Old Flinderian Tate Cassells (Class of 2020) is a talented musician who developed his early passion for music through the Flinders Music Program.
Since graduating from Matthew Flinders Anglican College with the Class of 2020, Tate has gone on to complete a Bachelor of Music at the Queensland Conservatorium (also known as “The Con”) at Griffith University.
Along the way, he's been performing and touring with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Youth Orchestra, as well as the Brisbane Excelsior Band.
Tate will return to Flinders to perform as part of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in the “Dreams and Stories” concert on Saturday, 10 August in the Flinders Performance Centre. Tickets are available here.
Tate recently secured a scholarship to study a master's degree in performance with the prestigious Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. He sets off for the adventure in September. The College is renowned for its exceptional faculty, rigorous curriculum and collaborations with such esteemed institutions as the Opera North, BBC Philharmonic and The Hallé Orchestra.
Interestingly, it is the same College that Tate’s mentor from the Flinders Music Program, Mr John Thomas (known at Flinders as “JT”), trained at in his early music career.
We asked Mr Thomas to reflect on Tate as a student. Mr Thomas will retire at the end of 2024 school year, having contributed more than 30 years of dedicated service and expert tuition to students’ music development through the Flinders Music Program.
Mr Thomas said:
“Tate was a pleasure to teach right from day one. He was so willing to learn and worked hard to achieve his many goals. He continued his diligent approach right through the three and a half years of his degree at the Queensland Conservatorium in Brisbane.
“He is now ready for his Masters degree in Manchester, England, the home of Brass, and I am confident he will conquer the many challenges that will confront him.
“Some of the principles we always talked about during Tate’s music training:
- You can't be a good player until you are a good person.
- Learn from everyone you come in contact with.
- Always be true to yourself.”
BEYOND FLINDERS Q&A PROFILE WITH TATE CASSELLS
We asked Tate to reflect on his schooling and career experiences so far.
Q: Tate, what have you been up to since you left school?
After I graduated from Flinders in 2020, I moved to Brisbane and went to St John's College at the University of Queensland with many of my good friends from Flinders. After a year, I moved out and rented a house with some friends. I studied a three-and-a-half-year Bachelor of Music at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University in Southbank. I had the pleasure of doing a lot of great things at uni and a lot of things outside of uni through the music industry.
Q: What were some of the opportunities you appreciated through “The Con”?
At The Con, you’re basically learning from the best guys in town who are playing music all of the time, which is pretty cool. I was fortunate to learn from Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Ashley Carter (Associate Principal Trombone) and Jason Redmond (Section Principal Trombone).
And so, in my second year of my degree, I was invited to do a casual audition with the QSO - and I passed it, which was really good! It was definitely a big challenge. I've been employed casually with the QSO for the last couple of years, and it’s been fantastic. I did a season of Verdi's opera Aida at the end of last year, and a season of Capello a couple of weeks ago.
And I'm actually coming up here to perform in the Flinders Performance Centre with the QSO for the “Dreams and Stories” concert on Saturday, 10 August. It’s going to be really cool coming back to Flinders.
I've also had the privilege of being a part of the Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) program. I was lucky enough to do the seasons last year, so we did Shostakovich 10th Symphony in Perth Concert Hall in autumn, and in winter we did a brand new program that was commissioned for the AYO by Nigel Westlake. We performed in Canberra and then finished the season off in the Sydney Opera House, which was a ‘bucket list’ opportunity.
Playing bands is definitely a passion of mine, since learning from JT and playing during school with the Flinders Wind Symphony and other bands. I still play with the Brisbane Excelsior Band. I've performed and rehearsed with them since I moved to Brisbane. It’s social yet professional, and I love it.
Any favourite Flinders moments?
I just loved that at Flinders there weren't many boundaries between the different people doing different things. I was a music kid but a lot of my friends didn’t play music. That’s unique to Flinders; it gives you the space to establish your own identity outside of your hobbies. I'm still really great friends with the guys from school. As for the Music Program at Flinders, I appreciated that it offered us a very high standard.
Do you have a particular role model or inspirational figure from Flinders?
There are plenty of role models to pick from, but it has to be Mr John Thomas, “JT”. It's pretty cool to be taking off to go and study in Manchester in September when that’s where JT studied and played with some amazing bands. I owe so much to him. Because, many people professionally, not just in music but in all fields, get really consumed by their passion. But JT was always so good at ensuring balance. Music is his passion and gift, but it isn’t his complete identity. I don't think I would have been able to navigate the challenges that I've had professionally through The Con and outside of The Con without JT's mentorship.
How 'easy' was it for you to decide what you wanted to do beyond Flinders?
It was actually pretty easy as all roads led to studying music. The course I ended up doing was the only music course I had listed on my QTAC! So, if I didn’t get into that one I thought I might do business or agriculture. But I always would have ended up going with music professionally /because I just love playing at that level and that intensity.
I’m grateful to have had the mentors that I had during school. I also remember conversations with Mr Nick Campbell, the Director of Music at Flinders. There was one particular conversation we had when I was really questioning whether to study music or not, and he said, “You know, you are actually quite capable and you need to believe that. You need to go and do it.” And it definitely became clear to me by the end of Year 12 that the decision to study music was the best one I could make.
For me, it wasn’t about the salary potential through music. But for me now, in terms of being a young person in Australia who is studying music, I've travelled to every state to play semi professionally or professionally. I’ve met great people and I’ve experienced some really cool things. I’m so grateful for that.
Can you share how you secured this scholarship opportunity in Manchester?
I was finishing up my undergrad at the end of last year, and I didn’t know what to do next but someone came through town from the Royal Northern College of Music and it was one of those ‘right place at the right time’ opportunities. Someone suggested I should apply, so I did a late audition and they offered me a late spot, a scholarship, which is pretty cool.
Note: Tate has received a part scholarship, which means he is raising funds through donations to help cover the additional tuition fees, living expenses, and other essential costs associated with his studies. Please see his project fundraising page here and below.
What advice or words of wisdom would you give to our current students, especially our Year 12s?
I think if you're enjoying what you're doing, it's really easy to find success. There's so much onus put on results and awards, and I've had some luck with it and I've had some shockers.
But you look around at the best guys in almost any industry and they're not so focused on the accolades; they’re process driven. So, my advice to a young person chasing a goal or a career path would be to enjoy it and focus on the process. If you're enjoying what you're doing and how you're doing it and finding the best ways of doing things because you want your process to be rock solid, then that effort and precision will be reflected in your product. The result is kind of just an afterthought.”
To learn more about Tate’s scholarship opportunity and support his associated costs with this studies, visit here.
To read other Beyond Flinders profiles with our Old Flinderians, please visit here.
