Resounding brass success

Music

The Elder Conservatorium of Music recently held a highly successful, three-day 'Brass Weekend', from 6 - 8 May 2006. The event was the brainchild of the Conservatorium's Head of Brass, Mr Howard Parkinson, who is also the Principal Bass Trombonist with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

The event involved the active participation of several hundred young South Australian brass players, accompanied by their school music teachers, from high schools right across the state, including contingents from the Riverland, Mount Gambier, Port Augusta, and the Barossa Valley, as well as a strong showing from schools in the metropolitan region. It was a partnership between the Conservatorium, the Instrumental Music Service (of the State Government Department of Education), and high schools.

Over the three days there was a densely packed programme of concerts, masterclasses, workshops and advice sessions, all designed to assist talented teenagers to tune in to the nature of professional music training, as pursued through the Conservatorium's training programs at degree and certificate levels.

The final session was a memorable conclusion to the long weekend, as over a hundred participants filled both the stage of Elder Hall, and the acoustic space, with a memorably rousing "mass blow".

The Director and Dean of the Conservatorium, Professor Charles Bodman Rae, paid tribute to the initiative of Howard Parkinson in putting together such a fun and educationally inspiring event.

"I'd also like to thank the music teachers and the Instrumental Music Service for making this partnership such a literally resounding success."