Friday 27 January 2023

Instrumental Music News

Welcome to our new staff

Mr Warwick Adeney

We are thrilled to welcome an icon of Australia’s music scene to our Instrumental Music teaching team. Mr Warwick Adeney has been Concertmaster of Queensland Symphony Orchestra for more than 20 years. He is a phenomenal violinist, chamber musician and artistic visionary, as well as a highly sought-after educator. In 1995, he became a Churchill Fellowship recipient and studied orchestral culture and the position of concertmaster amongst the top European orchestras. Over the years, Mr Adeney has continued to enjoy the privileged and challenging life of the orchestra, and become something of a specialist in ballet solos and the Four Seasons along the way. The violin Mr Adeney plays is a Venetian instrument from the early 18th century, possibly by Carlo Antonio Testore.

We welcome Mr Adeney to the private Instrumental Music teaching staff at BGGS.

Ms Chloe Evans (BMus, GradCertMus, MTeach)

Ms Evans is a specialist Vocal teacher, graduating from The University of Tasmania majoring in classical and musical theatre voice. She moved to Brisbane five years ago to further study music education at The University of Queensland, sparking her interest in the role of singing and its connection to child development.

Ms Evans is passionate about performing, and often performs in musical theatre productions. Her theatre credits include Heathers, Sweeney Todd, Lucia Di Lammermoor, Wicked, Mary Poppins, Something’s Afoot, and The Addams Family.

This year at BGGS, Ms Evans will be taking group singing lessons, directing choirs Voices and Vox, and assistant directing Euphonix under Ms Ruani Dias-Jayasinha. Ms Evans looks forward to working within the rich and rewarding musical programs BGGS has to offer.

Mr Bernardo Alviz

Double bassist, composer and conductor, Mr Alviz enjoys a career as an active performer and educator. Born in Bogota, Colombia, Mr Alviz began his double bass studies at the Universidad Javeriana with Alexandr Sanko, followed by studies at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin in Germany with Janne Saksala, Axel Scherka, Esko Laine, and Klaus Stoll.

Mr Alviz was a member of the orchestra academy of the Komische Oper Berlin and the Staatskapelle Berlin and has regularly performed with world leading orchestras including the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphony Orchester Berlin, Netherlands Philharmonic and Konzerthausorchester Berlin, among others. He has worked with some of the world’s leading conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Gustavo Dudamel, Antonio Pappano, Pablo Heras-Casado, Lahav Shani, Francois-Xavier Roth, Mark Elder, Heinz Holliger, Matthias Pintscher, Pekka Kuusisto, Hakan Hardenberger, and George Benjamin.

His passion for exploring new music has allowed him to perform in some of the most renowned festivals including the Lucerne Festival, the Donaueschingen Musiktagen, and the Malmo International Chamber music festival.

Mr Alviz is about to complete his PhD degree in music composition at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.

Year 7 students

This week, our new Year 7 students had the opportunity to hear more about the wonderful Instrumental Music Program at BGGS from Deputy Principal (Co-curriculum), Ms Sophie Mynott. Students who have either never played an instrument before or, perhaps, stopped playing during primary school and would like to start again, are invited to explore beginning a new instrument. Group lessons are provided free of charge (private lessons are an extra charge). Students do not need to have a musical background—we will teach you everything from scratch. Please follow this link for expressions of interest or enrolment: https://secureforms.bggs.qld.edu.au/Forms/2022-BGGS-Music-Enrolment.

Ensemble Rehearsals

Next week, the Instrumental Music Department will really kick into high gear with the commencement of all our ensemble rehearsals.

Students in these ensembles will have heard from staff about rehearsal expectations, days, and times.

Lesson Commencement

Week 2 will see the commencement of all lessons except for those Year 7 students enrolled in group lessons, who will have their first lessons in Week 3 (after the instrument trials have been completed).