By Isabel Viera | posted on February 18, 2021
STUDENT musicians from Perth’s Hale High School are heading down to the Great Southern after international border closures put a halt on their New York music camp.
As international travel remains on pause due the COVID-19 pandemic, the school has chosen to take their camp to the next best place, the Great Southern region.
Students from Hale’s music department in the jazz orchestra, concert band, string ensemble and choir will be travelling to Narrogin, Denmark and Albany to experience and engage in the region’s music scene.
Next week, 65 students will set out on the trip, first stopping in Narrogin before spending the day at the Albany Senior High School (ASHS).
Hale’s Director of Jazz Gavin Kerr said the boys will be workshopping with students from ASHS music department to create music together.
“The students will be working on lots of different collaborative music making and then they will put on a concert at the end of the day, which will be a bit of a showcase of what they’ve been working on throughout the day,” he said.
Mr Kerr said the school will be taking advantage of the sights and attractions of the Great Southern, aiming to tackle Castle Rock and visit the Gap before preparing for a concert at the Denmark Civic Centre on Saturday February 27.
“On Saturday night we will be playing with the Rainbow Coast Big Band, which will be our jazz band and theirs collaboratively playing swing dance music,” he said.
“We’ve got a teacher on staff who is a great swing dancer, so she will be teaching some of the boys how to swing dance.
“I’m hoping it’s going to be filled with joy. Swing music is the most joyous music there is, it’s impossible not to be infected by it and want to get up and dance, I think the audience will be in for a treat.”
Hale’s Director of Music Melissa Skinner said the purpose of the trip is to give the students the opportunity to travel and experience music from other places outside of the City.
“We want our boys to be able to act as mentors for future students, to meet and learn from other people and to have these opportunities,” she said.
“We’re hoping it will bring our boys together, strengthen their sense of community and our music department as well.”
For more information and to purchase tickets to watch Hale’s students perform alongside the Rainbow Coast Big Band, visit Eventbrite.
