Remember the QANTAS advert campaign? The beautiful sweeping landscapes and the choir singing, “I Still Call Australia Home?”...
One of those choirs was the Australian Girls Choir (AGC), and Flinders was proud to host them and engage in workshops and a concert on campus during their recent two-week tour of South East Queensland.
The AGC approached the Flinders Music Department earlier this year and the College jumped at the chance to host the choir for four days in October, with the Flinders choir families kindly providing homestays for the visiting students.
On Thursday, 10 October, the Choir spent the day at the College presenting special workshops with the large Primary and Secondary Choirs, including the Junior Primary Choir, the Flinders Choir and the College Chorale, which feature students from Year 1 to Year 12.
Flinders has eight choir ensembles, providing diverse choral mentorship for students from beginning vocalists all the way up to skilled vocalists who choose to audition for the extension and enrichment opportunities.
For 40 years, the Australian Girls Choir has provided high quality performing arts education and exceptional performance opportunities to girls across the country.
The workshops with Flinders Choir and College Chorale included work on combined pieces and these two choirs were privileged to perform with the AGC that evening in a spectacular concert for over 300 parents and friends in the Flinders Performance Centre. The Flinders students joined the AGC on stage to showcase their work and perform the final pieces.
Channel 7 Sunshine Coast were also there to cover the concert (follow this link to the video here) and interviewed our students, including some of our youngest choir members.
Year 2 student Isaac S said that he “really enjoyed the warm ups” and Year 1 student Mae J said, “The experience was joyful and fun! Singing just makes everyone happy.”
ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENT VOCALISTS AT FLINDERS
Primary Music Teacher, Mrs Amy Armitage said, “What a wonderful experience it was for our Primary students to have the opportunity to workshop with the amazing calibre that the AGC brings.
“Our students from as young as six years old were mesmerised by the energy and passion that the girls shared with them. The students left the workshop buzzing with the excitement that music and singing brings.
“The choir members and conductors connected with students of all ages, sharing the excitement of warming up their vocals and their bodies in order to bring the best out in their voices with a focus on singing together as one.
“Their passion for singing was evident and left a memorable impact on our younger students, giving them something to aspire to.”
The Flinders community were involved, with Friends of Music kindly providing a shared afternoon tea for the Flinders Choir and College Chorale with the Australian Girls Choir.
Flinders Vocal Studies and Choir Co-oordinator, Ms Sally McHugh said,
“The AGC students were billeted with our families and the response from the Flinders families has been overwhelmingly positive, with many recommending this occur again and lining up to billet the students again.”
“The last time Flinders hosted the AGC was in 2002, so it was an honour and we hope they will return to Flinders in the not-too-distant future.”
The AGC tour all over Australia and the world and go to different areas each time.
REFLECTIONS FROM MUSIC CAPTAINS AT FLINDERS
Georgia N in Year 11 said:
“Spending time with the AGC during workshops was thoroughly enjoyable and all of the Flinders students experienced new physical warmups and learning purely by ear instead of sight reading. Watching the choir perform firsthand on Thursday evening was a WOW experience as each AGC member brought their unique energy that came together to make a lively, engaging performance that every one of us thoroughly enjoyed. Overall, partaking in these workshops with the choir and having the girls in our home for their few days on the Sunshine Coast was an invaluable experience.”
Anastasia M in Year 12 said:
“Undertaking the workshops with the AGC was so refreshing because we experienced different things outside of our normal choir activities. We loved spending time with them, having them in our rehearsals where we taught them pieces, working with the AGC as they taught us their songs and spending time together developing friendships with students from all over Australia.”
Highlights from the Flinders Workshop and Concert with the Australian Girls Choir
