared this video with me, and I thought I'd share it with you.

A great song and great performance are captured well in this live recording. Watch out for the smile of satisfaction at the end.

The song was originally written to be accompanied by this video (which I'm not allowed to embed here), but I love the simplicity of the live version above. Which one do you prefer?

How many keys?

Piano by Stuart and Sons
Do you notice anything unusual about this piano? Can you work out what the lowest and highest notes are?

Unlike the standard piano that you would see at Mitchell Conservatorium, it has 8 octaves, from F to F. For more than a hundred years, pianos have been manufactured with 7 and a quarter octaves, with a total of 88 keys.

The Thursday, 21st October, 2010 Sydney Morning Herald announces that Wayne Stuart, the manufacturer of the piano pictured above, has extended this range even further by creating a piano with 102 keys, from a very low C to the high F on the piano pictured.

Some composers are writing for the extended range, but the existence of the strings on the piano can enhance its sound, even if the actual keys are not included in the piece of music being played.

If you would like to hear how these pianos sound, Stuart and Sons are offering a free demo cd at their website, where you can also read more about their interesting, Australian-made pianos.

But for a wonderful live performance on a beautiful Bechstein grand piano [with 88 keys], you won't want to miss Elena Day-Hakker's concert at 2.30 PM on Sunday, 31st October at Mitchell Conservatorium, in the west wing of Bathurst Court House in Russell St.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Musique Pour Médecins (in English, 'Music for Doctors') is a fundraiser concert hosted by Mitchell Conservatorium on behalf of Médecins Sans Frontières, Australia.

This concert will feature seasoned local musicians who have donated their time and talents to the event. Performers include Michelle Griffin, David McKay, Cindy Fox, Jon Lewis, Glen Wholohan, Catherine Brown, Olivia Fisher, and local wind quintet Quintwood. The evening will begin with wine and hors d'œuvres, after which the audience will be treated to the music of French composers such as Bizet, Debussy, Faure, Schönberg, Ravel, and Tiersen.

The concert will be held on Friday, 22nd October in The Orchard Room of Mitchell Conservatorium. Guests are asked to arrive at 6.30 for a 7pm start. Tickets cost $25 each and will be available at the door.

All money raised by this event will be donated to Médecins Sans Frontières, the world's leading independent organisation for emergency medical humanitarian aid.

Every year MSF sends around 3,000 international field workers to work alongside 22,000 national staff, to bring emergency medical assistance to the people who need it most and may otherwise have no access to even the most basic life-saving health services. Our concert is in support of the hundred Australian doctors who join in this work each year. For further information, please visit MSF Australia

Friday, October 1, 2010

James Muller, Emma Pask, Ian Cooper, Doug Richards, Phil Stack, James Morrison, Mitch Richards, John Morrison
After James Morrison's great concert in Forbes, I'm sure many locals would be declaring that their favourite performers are
vocalist, Emma Pask
fiddle player, Ian Cooper,
brass whizz, James Morrison
and percussionist, John Morrison.
You can't beat a great live concert, and John and his band always leave you with a smile on your face.

But what are your favourite classical works? Did you know that ABC Classic FM (at 97.5 on your FM dial and online at the linked address) has asked listeners to nominate their ten favourite classical works to find out what music Australians love to listen to?

I don't want to influence your vote, and by the time you read this, it may be too late to do so as the cutoff date is Friday, 1st October, 2010, which is the date I'm writing this. But I thought I'd share what I voted for:
1. Sumer is icumen in
2. TALLIS Spem in alium
3. HANDEL: Messiah
4. BACH, J S: Jesu, meine Freude
5. HAYDN: Creation
6. BEETHOVEN: Ninth symphony
7. MOZART: Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola
8. DVORAK: Eighth Symphony
9. WILLIAMSON, MALCOLM: The Musicians of Bremen
10. MCKAY, Justin: The Walrus and the Carpenter

I tried to choose music from different periods and instrumentation, realising that I would have to omit dozens of pieces that I would have liked to include. So I chose one anonymous piece, one composition by my son, one concerto, two symphonies, two oratorios, two works for small vocal ensemble, one piece from the Medieval Period, one from the Renaissance, as well as music from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic Periods, a work from last century and one from this century, and two works by expatriate Australians.

I didn't really choose my ten favourites, because I wanted to reflect the variety in the music I like.

What would you choose?

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Would you like to hear Mitchell Con's newest teacher?

The link below, from David Pereira's own website, is of a beautiful recording of him playing one of the best-loved pieces for the cello. You can simply click on it, and listen, or right click and save the file to your computer.
David Pereira and Anna Johnstone performing The Swan, by Camille Saint-Saëns.

But if you'd like to hear a concert performance, please check out the details of concerts coming up shortly at David's website.

There is also a great concert, not advertised there, to be held on Tuesday, 5th October, at 7.30 PM at St Paul's Anglican Church,205 Burwood Rd, Burwood.

The concert includes Messiaen's marvellous Quartet For The End Of Time and Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel.

The quartet performing are
Alan Vivian - clarinet
Anna McMichael - violin
Tamara Anna Cislowska - piano
David Pereira - cello

Unaccustomed as I am ...

One way or another, many readers of this blog will be faced with having to speak in public. We may be introducing our music during a performance, addressing a crowd of parents at a student concert, or engaged in sharing our thoughts with a group in some other way, but it seems to go with the territory of being a musician.

Two helpful resources
Strictly Speaking is ABC TV's new public speaking program, beginning on Wednesday, 29th September at 8 PM. This half hour program sounds like a fun way to see how others manage getting up and speaking in public. And the website has lots of great links to tips about speaking in public, as well as recordings, videos and transcriptions of great speeches, most of which were delivered by Australians.

Toastmasters is an international club for people who would like to improve their public speaking. Members help one another to achieve this goal. The Bathurst club meets at Panthers on the first and third Monday nights of each month. You can find out more about this by emailing or phoning Helen Rixon, whose details are listed here.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

What are piano lessons for?

Elissa Milne is a prolific composer and editor of books for piano students. Her own compositions are fresh, fun and original and the collections of books she edits are always reliable, interesting and full of variety.

In her thought-provoking post What are piano lessons for? she makes these points.

1. Piano lessons are for learning to do cool stuff on the piano

2. Piano lessons are for learning what the piano can do so you can do whatever you want on it.

3. Piano lessons are for understanding other people better

4. Piano lessons are for understanding yourself better

5. Piano lessons are for understanding the world better

6. Piano lessons are for exercising your body, your emotions and your intellect all at the same time.

7. Piano lessons are for changing who you are

8. Piano lessons are for joy.
That's the skellington. Now please check out her whole article.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

We've heard them all

picture from http://www.stevesmusicstuff.com

Well, we've heard a lot of them. You know what we're talking about: excuses for not practising. Here are a few of our favourites, collected over the past forty or so years.
I didn't practise last week because:
1. it was too hot
2. it was too cold
3. I couldn't remember which piece I was learning.
4. I had to have a bath.
Daniel McKay, classical guitar teacher, swears this is genuine.
5. My sister is using the piano stool for a TV stand in her bedroom.
6. My girlfriend dumped me and I was too miserable to practise.
7. I left the power cord for my keyboard at Dad's place.
8. My guitar had a broken string.
9. I decided to do all my practice on Thursday, but then I had to go out on Thursday.
10. I got RSI playing computer games.

We have another fifty of these, which we'll share in other posts.
I wonder if you have any we haven't heard?

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Music you can't get out of your head

Here is a great singalong song to help you remember your intervals.




Tim Minchin's Interval Song has a slightly more interesting preview page, but much more boring tune! I don't think I'd be offending Tim by saying that: I think, that's the idea!


Thursday, September 9, 2010

Distinguished cellist joins Mitchell Con staff

Judi Power-Thomson's portrait of David Pereira
Mitchell Conservatorium is excited to announce that David Pereira, one of Australia's most accomplished cellists, has joined our staff.

It is not every day that one of our staff can boast that he has been the subject of an Archibald prize entry!

Please check out David's website for information about his activities as a performer, teacher, composer, writer and mental health advocate.

Welcome David!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

ASTON: classical collective courts contemporary crowd

Aston, with former MitCon top scholarship winner, Ella Jamieson, far left
Australian classical collective Aston is gearing up to hit the road next month, playing a series of shows through the NSW Central West, which will include performances at the Conservatorium of Music in Orange, Bathurst, Lithgow.

Aston is:
Will Henderson – Guitar,
Daniel Luscombe – Percussion,
Eliza Morrison – Violin,
Ella Jamieson – Piano,
Michael Bennett – Violin 
Hanna Oblikov – Cello. 

Catch Aston live:
Saturday 18th - Mitchell Conservatorium, Bathurst, West Wing, Court House, Bathurst
Tix from ABC Booksplus, Howick St, Bathurst or venue
Ph: 6331 6622 or www.mitchellconservatorium.edu.au

Sunday 19th - Mitchell Conservatorium, Lithgow, Wylde Street, Lithgow
Tix from Venue ph: 6351 3990, 6331 6622 www.mitchellconservatorium.edu.au

The six-piece, featuring local Bathurst girl Ella Jamieson on piano, are set to wow audiences with their take on some of the year’s biggest pop singles.

The collective reached an incredible milestone last month, achieving over one million views for their interpretations of contemporary pop songs on You Tube in just three months!

Fans all over the world have flocked to You Tube to check out Aston’s unique classical take on massive pop hits – from Kylie’s Confide In Me, to Rihanna’s Rude Boy and the one that took it to a whole new level – Lady Gaga’s Telephone, which has so far achieved 880,000 views over the past four months.


Never shy of a challenge, Aston recently headed into the studio to record La Roux’s former ARIA top 5 single Bulletproof – the track chosen by fans from a selection of six recent hits to be recorded by Aston for their next single. In just four weeks, over 10,000 fans voted online; Bulletproof can be viewed on the band’s website with the new single available on iTunes now.

Together with their upcoming tour dates, Aston are looking forward to the release of their debut album, set to drop in October.

You can catch Aston every Thursday on Seven Network’s hit series The Matty Johns Show; tune in to see them play a selection of pop hits every week.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Do You Have Some Great Musical Ideas?

Jared Killey, composing

Mitchell Conservatorium is proud to announce a composition competition for Bathurst residents, aged eight to eighteen. You can write in any style, for any combination of instruments and voices. Your piece could be a solo or for a group.

Full details of the competition are available from the Mitchell Conservatorium office, which is in the right-hand wing of Bathurst Court House in Russell St. Please phone 6331 6622 for more information.

Prizes range from a $50 encouragement prize for 8 to 11 year olds, to a $350 first prize for 16 to 18 year olds.

The entries must be submitted by Friday, 17th September, 2010.

Our adjudicator is distinguished composer, Paul Terracini. You can hear several of Paul's great works at this page, or you might like to check out the Youtube video below, which features Nikki Vasilakis playing his theme for the SBS television program Classical Destinations.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Why Music Matters

Distinguished band director, Jack Stamp


According to Jack Stamp, one of America's most beloved band directors,
Music matters because
1.It is demanding
2. It requires perfection
3. It encourages creativity.
In this audio recording, he says that playing in a band is harder than playing sport or academic study, because in those areas mistakes are allowed for and expected.

In Baseball, a 30% average is considered very good and in a Physics exam, getting 90% right would result in an A grading.

I love his comment about creativity in musical performance. He says that
Music involves transforming something that’s black and white into beautiful colours.

In Music rough enough is not good enough. Here's what mostly right sounds like:

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Bullseye!


Sarah Matthews, a wonderful cellist who has been teaching and performing at Mitchell Conservatorium for the past two years, makes playing the cello look easy. She even sounds great if you catch her practising her scales.

But in a recent Performance Opportunity, Sarah explained to us non-string players just how hard it is to create those beautiful sounds. Sarah says
a great string player is like a whizz at darts who hits the bullseye every time!

During the past week it has been my privilege to accompany Finella McBurney, Sarah Walls, and Emily and Tom Lindsay, who are young violinists studying at Mitchell Conservatorium. Finella and Emily are about the age I was when I began learning the piano, and Sarah and Tom are just a little older.

I am amazed at how clever they are at getting so many bullseyes as they tune each note as they play! When I began music lessons, all I had to do was put my fingers on the piano and occasionally play two notes at once, already tuned for me by our faithful piano tuner.

The exams they were preparing for were held yesterday, and all four received good results for their hard work. Congratulations are also due to their teachers and families, who are clearly partners in the process of learning to create the great sounds they are making.

Cooerwull String Group, hitting lots of bullseyes at a recent concert at Lithgow branch of Mitchell Conservatorium.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Winter Showcase

Christopher Dove, of Bathurst Brass Boys
If you would like to hear some great music to warm up a winter afternoon, head to Bathurst's Entertainment Centre this Sunday, 22nd August at 3 PM for a concert which begins with Mitchell Con's own Bathurst Brass Boys, and also features Fretworx, directed by Aaron Hopper, Lachlan division's Dr Music and the Con Kids, The Allegri Singers, conducted by William Moxey, the Bathurst Chamber Orchestra and The Bathurst City and RSL Concert Band, conducted by Mathias Rogala-Koczorowski.


Stringmansassy: duo featuring Mitchell Con's Aaron Hopper and vocalist, Kacey Patrick

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Music therapy

Director: Philip Braithwaite, with Anne Murray, Emma Walls, Jay-Anna Mobbs, 
Hannah Thompson, Laura Van-Uum, Phoebe Ward and  Courtney Powell















Mitchell Conservatorium students enjoy performing in all sorts of places in Bathurst. They don't confine themselves to concert halls, but enjoy going wherever they have the opportunity to play their music.

In this photo from 2009, our Junior Flute Choir are presenting a program for patients at Bathurst Base Hospital.

Eusebius has enjoyed hearing the students play, but doesn't have a recording to present here, yet. So here is a great recording by FluteMark of a Bach work to give you some idea of what our lovely flute choir sounds like.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

The greatest musical instrument?

Michelle Griffin, with Jonathan and Maureen Lewis

If you're going to learn a musical instrument, you might as well choose the best one! But which instrument is it?
Eusebius got taken to task on facebook recently when he quoted Kenneth Miller's comment that
No other acoustic instrument can match the piano's expressive range, and no electric instrument can match its mystery.
Violinists, recorder players and organists were out in full force, protesting vigorously.

I have to admit that there is an even greater instrument than the piano. And everyone's got one. It came free when you were born, included in the price. No batteries required.

Learning singing is a great way to begin studying Music, and is an essential element in becoming a musician, because it helps to you fulfill Schumann's great statement that
To be a musician you must have music not only in your fingers, but in your head and heart, too
Singing engages your body with your musical soul more directly than pushing keys, blowing through a tuba or hitting a cymbal. But once you have your own instrument (your voice) operating efficiently, it becomes easier to get the connection when you play a tin whistle or cello, or whatever you'd like to master.

And our three teachers above can help you to develop this great instrument: your own voice!

Come into the Con, in the Courthouse building [right-hand wing] in Russell St or ring 6331 6622 to get started!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Don't miss this!



This is a terrific performance of the first movement of a Brahms' trio for Piano, Viola and Cello, played by distinguished Australian performers, John Gould viola, Anne Stevens piano and Rita Woolhouse cello.

It was recorded at the Wesley Music Centre in Canberra on 1st August, 2010.

If you know of other great Australian performances on Youtube, please give us a whistle!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Free sheet music

Would you like some sheet music that you don't have to pay for? Everyone loves a bargain, so it is not unusual that musicians and music students like to hunt on the internet for free copies!

And there is plenty of stuff available, though some comes with a sting in the tail. Let me explain.

Some internet sites have plenty of free sheet music, but it is not of high quality. You will find copies of your favourite pieces of music that are hard to read, poorly notated and that have musical errors in many free sheet music sites. And there are other sites that may send viruses to your computer, or leave something behind after your visit.

But here are two great, reliable sites:

1. The Petrucci Music Library. On 10th August, 2010 there were 68 thousand scores available on this site.

These scores are mainly pieces of classical music that are over 75 years old and consequently out of copyright. You can find music for almost any instrument you can think of at this site, as well as scores and parts for orchestral and chamber music.

Some of the scores are poorly scanned, or the original that was used was of poor quality. Some of the scores are of an older, inferior edition to the ones we use today.

But many of them are very good quality, and you can't beat the price.

Courtney Powell, with teacher Michelle Griffin, in Rising Stars concert



2. Richard Harris, composer and arranger has kindly placed dozens of great, mostly simple arrangements on his personal site which he allows you to download for free. Richard's arrangements are simple, but do not dumb down the original piece of music.

Richard asks you to register, because he would like to know who is visiting his site, but after registering, you can download as many pieces as you like.

Here are a few of my popular favourites from Richard's site:
The Great Escape theme.
The Ghostbusters Theme who ya gonna call?
Blueberry Hill [which comes from the 1940s: I always thought it was a song from the 50s]
I'm A Believer
We Are The Champions
Nutrocker [a fun, jazzed up version of The March from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, originally performed by Bumble Bee and The Stingers]

Richard's site also includes many lovely arrangements of well known pieces of classical music and [is it too early to mention it?] lots of Christmas music.

If you find you enjoy these arrangements, you would certainly like his books of popular songs and film music, published by Faber.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

What Can I Play?

There are lots of instruments to choose from at Mitchell Conservatorium: it's up to you which one you choose. The Hayes  children had fun playing percussion instruments with teacher Aaron Hollier at a recent MitCon Open Day.

 Maybe you would love to play a big string instrument like a double bass or cello.
 Georg Mertens, cello and guitar teacher shows in this Youtube clip, recorded in the Cathedral cave at Jenolan, just how good a cello can sound in the hands of a great musician. Could this be you one day?

Come into the Con, in the Courthouse building [right-hand wing] in Russell St or ring 6331 6622 to get started!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Crazy ... but it works.

Mean Malin, performing in the 2009 US air guitar championship
Ever tried practising away from your instrument? Sound silly? Did you know that most great performers do it, and find it to be very effective?

 Amazing Canadian pianist, Angela Hewitt, does it when travelling, and says she can practise for longer when she hasn't got her piano there to distract her!

Robert Maddocks has a great story about an
experiment where a group of ordinary people are tested on their ability to shoot free throws in basketball. There are three groups of people, all inexperienced at the game of basketball. They are all tested at the beginning of the experiment to see how many free throws they can get. They are then separated into 3 groups. Group A is set up to practice shooting hoops for a half an hour everyday. Group B is not allowed to practice at all. And, Group C is instructed to 'imagine' shooting hoops for half an hour everyday. The results were surprising. Group A scored the same or worst. Group B scored slightly better than their initial score. Most surprising was the fact that Group C had the greatest increase of shots scored.

However, this is not going to work as your only form of practice! And I understand that it doesn't work so well for singers. When Joan Sutherland tried it, she discovered that every time she gave it a try, her voice kept coming along, too!

Please let us know if you have found this to be a useful form of practice.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Furry Leaves

Furry leaves: inspiration for Beethoven?
Welcome to Mitchell Conservatorium's new blog.

 Does this picture ring a bell? Many music students have an ambition to be able to play the piece of music that sounds like this song.

Do you know which one we mean?

 It sounds quite simple at the beginning, but after a minute or so, it becomes more like a Fifth Grade piece than a piece for a beginner to play.

If you click on the Youtube link below, you will hear an interesting version played by Zack Kim.