News

Tenison Woods College senior music students had a fantastic weekend attending and participating in Generations in Jazz! This annual event, held at The Barn, is the biggest student music festival in the Southern Hemisphere and this year had students attending from every state in Australia. With headline artists ‘The Big Phat Band’ from USA performing, the calibre of music the students heard was literally the best in the world. Our students attended three concerts, and a variety of workshops lead by The Big Phat Band and leading Australian musicians. The joy and enthusiasm of attending the festival with over 4500 like-minded music students from around the country was truly amazing and is a highlight of the students’ musical journey. Our students also had the opportunity to perform and receive feedback from leading musicians and educators.

Our Small Jazz Combo received third place out of 25 combos in their division. This is an amazing outcome for this group as it is the first time we have entered this division. Members of the student-led ensemble were Year 10 students, Ella Williams, Ollie Stevens, Gabe Strachan and Bryan Van Zyl. Their commitment to learning the jazz language and their passion and enthusiasm for music are a credit to them and they should be very proud of this amazing achievement.

Gabe Strachan Was acknowledged for his composition skills and won first place in the inaugural ‘Composition Competition’ where students were invited to submit an original piece arranged for a full big band. His prize is personal skyped composition lessons with Gordon Goodwin, Emmy and Grammy winner and leader/arranger of the Big Phat Band. This is a truly amazing prize and recognises the amazing musician and writer that Gabe is. Congratulations!

Our Showband and Senior Vocal Ensembles performed to a high level and should be very proud of their efforts. They are a truly delightful group of students to work with and represented the College with distinction.