This year’s Pumpkin Palooza gave our secondary students a wonderful opportunity to present a selection of suitably spooky music, along with some of the projects they’ve been working on in class.
Year 9 students have been studying polyrhythmic music from West Africa, impressing everyone with their performance of Boro Demborola, a Malian balafon piece. They tackled the complex, interlocking rhythms with remarkable skill and precision. It’s been a pleasure to watch them craft their own arrangement of this folk tune over the past weeks, showcasing their growing maturity and impressive ability to organize group projects independently.
Elsewhere, Year 8 students shared their recent exploration of reggae—a genre not typically linked to Halloween’s eerie vibe! Selecting students for this performance was no easy task, as everyone had learned parts on multiple instruments to an impressive standard. Their rendition of Bob Marley’s Jammin’ was superb and highlighted their enthusiasm for ensemble playing.
In our Senior Music Hub’s Friday ASA, students have paused their smaller projects to learn Ghost Town by ‘The Specials’ together. They pulled off this challenging ska arrangement beautifully, captivating the audience with a full-band performance that showed the range of talent we have amongst our secondary students.
Vivian in Year 11 deserves a special mention for her standout performance of American Idiot, alongside Anakin and Mr. Benson. Playing bass guitar while singing beautifully is no easy feat, yet Vivian handled both with skill and poise, setting a high standard for our younger musicians.
Our students are becoming confident, skillful performers. A particularly inspiring moment came today when, faced with a few last-minute absences, several students bravely stepped in to support their peers—a true testament to the supportive spirit in our music community.
