2012 Music Camp fees are set at $335. Please download the invoice from the downloads page. Camp payments are due by the end of this week – 11th May 2012. Please make the payment for camp through the schools finance office by [...]]]> Music Camp costs have finally arrived. Thank you all for being so patient!

2012 Music Camp fees are set at $335. Please download the invoice from the downloads page. Camp payments are due by the end of this week – 11^th May 2012. Please make the payment for camp through the schools finance office by calling 9301 0300 and paying via credit card or send a cheque to the school made payable to “Rose Bay Secondary College Music Camp”.

If you have not yet registered for camp it is not too late to join this fabulous event. To register complete and return the invoice then fill out and return to the school the camp paperwork:  http://rbscmep.net/wp/?page_id=1499
The behavioural/permission slip and the Tops risk assessment form must be returned to the school by the 11^th May 2012. There is a box on the desk at the entrance of C-Block staff room for students to leave the forms in or students can give these forms to Mrs Masterson.

We are excited to announce that the legendary John Morrison will be hosting a workshop at our camp. Voted Australia’s best Big Band drummer, his big band “Swing City” was selected to open the Sydney 2000 Olympics.  Throughout his career John Morrison and his many groups have headlined every major event and festival in Australia. Check out a video of John Morrison at our facebook page or on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yTuq-xT032k

We are also very lucky to have local band Cope Street Parade doing a performance at our camp. The Cope Street Parade formed in 2009, The Parade has performed at major music festivals and venues across Australia, such as the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz, Sydney Festival, Bellingen Jazz Festival, Manly Jazz Festival, Jazzgroove Summer Festival and at heaps of other great dives. The band has also been lucky enough to collaborate with Lulo Reinhardt, Christa Hughes, Geoff Bull and Bob Barnard. You can view a video of this band on our facebook page: www.facebook.com/rbscmep or on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOkxlKlde9I

We are looking forward to a fabulous learning experience as well as lots of fun.

During the holidays Rose Bay Secondary Rockband group ‘The Scholars’ (Joey Reinhard, Lewis Clark, Sachin Burns and Ben Munro) participated in Youthrock, a youth band competition staged as part of youth week.  The boys were selected to participate in the state finals of this competition after submitting a video early in term 1.  [...]]]>

During the holidays Rose Bay Secondary Rockband group ‘The Scholars’ (Joey Reinhard, Lewis Clark, Sachin Burns and Ben Munro) participated in Youthrock, a youth band competition staged as part of youth week.  The boys were selected to participate in the state finals of this competition after submitting a video early in term 1.  They played a 15 minute set of completely original music last Friday night (20th April) at the Sutherland Entertainment Centre and though they made a really good impression on the crowd and the other bands, they were beaten in their heat by two older, more experienced and ‘showy’ bands.  Still, they were the youngest band by far and played some really memorable, well composed songs.  Congratulations to Lewis, Sachin, Joey and Ben.

The School was given a last minute opportunity late last term to have a music program called Rock The Schools visit Rose Bay to do some workshops and put on a lunchtime concert for the students.  The show is very professional with half a million dollars worth [...]]]> Rock The Schools – This Monday 30th April

The School was given a last minute opportunity late last term to have a music program called Rock The Schools visit Rose Bay to do some workshops and put on a lunchtime concert for the students.  The show is very professional with half a million dollars worth of sound and lights being brought on site and an up and coming band from Brisbane called ‘Nine Sons Of Dan’ playing for our students.  There will also be workshops on sound, lighting and recording equipment as well as a question and answer session with the band following the concert.

At this stage just MEP students and Assembly Crew will be invited but if there are spaces then I may open this up to anyone interested. 

This is a formal invitation for your student(s) to participate in the workshops and/or the Q&A session.  The workshops will run during class time and if students participate in both they will be out of class most of the day. 

There are two workshops one on Lighting and one on Live Sound & Recording and these will run from the start of Period 3 in the hall and go into to period 4 by about 10 minutes.  These students also have the option to participate in the bump in and setup during periods 1 and 2 which provides a valuable real world link to the workshop content.

The concert takes place at lunch time and the entire school have been invited to come along i wouldencourage your students to attend.

Following the concert there will be a Q&A session in period 5 with the organisers and the band covering topics like job oppurtunities in the music industry and life in a rock band as well as practical advice for those students in a band currently (particularly applicable to Rockband). 

If your student(s) would like to participate please send an email to Ben Bryant (Rockband tutor and music teacher - ben.bryant5@det.nsw.edu.au) who has organised the visit, stating the students name and the workshops they wish to attend. Once again this is all completely free we just need to know who will be attending.

Monday, May 7th at 7pm – MEP committee meetings are held in the schools board room across the hall from the finance office. Enter via the school’s main entrance near the front office and continue down the [...]]]> Welcome to term 2 of 2012. We are announcing our 3rd MEP committee meeting of this year.

Monday, May 7th at 7pm – MEP committee meetings are held in the schools board room across the hall from the finance office. Enter via the school’s main entrance near the front office and continue down the corridor to the board room.

We encourage all MEP parents to attend. We love to see new faces at our meetings so please join us. See you there

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Guests in attendance at the event included Dr Phil Lambert, Regional Director, Sydney (NSW [...]]]> The Stage Band was put to the test at last Thursday’s launch of CoSiES  (a collaborative learning community that includes Rose Bay Secondary College and 12 partner primary schools in the Eastern Suburbs), and passed with flying colours.

Guests in attendance at the event included Dr Phil Lambert, Regional Director, Sydney (NSW Department of Education and Communities), Member for Vaucluse and Parliamentary Secretary for Tertiary Education and Skills, Ms Gabrielle Upton; the Mayor of Waverley, John Wakefield; Member for Wentworth and Shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband, Malcolm Turnbull; media personality Costa Georgiadis; business leaders; school captains and P&C representatives from all 13 schools.

MEP director Murray Jackson reports:

Unlike other performance opportunities the brief required a long set, with the band to provide an ambience, rather than being a focal point; to be functional rather than formal with guests needing to network and converse without being imposed upon by the music.

So in many ways, a real “gig”!

We spoke at length about the role required, in particular that volume, and our ability to control it without losing depth or intensity, would be critical to our success.

The band were outstanding. All members behaved with maturity and diligence to acquit themselves in stellar fashion. They provided a sophisticated, elegant backdrop, responding well to prompts and reacting to unforeseen circumstances with aplomb. Cues were anticipated and musical solutions found for circumstantial issues, many of which could not be anticipated in the rehearsal environment. Due to the extended duration of the performance  we had the opportunity to open up sections and most of the soloists in the band were featured, including our newest member.

As most professional musicians would attest, it is on the gig that one learns the craft and I think these opportunities, while lacking the glamour of the large auditorium or stage, provide the chance to learn the skills required of being a musician. We live in a society where the PA and the I-pod have replaced the skill of live performance so we can  forget that live music has utilitarian, societal role.

While much contemporary music making has become compromised by the clamor for celebrity it is great to see the students of RBSC honing their act in the unambiguous and unflinching live situation. I believe they appreciated the canapes too.

Well done to all!