An Evening of Music – with Special Guest Dr Mike Fansler
Last Tuesday night – May 30th, a wonderful night of music took place in the Chatswood High School Hall. Special guest for the evening was Dr Mike Fansler – Director of Bands at the Western Illinois University, USA.
Dr Fansler was making his fourth trip down under to work with the musicians of Chatswood High School. On Thursday May 25th Mike commenced rehearsals with our Wind Orchestra. Over the next four days Mike spent 20 hours conducting and teaching the band. The culmination of all the rehearsals was the concert on Tuesday night.
The concert commenced with the Wind Orchestra playing ‘His Honor’ by Henry Filmore. Two further pieces followed – ‘October’ by Eric Whitacre and ‘Symphonic Movement’ by Nelhybel. All pieces were conducted by Dr Fansler. The band had obviously benefitted from their time in the rehearsal room with Dr Fansler, and sounded fantastic!
Last Tuesday night – May 30th, a wonderful night of music took place in the Chatswood High School Hall. Special guest for the evening was Dr Mike Fansler – Director of Bands at the Western Illinois University, USA.
Dr Fansler was making his fourth trip down under to work with the musicians of Chatswood High School. On Thursday May 25th Mike commenced rehearsals with our Wind Orchestra. Over the next four days Mike spent 20 hours conducting and teaching the band. The culmination of all the rehearsals was the concert on Tuesday night.
The concert commenced with the Wind Orchestra playing ‘His Honor’ by Henry Filmore. Two further pieces followed – ‘October’ by Eric Whitacre and ‘Symphonic Movement’ by Nelhybel. All pieces were conducted by Dr Fansler. The band had obviously benefitted from their time in the rehearsal room with Dr Fansler, and sounded fantastic!
Following on the band were the Chatswood Public School Senior Choir. Sixty five beautiful voices combined to sing us three songs under the direction of their teacher Bronwyn Edler. They sang -
'A Million Miles Away' (Begulin/Menken arr. Jefferson)
'I’ve Got a Golden Ticket' (Bricusse/Newley arr. Jefferson)
'Pure Imagination' (Bricusse/Newley arr. Kelly)
'A Million Miles Away' (Begulin/Menken arr. Jefferson)
'I’ve Got a Golden Ticket' (Bricusse/Newley arr. Jefferson)
'Pure Imagination' (Bricusse/Newley arr. Kelly)
Robert Oetomo is one of our percussion tutors at school. A brilliant musician and composer, Robert performed one of his own compositions ‘Fantasy’ on the Marimba.
To conclude the first half our Senior Vocal Ensemble (7 students) performed a bracket of three songs under the expert guidance of their teacher Stephanie Sexton. The group had recently spent time working with one of Australia’s best acappela singers – Sally Cameron. They sang a variety of songs, and were very well received. |
Commencing the second half we heard the Newington College Symphonic Winds under the direction of past CHS Music Teacher Josh Mann. The band had also benefitted from the teaching of Dr Fansler and performed ‘Festive Overture’ by Shostakovich, ‘On a Hymnsong Of Lowell Mason’ by Holsinger and ‘El Camino Real’ by Reed.
Music teacher Stephanie Sexton has been a new face in the music department at Chatswood High. On this night she entertained the audience with five songs accompanied by pianist Kurtis Russell, and backing singers Bernice Tesara and Sofia Stergio. It was lovely to hear Steph singing and performing her favourite songs.
Music teacher Stephanie Sexton has been a new face in the music department at Chatswood High. On this night she entertained the audience with five songs accompanied by pianist Kurtis Russell, and backing singers Bernice Tesara and Sofia Stergio. It was lovely to hear Steph singing and performing her favourite songs.
Here are some of the comments by people who attended on the night:
Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed the whole concert at Chatswood High on May 30, and especially the performance of the CHS Wind Orchestra. As a muso myself, it was a delight to experience the care and attention to the musical detail of the performances, with effective dynamic shading and phrasing, an elegantly blended and balanced overall sonority, and technical fluency, all contributing to a most expressive, stylistically coherent and musical set of performances. Congratulations on a fine performance that so well belongs to the fine tradition of concert band making that has been established at Chatswood High! (Michael Crouch)
Fantastic night - particularly enjoyed WO and Newington, and the Senior Vocal Ensemble. My parents travelled down from the Blue Mountains for it - they also enjoyed it immensely and definitely felt it was worth the trip.
The concert was amazing and I think one the best we have held at school. Everyone who attended was raving about it today. Thank you for organising this special event, I can hear the difference of the music they played. It was indeed a very enjoyable concert and WO sounded very polished. Thanks for organising everything!
I really enjoyed the concert, it was great to hear the results of the all the hard work with Mike Fansler. I brought my 10 yr old daughter and she especially liked Ms Sexton's singing!
Just wanted to let you know that the Tuesday night concert was fantastic. It was great to see the result of all the hard work put in by the WO students as well as yourself and Dr Fansler. Thank you for making this opportunity possible. We really enjoyed the concert.
Here are some of the comments by people who attended on the night:
Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed the whole concert at Chatswood High on May 30, and especially the performance of the CHS Wind Orchestra. As a muso myself, it was a delight to experience the care and attention to the musical detail of the performances, with effective dynamic shading and phrasing, an elegantly blended and balanced overall sonority, and technical fluency, all contributing to a most expressive, stylistically coherent and musical set of performances. Congratulations on a fine performance that so well belongs to the fine tradition of concert band making that has been established at Chatswood High! (Michael Crouch)
Fantastic night - particularly enjoyed WO and Newington, and the Senior Vocal Ensemble. My parents travelled down from the Blue Mountains for it - they also enjoyed it immensely and definitely felt it was worth the trip.
The concert was amazing and I think one the best we have held at school. Everyone who attended was raving about it today. Thank you for organising this special event, I can hear the difference of the music they played. It was indeed a very enjoyable concert and WO sounded very polished. Thanks for organising everything!
I really enjoyed the concert, it was great to hear the results of the all the hard work with Mike Fansler. I brought my 10 yr old daughter and she especially liked Ms Sexton's singing!
Just wanted to let you know that the Tuesday night concert was fantastic. It was great to see the result of all the hard work put in by the WO students as well as yourself and Dr Fansler. Thank you for making this opportunity possible. We really enjoyed the concert.
It was an unforgettable concert night.…… really enjoyed the work the WO did with Dr Fansler and continually spoke of the technicalities that Mike discussed; it gave her a greater insight into the intricacies of music and further attention to detail; even more so as member of an ensemble. The orchestra overall has benefited from Dr Fansler's instruction. We thought the playing had greater clarity which also allowed the different sections to clearly be heard. We particularly enjoyed "October" which displayed expression and precision. It was a fantastic night which we thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you for your hard work in putting this together and especially in organising Dr Fansler's visit.
The entire show deserves praise. I loved the evening and mix of bands, vocals and Marimba Solo.
Every musician and singer put their heart and soul into their performance. I was able to sit there and have the music take me away to an ideal place, the evening was so moving. The level of musicality was very high and it brought out the beauty of the songs. It is great that so many students can come to together as one and perform such brilliance no matter what their backgrounds, circumstances or milieu. Stephanie is very talented and has a captivating voice.
I just wanted to say thank you for yet another great opportunity you have given to us! Working with Mike again was as enriching, if not more than last time. There was just so much knowledge and musical wisdom to be learnt from him which was so great. Really enjoyed the concert, and I think the sound of the band got so much better in the past week. Thank you!
Please pass on my sincere thanks to Dr. Fansler for the great influence he had to the student's cohesive band playing. It's wonderful to have a feel of how he and his wife are so connected to Sydney even if they live in the other side of the world. Thanks to music, we are all richly blessed.
A great concert - CHS Wind Orchestra sounded truly sublime! I think it was great to have Newington there, and also the Chatswood Public School Choir -it does a lot to extend our community and break-down barriers. Also good to hear our senior vocal ensemble - they just keep getting better. And the Marimba solo was wonderful. Lots to like!
We thought the night was brilliant. Yes a lot of hard work for the kids but the results were outstanding. "We" are truly privileged to attend Chatswood high.
Thank you very much for organising the special music camp with Dr Fansler for the musicians. I certainly noticed a big difference in their performance compared to the RSL Competition performance in February. I would also like to thank you for putting in so much time doing extra rehearsals with them before Dr Fansler’s arrival. Together both of you showed the band what they are capable of achieving in a short period of time!
Firstly thanks to you for organising Mike Fanlser's visit and for your energy and commitment across the whole music spectrum. The students are truly blessed to be under your guidance and expertise. Once again we were blown away by Robert Oetomo's performance on the marimba
- it was mesmerising!
One of their (WO) best performances perhaps!
It was an unforgettable concert night!
I just wanted to say thank you for yet another great opportunity you have given to us! Working with Mike again was as enriching, if not more than last time. There was just so much knowledge and musical wisdom to be learnt from him which was so great. Really enjoyed the concert, and I think the sound of the band got so much better in the past week. Thank you!
A great concert - CHS Wind Orchestra sounded truly sublime! I think it was great to have Newington there, and also the Chatswood Public School Choir -it does a lot to extend our community and break-down barriers. Also good to hear our senior vocal ensemble - they just keep getting better. And the Marimba solo was wonderful. Lots to like!
The concert was tremendous!
Report by Edison Wong, Yr 10, 1st Alto Sax
Dr Mike Fansler’s visit in 2017 was one many of us wouldn’t forget. The concert illustrated the hours of hard work we have committed throughout the week. I’ve learnt a lot of helpful advice from Doctor Fansler in becoming a better musician and to further my knowledge in general.
We had a long session on Thursday evening. We were introduced to Mike and it took him 3 hours and 42 minutes to crack the first Vegemite joke. Then we all enjoyed pizza together.
On Friday, we got to spend the entire day rehearsing our pieces for the concert. It was very productive and possibly my most musical-integrated day in high school.
All musicians that were part of the wind orchestra sacrificed their weekend to practice and to polish our pieces for the recording as well as the concert.
Monday was our official recording to audition into the Carnegie Hall in New York, America. The recording was great. A special thanks goes to Mr Cardew for recording us.
Tuesday’s Concert with Dr Mike Fansler was the concert we have all been waiting for. Newington College Symphonic Winds and Chatswood Primary School Senior Choir were invited to perform for us as well. We had a huge crowd and the atmosphere of the concert was impeccable. The opening music “His Honor”, performed by us Wind Orchestra and conducted by Dr Fansler, absolutely vowed everyone. We played 5 pieces of memorable works and we are so proud to produce sensational music to all the audiences. Symphonic movement was a big improvement; all sections carried their parts really well and delivered. My favourite piece was Armenian Dances, the piece of music showcased Wind Orchestra. In addition, we got to hear Ms Sexton performing a series of five songs, which she sang beautifully. We were fortunate enough to hear Robert Oetomo perform a marimba solo called “Fantasy No.1”. The evening was a great success.
Many musicians would have been very privilege to be conducted by Dr Fansler, the Director of bands and conductor of the wind ensemble and chamber winds at Western Illinois University. We had heaps of fun during 22 hours of rehearsal. I would like to thank Mr Staines for giving us this opportunity and organising this special workshop for all of us.
A DVD of the concert is being produced. Please contact Gavin at [email protected] if you would like a copy. $25 each.