On Tuesday this week, selected students from the Junior and Senior School were delighted to be given the opportunity to hear a concert performed by the Scotch College Symphony Orchestra as part of their 2023 tour of Europe!
The Scotch College Symphony Orchestra has been an integral part of Scotch College, Melbourne, Australia for fifty years. An all boys independent school, the aim of the orchestra is to give the students an opportunity to play classical repertoire in its original form in a full orchestra of 70 to 80 players. The school also boasts a large choir, big band and a pipe and drums ensemble.
The orchestra often tours internationally. The first was a tour of Asia in the 1979 and other notable tours include China in 1986, England, France and Belgium in 1995, 2005 and 2013, tours to Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Spain, a tour of five cities in China in 2010, and two tours to the USA (the last in 2020). The Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players have also performed in Zimbabwe, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai.
Our visitors had lunch with St Chris KS4 and KS5 musicians and those that wanted to embrace the chilly weather were taken on a tour of the School by students during the lunch break to view our grounds and meet our students. We then returned to the Theatre and a one hour performance which featured music from Elgar, Korngold, Coates and Shostakovich along with a few songs sung by one of their vocal quintets. They finished with an encore of the Australian national anthem sung in 5 part harmony and a beautiful rendition of ‘Waltzing Matilda’ from the orchestra.
