The music program at Thomastown Secondary College is striking the right chord, writes Sue Hewitt
Some may say northern suburbs kids are taught by the school of hard knocks, but at Thomastown Secondary College they are taught by the school of hard rock.
The college also teaches classical, jazz and a long list of styles and instruments in a comprehensive music curriculum that introduces students to music from their first year in secondary school.
Students in the VCE years perform in several bands and ensembles, including a rock band that is part of the Kool Skools program where students get to record, produce and engineer their original music onto CDs, and win individual and band awards.
“We get up to 25 to 35 schools across Victoria in the program,” Kool Skools spokesman Trevor Carter says. “It will be Thomastown Secondary ’s 17th year in the program.
“It is one of the strongest schools and that is great, especially considering they don’t come from the richest area in Melbourne but do have a rich music program.”
Thomastown won the Kool Skools overall award for best band in 2004 and 2009, and this year its VCE rock band, The Element Kings, is already writing and rehearsing its own songs for the program.
Music co-ordinator Jimi Lundy says the 21 VCE students in the band are excited.
“It’s very different to the glee club, it’s all original songs where the kids express themselves through writing music and lyrics and the songs are evolving all the time.
“They are writing about their lives, about being teenagers and growing up. One wrote a song one year about their father who had passed away and that someday they would see their father. It’s about expressing themselves and keeping it real.”
Rina Khum, a 17-year-old lead vocalist, will perform at the Kool Skools final concert this year for the second consecutive year .
The VCE band is about “everybody working together and experiencing making songs together’’.
But she admits it’s nerve-wracking to stand in front of a huge audience at the Kool Skools concert, until “you see the smiling faces”.
The music program is only part of what appeals to Rina about the school.
“Thomastown College is multicultural where everyone gets along in a happy and safe environment,” she says.
Fellow VCE band performer Kevin Kim is a 16-year-old drummer who last year won the Kool Skools outstanding drummer award.
“When I was small I loved hitting things. I love drumming, but I also play the guitar and piano,” Kevin says.
His father is a singer and percussionist, and Kevin chose Thomastown college because of its music curriculum.
Bailey Stowers, 16, one of the lead singers in the VCE band, comes from a musical family too. Her parents were jazz singers until they started a family.
“I find it much easier to express my self though singing,” she says.
Michael Mitrevski, a 16-year-old guitarist in the VCE band, broke his leg when he was in grade 4 and reached for an old guitar to while away the time.
“It was something to do, but I loved it and have been playing ever since.”
He practises at least an hour a day and dreams of a career as a musician.
Lundy says former student Revival Nona, who won the best female vocalist at the Kool Skools awards in 2008 and was part of the rock band that won overall in 2009, is now a professional musician in New Zealand.
She sings with the popular Lisa Wright band, has appeared on New Zealand television, and is an inspiration to students.
One of the performers at the in-house concert last year was Jimmy Cupples, a popular contestant from the television program The Voice.
“It’s an inspiration to the children,” Lundy says.
While the school’s VCE band has until July 31 to write, rehearse and polish its songs before going into the Kool Skools recording studio, the rest of the school is gearing up for their Visions concert at the Darebin Arts and Entertainment Centre in September.
Lundy says that from years 7 to 9, all students do music theory and learn to play instruments, including the ukulele.
“It’s a small instrument and not as expensive as a guitar, so we provide all students (in these years) access to one.” The school has a ukulele band.
“The ukulele is very popular,” says Lundy. “There’s a ukulele orchestra in the UK, but the main thing is students can see what they can achieve.”
One student who has embraced the instrument is Julie Nguyen, 15, whose uncle is a professional ukulele player.
“The ukulele is small, cute and very peaceful to play,” she says. “It has an amazing gentle sound and you can play blues, jazz and rock.My favourite is Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven.”
Julie saved money from her part-time job in a fast food chain to buy a $250 ukulele.
“I want to be an amazing ukulele player and my dream is to be a professional and go to Hawaii to teach the kids to play.”
Lundy says music is an elective at the school in years 9 and 10, and about 200 children choose to continue, while in years 11 and 12 about 150 students do it.
The years 7 to 10 have their own rock band but play cover songs rather than originals, while other students perform as soloists or in ensembles such as the jazz quartet and percussion band with African drums and a cajon, a percussion instrument from Peru.
The school choir, which will perform at the school’s Vision concert includes students from each year level.
Principal Leonie White is proud of her school, which has students from 30 countries. They speak 50 languages between them.
“There is no great secret as to why this multicultural school remains safe, peaceful and is marked with the driving ambition of staff, students and parents,” she says.
“The physical building design, leadership structure and student groupings are all designed to support a strong emphasis on building effective, respectful relationships and a belief that to become strong, effective adults, individuals must start with understanding and respect for who they are, a connection to their cultural past and a drive to build a better world, not just for themselves but for the whole community.” The music staff are as multicultural as their students.
Yilin Zhu teaches violin and viola, Tom Fraser double bass and electric bass, Joe Costa electrical guitar, Sergio De Leucio drums and percussion, Suzie Yeo piano, Emily Poole saxophone and Olivia Nathan vocals.
Ms Zhu has even performed for a pope. She was in a quartet that was summoned to play at a World Youth Day event in Sydney 2008, not realising she would be playing for Pope Benedict.
Amazing things happen through music, she says.
