NECOM’s annual Year 9 & 10 Music Workshop on 6 March brought together elective music students from around the New England/North West region for a day of fun syllabus-based practical activities to complement their elective classroom work.
In the morning students were divided into two groups and rotated between a lively Junkyard Orchestra workshop and a choral workshop. The Junkyard workshop run by the Sydney-based group Junkyard Beats encouraged students to work with everyday sounds using recycled materials incorporating elements of hip-hop, rap, dance, vocal and body percussion. The choral workshop had even the most reluctant singer having a blast with the livewire Luke Byrne.
After lunch students cycled through activities including Junkyard Beat Body Percussion, African Drums & Dance, Protest Songs and Aboriginal Didg, percussion and dance led by the indefatigable Bob Blair from the Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place.