On the weekend of Saturday 30 October, a number of QAHS students performed in the Australian Honours Ensemble Program (AHEP), and the State Honours Ensemble Program (SHEP), which are audition-based ensembles, involving some of the best high school musicians from across the state and country.
Caleb Diskin and Natsuo Kikuchi performed with the AHEP Big Band
Olivia Ashley performed in the AHEP String Orchestra
Mateo Sakugawa and Zahara Stapleberg performed with the SHEP Wind Ensembles
Caitlin Du Plessis performed with the SHEP String Orchestra
Student reflections:
Natsuo Kikuchi: “Through this intensive 4-day program, including a performance on the last day, I was able to experience big band performance of the highest calibre with students of the same age as me, along with a conductor who has decades of experience working in a field which I aspire to enter in the future."
Caleb Diskin: “Throughout my time being in the AHEP Big Band, I gained various amounts of knowledge (from both the conductor and the band) and was pushed out of my comfort zone for probably the first time in my jazz-playing journey, as every single player I was surrounded by were the best there could ever be."
Olivia Ashley: “I met students from other schools across Australia and formed strong friendships through our shared love of music. I strongly encourage anyone who loves to play music at a high level to audition for AHEP."
Well done to all students involved.
Patrick Emery
Music Teacher