Musicians from the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) stepped out of the concert hall and into the schoolyard on Tuesday, to bring classical music and inspiration to the students at Halls Head Primary School.
The Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Inspire Quartet have traveled to over 100 Australian cities and townships around the country, but this was their first visit to a Mandurah school.
“We are so delighted to be bringing music to such a wonderful school and really really enthusiastic students,” violinist Peter Clark said.
“It’s always such a powerful thing, what music can do for young people, and the ACO really prioritises bringing music to all young people across Australia, regardless of where they might live or how accessible it might be to them... It’s all about equal music for everyone.”
Halls Head Primary music teacher Sian Dhu said the quartet’s visit was a great opportunity for the school’s music scholarship students to see where classical music could take them.
“We’ve certainly found that children tend to have an interest in contemporary music as opposed to traditional, but the scholarships that are offered through the Department of Education are all traditional music, so we wanted to get some professionals in to show the kids what you can achieve and work towards,” Ms Dhu said.
The Inspire Quartet mostly played classical pieces, but also showed students how traditional instruments can play pop songs, and have been used in popular film and television scores.
“[Classical instruments] can still have contemporary uses, which is really what we wanted the kids to get an idea of,” Ms Dhu said.
The scholarship program is offered to year 6’s, and due to popularity the school had to develop a selection process to decide who is eligible.
Molly Stewart, a year 6 student, qualified to play clarinet last year, and hopes to continue studying music into high school.
“At the end of last year we had a big test, all the year 5’s did it, and the people who got the top grades learnt to play an instrument, like trumpet, clarinet, flute,” she said.
“When I went for the scholarship, we had to write a letter, and I wrote down that if I’m feeling down, I can always find a song that fits into what I’m feeling.”
After the performance the scholarship students had the opportunity to talk with the ACO quartet, and enjoyed some impromptu jam sessions with the professional musicians.
