Entertainment
14 August, 2024
Finals for school orchestra
THE musical prowess of the Cairns State High School Symphony Orchestra (CSHS) has earned them a spot at the 2024 Instrumental Fanfare state finals this August where they hope to rise above all schools.
The CSHC Orchestra is no stranger to the state competition, making it 15 times to the state finals before and even taking the state title six times. They’re now hoping to bring the glory home for the seventh time at the Brisbane finals on August 15 and 16.
Directed by music teacher Simon McMenamin, the CSHS orchestra has 70 members from years 7 to 12 with impressive skills that shone in the preliminaries where the orchestra qualified with four magnificent pieces.
Symphonic director Simon McMenamin said it was a challenge they’d see through to the end.
“We’ve participated in the last 16 fanfares since its inception, we’ve reached the state finals 15 times and judged the most outstanding performance six times,” he said.
“Reaching the Fanfare State Final is the highest achievement for any ensemble in Queensland, it is the pinnacle of competition, so it means a great deal to the students and associated staff and past members of the orchestra.
“We performed the march from the ‘Little Suite for Orchestra Opus 53’ by Malcolm Arnold, ‘Genesis’ by Rossano Galante, the main title of the feature film ‘Out of Africa’ by John Barry and ‘Bacchanal’ from Samson and Delilah by Camille Saint-Saens which classified us for the finals.
“We’re fairly isolated in Cairns when it comes to classical music and we have to rely on specialists to come up, so it’s a great experience for the kids and a great achievement for any ensemble in Queensland.”
Mr McMenamin said the preparations for these finals were a monumental effort. “Preparing a 70-piece orchestra is a complex operation which requires many peoples input from instrumental music (IM) teachers, executive leadership team and administration,” he said.
“The orchestra rehearses weekly, and the students have sectionals where they work on their parts in smaller groups once a week and also in group lessons with the IM teachers.
“It would be an amazing achievement for a regional state school orchestra to be awarded the most outstanding performance and would be a fantastic reward for all the students’ hard work and dedication to music.”
