REPORTS
2023
The academy had quite a change at the beginning of 2023. The academy director was offered a scholarship for academic excellence and used that to take up her offer of associate student at the Royal Northern College of Music for six months. The academy brought in two relief teachers, Sophie Barker and Justin Zheng, who were absolutely brilliant and we are so lucky to have them.
The bands competed at the National Band Championships in Launceston, and had a fantastic dedicated team in all of our bands; A grade, C grade and youth. The percussionists from the youth band and from our academy entered the solo competitions and cleaned up! We won junior snare, junior timpani, junior mallets and open mallets.
The academy students marched in the annual Anzac Day parade in the city.
In July of 2023 our academy director returned to Australia.
The bands also competed at the State Band Championships in Ballarat, with a record number of bands attending. Thank you to all the wonderful percussionists involved, and thank you to Anthony and Fiona for your help with logistics and moving gear.
Congratulations to the percussionists who attended the Victorian State Youth Brass Band tour to Tasmania, fantastic opportunity and experience.
The academy performed at the AFL Grand Final Parade, and as usual performed with professionalism and strength despite the heat.
The academy had five percussionists attend the D2Drumline National Drum Camp this year, working with world-famous Ralph Nader and Chelsea Levine from America.
We had a record number of students complete their AMEB and Rockschool exams, with nine students competing ten exams. Marks ranged from B+ to A and 90 - 98 %! Congratulations!
We appreciate all of your support, in particular the Footscray-Yarraville City Band, for providing a space for us and also providing performance opportunities for the students.
2022
In the middle of 2022, the academy bought some new marching percussion instruments, due to the increasing number of marching students! We purchased lighter and safer drums for our younger and smaller players and Stuart McCorkelle fixed our quads (thank you so much!)
We had a record number of Christmas gigs: the Newport Lakes Primary School fete, the joint Melbourne Christmas Tree Farm performance with Sunshine Brass, the West Footscray Bunnings Christmas market, the Hyde Street Youth Band concert, the Yarraville Christmas Carols and of course our own end of year concert.
2020
What an interesting year it has been for the academy. We have had our ups and downs, just like every other arts organisation this year, but on the whole, overwhelmingly ups!
2020 of course saw the big move to the new venue. This has been a great advantage to the academy, with bigger spaces and higher security. It has allowed the Wiggle and Shake toddlers program to grow, with the bonus of lifts, accessible toilets, secure doors and security guards. There of course were a few teething issues with the academy not having its own set of keys, heating/cooling issues, and other people coming into the space and touching instruments. Apart from this - a very positive experience.
2020 also saw the start of our junior ensemble. We had been wanting to set this up for a while but did not have enough members until this year. The junior ensemble rehearse for 45 minutes every Saturday, just before the senior ensemble, which allows cross-over and members from both ensembles to get to know each other. The junior ensemble members have been performing as part of Hyde Street Junior Band, and last term had their first solos days, both for Hyde Street and the Academy.
2020 also saw the purchase of new instruments. The FYCB purchased it’s first full-size Bergerault vibraphone and have access to a Bergerault xylophone to make an awesome matching pair. The academy also has access to a 4.3 Marimba thanks to the Hyde Street Band and have also had instruments donated. We are extremely grateful that we have access to these instruments and all bands will be able to play the ever increasingly difficult and technical works of brass band music on the correct instruments. The players and students percussion education will also benefit greatly.
And of course… the coronavirus. At the end of term 1 the academy moved online due to the outbreak of Covid-19. It has been a massive learning curve for the academy and students/parents, but has shown the support and the determination of its members to keep the music going. The academy successfully moved all of its private lessons, junior ensemble and senior ensemble to an online platform, and has continued to rehearse successfully (with a few drawbacks of course, such as lack of mallet instruments in homes). We unfortunately temporarily lost our toddlers program, but we are in the process of creating live-streamed home programs. We would also love to thank the FYCB, in particular Louisa Trewartha for including the academy and it’s students in her amazing Halfa with a Master series, and her Professional Feedback program.
One of the biggest drawbacks of course has been the cancellation of performances for the foreseeable future. We are hoping this will change (safely) in time for small outdoor Christmas concert opportunities - fingers crossed.
One big positive from these online experiences has been the realisation of the incredible uses that technology has and what it can help us achieve. In September, almost every student at the academy entered the VBL Solo and Ensemble Championships - held online. The academy did excellently, placing in many categories, but most impressive was the number of applicants.
Technology has connected students from all over Victoria. In term 3, the academy opened it’s junior rehearsals to any child for free, and we had record numbers. We hope to use these online platforms much more in the future.
On a personal note, I am one proud academy director! Moving forward, I wish to grow our member base, have more students taking AMEB exams, start up the toddlers program again with increased membership, start up our busking program and of course, once we’re all back together, continue to grow the skills of the students and the academy as a whole.
Thank you everyone for a successful year.
2019
Last year 2019 was a fantastic year that saw not only the growth of our academy but also of our performances and involvement with the community.
Our senior ensemble grew in size and in commitment, including more difficult songs learnt and increased repertoire. The older students chose duets to perform as well, encouraging contact and responsibility outside of the weekly rehearsals.
We had our first AMEB exam, in which the student received a High Distinction. We now have two other members working towards their first exam.
Thanks to the FYCB, the academy was able to own it’s first Premier marching drums and stands.
In December the senior ensemble had a record of five performances. This included two primary school fetes with the Hyde Street Youth Band, a performance at the Hyde Street zoo gig, a solos performance day and a performance at the Hyde Street End of Year Concert. We are very proud that many of our members are also part of other organisations, and had additional gigs on top of this, including helping out the FYCB with their end of year Christmas concert in the Yarraville Gardens.
During this busy end of year season, the group learnt a lot in terms of organisation, set up and pack down, and teamwork. The students were great and everyone always helped to do their bit, often without prompting - whether it was carrying instruments or helping out the younger members.