Crashendo

2014

Fundraising concert

On Wednesday 5th November, my class group (Ethan, Grant, Vaka) and I organised a Crashendo fundraising concert.

For our ‘Advance’ project (where we were required to help a charity organisation) we chose Crashendo, because of the effect that it has made on Laverton College and bringing music to the Laverton community. We had to do something music-related to support Crashendo, so we decided to organise a fundraising concert with the Crashendo orchestra performing and a raffle draw to help raise money.

The concert ran smoothly, apart from the speeches. The audience enjoyed our music, as we had chosen a variety of songs. We chose a classic movie theme – Harry Potter, a modern hit – Viva La Vida and two lovely little tunes. After all the rehearsing, the concert was great and in total we raised $46.30. It was a great success.

Leon Sun

- Laverton Crashendo student and leader to the team organising the concert

Crashendo in 2014 – an overview

Hey everyone! Crashendo here, it has been a fabulous year. We have new Mozart students and we have been playing difficult songs such as Harry Potter. We played in many places with other orchestras such as Pizzicato Effect. We as an orchestra went to excursions without playing but instead listened to beautiful sounds of the violins, viola, cello and double bass. Our tutors Eric, Erica and Susan have been working hard to teach us many things before our concert! December 3^rd (hope to see you there!). Most people learnt how to play without fingerings!

We as the Crashendo ambassadors organise things we can do during rehearsals to help us learn to sing and play our instruments.

We want to say thanks to Sharon and all the tutors for their help!

Tyna & Jai

- 2014 Crashendo Ambassadors

2013

At the beginning of this year we welcomed 10 new students to Crashendo to attend on Mondays and Wednesdays. These new students have been learning with strings tutor Rachael and have progressed well. They recently performed as part of our Term 2 concert. They are all doing a fabulous job! Soon they will be joining the full orchestra.

Friday 15^th March

On Friday 15^th of March the Crashendo Choir travelled again to Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School for a workshop with the PEGS Senior Choir. The excursion was a great success. It gave our Crashendo kids a chance to hear a large, full choir. Our kids performed for the PEGS Choir (and were very well received!) and the PEGS choir performed excerpts from Beauty and the Beast (which the kids loved!). The Crashendo kids also had the chance to stand amongst the older students and sing as a combined choir.

Thanks to our choir teacher Susan, PEGS Choir Director Claire McDonald, Victoria Police for the bus and PEGS Head of Music Peter Chaplin for making the workshop happen.

Wednesday 22^nd May

On Wednesday 22^nd May, the Crashendo students went on an excursion to the Melbourne Recital Centre in the city. The kids watched a concert performed by Orchestra Victoria and a number of fabulous soloists from the Australian National Academy of Music. The concert featured songs by Mozart and Britten and our students were able to recognise some of the tunes. After the concert, the Melbourne Recital Centre gave our kids the opportunity to ask some of the soloists a few questions. The soloists talked about their instruments and what it is like being a professional musician – lots of practice! Thank you to the Melbourne Recital Centre for giving Crashendo this fabulous opportunity. We even got a mention from the MC up on stage who very much welcomed our students to the performance!

“I learnt some new things to do when I play my violin, like if something goes wrong, don’t stop.” Connor, Crashendo violinist.

“My favourite part of the excursion was listening to the orchestra play pieces by Benjamin Britten.” Kaylani, Crashendo violinist and percussionist.

Thursday 30^th May

On Thursday 30^th May, the Crashendo students enjoyed another excursion into the city, this time to Iwaki Auditorium. The performance was by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as part of Education Week. The kids had a great time, especially being able to join in on some songs with voice and body percussion.

Thursday 13^th June

On Thursday 13^th June, the Crashendo Orchestra and Choir held their Term 2 concert in the Performing Arts Area at Laverton College. The choir performed two pieces – Tina Singu and a medley of Lean On Me/Stand By Me. The orchestra did an amazing job performing Venezuelan Lullaby and Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony which featured many new techniques. The ten newies performed as well showing how much they have already improved in just two terms! All the students should be very proud of themselves and thanks to a full audience of family and friends. The evening was a great success.

2012

28^th August 2012

On 28^th August 2012, the Crashendo Orchestra travelled to Penleigh & Essendon Grammar School to attend a workshop with the PEGS Orchestra made up of high school students. The kids enjoyed a performance by the senior orchestra then they were able to sit amongst the older musicians and play along side them. Together they rehearsed and performed three songs. It was a great opportunity for our students to hear the music played by such a large group and with many different instruments. Our kids also showed how much they know when answering difficult questions about the music!

Here are some anecdotes written by some of our Crashendo kids -

"Yesterday, we went to PEGS and all of us played music with high school kids. Playing with the big kids was so much fun! It was scary at first but I got used to it." Brianna, Crashendo violinist & percussionist.

"Yesterday, Crashendo went to PEGS to play some music with them. It was great. We got to be in a full orchestra and went in the police bus. I felt happy and excited. Also Erica chose me to say something and this is what I said, 'Um, thank you!'" Sam, Crashendo violist.

"Yesterday, Crashendo went to PEGS and played three songs we had chosen. It felt scary at first but when we got in, it felt better." Rhennay, Crashendo violinist.

There’s also a link to the PEGS website where we feature:

http://www.pegs.vic.edu.au/newsevents/2012/Music.htm

5^th December 2012

On the 5^th of December 2012 at 5pm the Crashendo Orchestra and Choir performed their final concert for the year.

2011

This is THE FIRST ORCHESTRA of an El Sistema-based program in Australia and the first full string orchestra at Laverton College!

The program is based on the hugely successful 'El Sistema' ('The System'), developed in the poorest areas of Venezuela, South America.

Tested and successful, this project has been running for over 36 years.

The Laverton Sistema Music Project is a free and inclusive immersion music education program for children, built around the teaching of music via instruments, singing and movement within the context of the symphony orchestras and choirs.

Always encouraging and never berating, it was devised to create a system for social action to socialise and instill a culture of joy and imagination in disadvantaged, depressed communities principally amongst the children of those communities and thence into the communities as a whole.

It assists strongly in the development of children's cognitive skills, self-discipline, concentration and has been shown to enhance literacy and numeracy in children with substantial international research evidence to support it.

We currently have 30 children in the first group to be part of the ‘El Sistema’ experience ranging from grades 2-5. These students receive 6 hours of free music tuition each week from trained music professionals.

Paul Lishman

Assistant Principal