Carnival Caper at St Ives! - Sydney Grammar School

Friday 26 May was truly a joyous night! The St Ives School Hall came alive with a brigade of wild animals, birds, and beasts as Carnival of the Animals was brought to the stage. Boys from Preschool to Year 6 arrived dressed in their favourite animal costume ready to enjoy this colourful cushion concert with their family and friends.

Pictured: Freddie Finn and Sankarshan Brown (Year 2)

There are some pieces of music that a child simply must experience. Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns is one such work. This famous suite of fourteen movements became the focus of class music lessons, with the boys exploring instrumentation and how Saint-Saëns went about depicting the animals within each movement.

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A drawing competition brought forth many talented entries. The winners had their artworks form a backdrop during the performance.

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Headmaster, Mr Ian Stephens, delivered the narration written by Mr Jack Prelutsky and the music was presented by our talented peripatetic staff and Old Sydneians:

Mr Tim Lee (OS 2001) – violin 1

Ms Dorothy Sercombe – violin 2

Mr Max Kim (SGS 2012-2018) – viola

Ms Kirsty Vickers – cello

Ms Jenny Druery – double bass

Ms Kellie Grennan – flute and piccolo

Mr Jun McPhee (OS 2021) – clarinet

Mr Carl Schmidt – piano 1

Ms Pen Campbell – piano 2

Mr Iain Scotland – percussion

Pictured: Mr Ian Stephens delivering the narration with pianist Mr Carl Schmidt and cellist Ms Kirsty Vickers

The evening was a huge success. The boys thoroughly enjoyed their listening journey. All left the festivities in the hall with great excitement, eager to know when the next cushion concert was coming to St Ives.

The Music department would like to thank Mr Stephens for his support, the performers, the Parents’ Association, Grammar staff and Mr Marc Warry for the audio and video recording.

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