Emma Pritchard, Clarence Valley Independent
More than 40 members of the Maclean Music Academy will feature alongside bands, choirs and musicians from across Australia as part of the AMEB Online Orchestra this week.
Presenting a beautiful rendition of a specially commissioned song, ‘Morning Star and Evening Star’, local singers and instrumentalists will watch their performance for the first time on November 3 via a livestream of the event from the Queensland Academies Health Sciences Campus on the Gold Coast, after the Queensland border closure prevented them from attending the official launch of the project.
To participate in the AMEB Online Orchestra, the Maclean Music Academy filmed and submitted footage of several of their members performing segments from Morning Star and Evening Star.
Entries were then skilfully processed and edited to create a spectacular online collaboration.
Describing the anticipation leading up to the event as extremely exciting, Director and Manager of the Maclean Music Academy Anne Gallagher said the performance is a reflection of months of hard work, dedication and lots and lots of practice in restricted circumstances due to Covid-19 enforcements for the local participants.
“We could only sing in groups of five at one stage, then singing was banned and playing woodwind instruments was restricted, so we had all these things to work our way around while practising,” she said.
“It was a very time-consuming process, but we managed to make it happen and everyone put in an amazing effort.”
Along with some incredible singers, some as young as five, members of the Maclean Music Academy will also play a variety of instruments including the clarinet, saxophone, harp and piano as part of their performance in the AMEB Online Orchestra.
Ms Gallagher said the Maclean Music Academy has a long and proud association with AMEB, which has supported performing arts students and teachers across Australia for more than 100 years.
The local organisation utilises the services of AMEB examiners to further educate and encourage their students as they continue to develop their musical skills.
“I think it’s so rewarding for members of the Maclean Music Academy to be able to demonstrate their skills as part of the AMEB Online Orchestra,” Ms Gallagher said proudly.
“We’re all looking forward to watching the performance online.”
Written by Kombumerri-Ngugi woman Candace Kruger, who will also be performing live as part of the events launch, her cousin Lann Levinge and daughter Isobella Kruger, Morning Star and Evening Star tells the story of a lullaby passed down through several generations of their Indigenous family.
NSW viewers can livestream the AMEB Online Orchestra from 5pm on November 3 at https://www.facebook.com/AustralianMusicExaminationsBoard/)
For further information about the Maclean Music Academy, please email macmusacad@bigpond.com
This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 3 November 2021.
