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- 17 November 2005
The Hills Music Academy Twenty-fifth Anniversary
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Page: 19996
Mr MICHAEL RICHARDSON (The Hills) [4.57 p.m.]: Two Fridays ago I was privileged to attend the twenty-fifth anniversary concert of The Hills Music Academy, an organisation founded in 1980 to provide training and opportunities for young musicians in the Baulkham Hills shire. The performance was held in the Castle Hill High School hall, with the audience consisting of past members of the bands as well as regular attendees. The first director of the Hills Music Academy was the indomitable Mike Butcher, whose military background is obvious in the school bands he trains, such as Kellyville Public School. He established two bands—the Senior Band and the Training Band, an arrangement that has survived to the present day. Mike subsequently became the Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] Director of Music in Melbourne, handing over the baton to Nigel Anderton, who took the bands to several championships.
The task then fell to another RAAF musician, Tom Cooper, an officer in charge of the RAAF Richmond band, many of whose members played in the Hills Music Academy during this period. Carl Hammond was the next distinguished director. He was writing and arranging music for bands at the time, and the Hills Music Academy helped him record his demonstration tapes. It was at this time, 1992, that the current musical director, Garry Clark, became the principal conductor. He soon rose to the position of musical director—a position he has held with distinction ever since.
The academy competes at State championships, where it is well respected for its quality performances. The Hills Music Academy is also recognised as an official ambassador of Baulkham Hills shire and frequently plays at citizenship ceremonies and other official occasions. The band's distinctive blue uniforms and entertaining playing style have become well-known trademarks in the district. Two of the heroes of The Hills Music Academy are Ron and Shirley Hamilton, whose tireless efforts for more than 20 years behind the scenes in organising the venues and programs and making sure everything runs like clockwork during a concert were recently recognised with life membership of the academy. Garry's wife, Kelly, also plays a pivotal role in keeping bands on track. Following Ron and Shirley's retirement, the academy recently appointed a management committee.
As usual, both bands performed at the concert on 4 November and played a wide range of pieces ranging from classical to popular music. The first item was a Kachina dance tune based on the sacred dances of the Pueblo Indians—an unusual choice, one might think, for a concert band, but an interesting piece nonetheless that was carried off with aplomb. Next was a Slavic march that had been written during World War 1 by Vasilij Agapkin and which has become something of a signature tune throughout eastern Europe. That was followed by Johannes Brahms' masterpiece Blessed Are They, the first movement of his German Requiem.
No concert of The Hills Music Academy would be complete without some American band music, so Garry's choice of the Oregon, Fantasy for Band to wind up the segment came as no surprise. Then it was the Training Band's turn. Their pieces tended to be a bit lighter—highlights from Shrek 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, plus a medley of Latin favourites and a couple of Christmas pieces—the Huron Carol and that old shopping centre stand-by, Jingle Bell Rock. The Senior Band reappeared after the interval, with several former players joining their ranks to perform former director Tom Cooper's Hillshire March—a piece that I believe should be a regular feature at Baulkham Hills Shire Council functions.
Two Armenian dances, written by Aram Khachaturian in 1943, Handel's aria Where'er You Walk, a Scottish Carol and John Zdechlik's Chorale and Shaker Dance rounded off a memorable evening. All told, there are 60 members of The Hills Music Academy. Some are accomplished musicians who welcome the chance to perform and to compete in a band led by someone willing to challenge them, to take them outside their comfort zone, while others are younger musicians who have had limited previous musical experience. There is real team spirit within the bands, as palpable as anything on the sporting field—although perhaps not as palpable as at Telstra Stadium last night, but powerful nonetheless—and their members train at least as hard as members of a cricket or rugby team.
The Hills Music Academy is an outstanding organisation which has provided a great deal of pleasure and opportunity to very many people since 1980. I look forward to its next 25 years of outstanding band music. One way in which the Baulkham Hills Shire Council could make a very positive contribution to an organisation that it purports to support is by reducing the cost of hall hire for performances. I understand the academy was quoted $400 for the hire of the Harvey Lowe Pavilion, which is its normal venue, at the Castle Hill showground. By contrast, the Castle Hill High School's hall costs $60, and its acoustics are vastly superior. For more years than I care to remember it has been a tradition of Castle Hill High School to perform an annual musical. The school hall is an outstanding venue for musical performances of all types, whereas the Harvey Lowe Pavilion is not. Quite frankly, one could understand Castle Hill High School charging $400 for the hire of its hall and the council $60 for the hire of the Harvey Lowe Pavilion. The Hills Music Academy is well worth supporting in a very tangible way through a financial contribution from the council.
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