NEWSLETTER MAY 2012 A Newsletter for Australian teachers and students in Music, Drama & Speech, and Rock & Pop. Message from the National Manager It gives me great pleasure to write this first column in the inaugural National Newsletter outlining the activities of Trinity College London in Australia. Trinity s work here is very healthy indeed with centres in every capital city along with many regional centres. Our examinations have been a part of the national fabric for well over a century, being one of the first overseas territories in which Trinity commenced, way back in the late 19th century. However, from those times, the College has moved on significantly in both its worldwide spread as well as its offerings. We are at the forefront of English Language testing, our Drama & Speech suite of examinations are appealing and appropriate for today s settings, whilst in the area of Music, our traditional examinations are undergoing rapid change with new supporting tests, own choice material, composition and even jazz syllabi. Most significantly however is the release of our groundbreaking Rock & Pop syllabus. So, teachers and students should see that Trinity is not shackled down by the weight of the past, but instead is dynamic and innovative, engaging and contemporary. Whether you are new to the world of Trinity, or a long-term teacher or student, I hope you will continue your journey with us, as the future looks bright for all of us. New Website launched Realising the specialized needs of Australian teachers and students, it was decided to launch our own website with information that was relevant just for Australia. Entry forms, closing dates and fee information, along with syllabus downloads and other information, such as workshop dates and news is posted here at www.trinitycollege.org.au Queensland honours students On Sunday, April 1 in the Presidential Ballroom of the Sebel Citigate Hotel in Brisbane, hundreds of students, family members and teachers gathered to honour the state s highest achievers in both Music and Drama & Speech. It was a grand occasion with the presentation of Top of State awards, Exhibitions, Centre Medals, Special Certificates of Merit and Diplomas. As well, nine were selected to perform, showing a real range of endeavor from classical performance (Mozart and Beethoven) to the more contemporary in an own composition from a Performance Arts candidate, along with dramatic monologues and poetry. Barry Walmsley
Awards in NSW An awards presentation is to be held in Sydney at the prestigious The King s School at North Parramatta on Sunday, May 20 for Music Diplomas and Exhibition Winners. All are welcome to attend, but invitations will be sent via the local representative network specifically to those gaining awards. The special guest speaker on this occasion will be Mrs Karen Carey (the subject of the award-winning documentary Mrs Carey s Concert). Rock & Pop Launch An exciting era has commenced with the release of the groundbreaking new Rock & Pop syllabus from Trinity College London. This new syllabus will include graded exams for guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and vocals (Initial to Grade 8). Developed in partnership with two of the world s leading music publishers, Faber Music and Peters Edition London, the new syllabus will feature an impressive roster of rock and pop styles and artists, ranging from the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, ABBA, David Bowie and Joni Mitchell, to Radiohead, the Kings of Leon, Green Day, Muse and Rihanna. Each exam will be supported by a song book including a CD with demo and backing tracks, performance notes and guidance on technical skills and supporting tests. Additionally, an array of online resources will be available including sheet music and backing track downloads, blogs, forums and teaching and learning tips. Performance is very much at the core of this new syllabus reflecting the way many rock & pop musicians learn their craft. Candidates will perform three songs and complete one supporting test. Those with song-writing ambitions can opt to perform one of their own original songs in the exam or may select their own chosen repertoire to perform cover versions. Singers have the option of performing self accompanied, and instrumentalists can also sing the vocal lines where appropriate, if they choose to do so. Songs have been carefully selected to demonstrate specific musical skills, such as mandolin tremolo in Knights Of Cydonia by Muse, funk drum grooves in Cee Lo Green s Forget You, double-stopped harmonics in the bass line from Rage Against the Machine s Born Of A Broken Man, as well as perfecting Rihanna s R&B vocal technique in the smash hit Umbrella. Trinity CEO Sarah Kemp says: I have no doubt that this radical and inclusive new Rock & Pop syllabus will breathe new life into music education, breaking down many of the barriers currently in place. Trinity College London is passionate in its commitment to reach out to as many young musicians as possible, and to building the relevant musical communities around them. We ve responded quickly and creatively to a clear sea change in our key markets around the globe rock and pop music is now the staple diet of many young musicians around the globe, and this new syllabus will encourage them to perform and study, using a suite of carefully selected, graded material from some of the greatest rock and pop artists. On Saturday, March 31 the Monks of Mellonwah launched the Rock & Pop syllabus with a bang at Villanova College in Brisbane. This Sydney-based band recently won Best Indie Band at the Artists in Music Awards in Los Angeles. The two
guitarists from the band (John and Joe De La Hoyde) had both learnt classical guitar and had successfully passed Trinity s guitar examinations whilst school students. Launches are planned for Sydney and Melbourne in coming months. www.trinityrock.com New Syllabi in Piano, Organ, Keyboard, Woodwind & Jazz Woodwind SE Asian & Australasian Regional Managers Meet A meeting of all Regional Managers met in Bangkok for a 3-day conference with the Executive Team from London, including the CEO Sarah Kemp. The meeting was critical in deciding on the future management structure of the regions and discussed key marketing objectives. There are new grade syllabi in piano, organ, electronic keyboard, woodwind and jazz woodwind this year. All woodwind repertoire books for the 2011 syllabus are still valid for the 2012 syllabus. This includes the Trinity Guildhall Recorder Anthologies, All Sorts Flute and Clarinet books, Saxophone Selection and Woodwind World publications. A brand new series of Woodwind publications are available to support and extend the range of pieces available in the syllabus for Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone and Recorder: Musical Moments is a series of 20 progressive repertoire books for Flute, Clarinet and Saxophone from beginner to Grade 5 and beyond featuring newly composed pieces by leading educational composers, plus new arrangements of popular and less well-known repertoire. Mosaics is a set of six new repertoire books of newly composed solo pieces by Mike Mower and James Rae for Flute, Clarinet and Saxophone. As well as addressing specific areas of technique development, these books offer attractive, stand-alone repertoire for beginner to advanced. Descant Recorder Anthologies: These graded anthologies covering Initial to Grade 5 contain selected repertoire from past exam syllabuses. These are ideal for use as stand-alone repertoire as well as for an exam. Trinity On Line Representatives across Australia are working with a new Customer Relationship Management system (known as Trinity On Line or TOL) for inputting candidate entries and teacher details for examinations and the production of certificates. The system is already in operation in the UK and India. It will provide easier access to information and make data entry much easier. Large studios or schools can request a spreadsheet from the local representative to input all their candidates and simply forward this to the local representative with payment. This will cut down a lot of time and duplication of data from handwritten entry forms to more electronic forms. Social Media Trinity has embraced social networking by having a presence on Twitter and Facebook. To follow, here are the details: Follow Trinity (Australia) on Twitter: twitter.com/tcl_aust Follow Trinity (Australia) on Facebook: facebook.com/tclaustralia Flute Society of Sydney A day for flautists was held at the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney on Sunday, April 1. Many students and teachers were interested in our display of both the Woodwind and Jazz Woodwind syllabus at this event. Thanks go to WindWorks for the assistance. www.windworks.com.au News Items News items are welcome. Please forward these to the National Manager.
Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia This international event will see 30 international pianists compete in a 3 week event (4-21 July) at the Seymour Centre, and then finally at the Sydney Opera House in 4 Stages. Trinity is delighted to be one of the sponsors of this event with a prize being awarded at the Grand Finals in the Concert Hall of the Opera House on Saturday, July 21 at 8 pm to a Stage 2 pianist which will be broadcast on ABC Classic FM. www.sipca.com.au International Playwrights Competition One of Trinity s abiding principles is to encourage creativity and participation in the arts for people of all ages and at all levels. With this in mind, our playwriting competition was launched in 2010 with the intention of encouraging new and emerging writers to create work that appeals to audiences of children and young people and which could be performed by young people all over the world. This competition has been a big success and has seen some wonderful achievements by Australian writers. Music Diploma Workshop Jordon Tredinnick and Tess Watterson from MLC School in Burwood (NSW) wrote The Five Stages of Grief which took out the award of Most Promising Playwright in the 12-16 year old category. Teacher Workshop in Wollongong Barry Walmsley conducted a workshop for Music Teachers at the Wollongong Conservatorium on Sunday, April 22 in conjunction with the Illawarra branch of the Music Teachers Association of NSW. New teachers were engaged with what Trinity has to offer, resulting in much anticpated growth in this regional area. Behind Every Great Singer Trinity provided resources at a dynamic workshop for singers and teachers at the Gold Coast Arts Centre on Sunday, April 22, and also sponsored Dr Irene Bartlett (Lecturer in Contemporary Voice at the Queensland Conservatorium). This was a great opportunity for Trinity to promote its new Rock & Pop syllabus as well as the Musical Theatre syllabus. Cairns Music Conference Trinity will be presenting two workshops and have an exhibition stand at the Cairns Music Conference (6-8 July) this year to be held at Cairns State High School. The conference is the only one of its type in Far North Queensland. It is anticipated that the biennial Cairns Music Conference will attract over 120 delegates from Tasmania to Torres Strait. The theme for the conference is Connect Create Celebrate and will focus on the connections between different aspects of music education, performance and technology, attracting a wide variety of people involved with music. The two Trinity presentations will be CONNECTing with Gen Z an introduction too the new Rock & Pop Syllabus and 3 innovations to re-create your teaching. www.cairnsmusicconference.com.au International conductor and Trinity examiner, Mark Eager will be the guest speaker at a Music Diploma workshop to be held on Friday, 20 July in the Recital Room of The King s School, North Parramatta. Any student preparing or thinking of preparing for one of Trinity s music diplomas (Recital or Instrumental/Vocal Teaching) should attend. Students may also apply to perform for some critical feedback. This is also a great opportunity for teachers to hear what examiners are looking for in a diploma candidate.
Representative Updates Mark Stringer Announcement We farewell the following representatives after long service in their respective areas: Mary de Vries (Brisbane Music including Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Toowoomba and as Qld State Manager), Tony Hodges (Melbourne Music and Drama & Speech, as well as State Manager for Victoria, Tasmania, SA and WA), Christinne Patton (Wollongong), Shirley Jones (Southern Highlands) and Trevor Hall (Rockhampton). Welcome to new representatives Kathleen Parer (Melbourne), Tara Morris (Brisbane, Toowoomba, Ipswich and Sunshine Coast) and Alisa Baker (Rockhampton). Wollongong and the Southern Highlands will come under the management of Sydney. Vale Peter Charlton One of our long standing examiners, Peter Charlton passed away in Kuala Lumpur at the end of the year. Dr Charlton visited Australia on many occasions and was well-liked for his examining and calm disposition. He was an international expert on the choral music of John Stainer. Mark Stringer (Executive Director and Head of Alumni Relations) will leave Trinity after almost 14 years service. Mark joined Trinity in September 1997 as Director of Examinations for Music, Drama & Speech, before consolidating his work under the wider remit of Director of Performing and Creative Arts and, more recently, moving to Executive Director and Head of Alumni Relations. Mark has made a major contribution to Trinity s work over the years; with members of his team, he has grown our business worldwide particularly in the UK and Asia and extended and enhanced our performing arts portfolio in the fields of Music, the Dance & Drama Awards, the Arts Award and Key Stage 2. Mark has said that he now feels that it is time to take his career in a different direction, and to reengage with his passion for music, as an educator, performer and composer. Contacting Trinity College London s Australian Office: Mr Barry Walmsley T: (02) 9630 1289 PO BOX 1 M: 0414 468 254 Parramatta NSW 2124 E: barry.walmsley@trinitycollege.co.uk www.trinitycollege.org.au facebook.com/tclaustralia twitter.com/tcl_aust
Developing Musical Talent From Percussion to Piano, Saxophone to Singing, we provide a wide range of Grade, Certificate and Diploma exams designed to nurture musical development at every level Contact: T 0414 468 254 E barry.walmsley@trinitycollege.co.uk To find out more visit www.trinitycollege.org.au