Music News – Issue 1, 13 March 2026

2026 has commenced at quite the rate of knots!  From system changes, and new departmental approaches to program delivery, things have been quite interesting and exciting.  We have also hosted the team producing Beauty and the Beast over the past few weeks – a great show there; all staff and students are to be congratulated on the quality (and length) of the season!  With such a busy start to the year, it is timely to consider how music participation supports the development of flexibility and resilience, along with several other important life skills, in terms of preparing them for life beyond school.

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 highlights key skills like analytical thinking, resilience, flexibility, leadership, and social influence—and music learning is a fantastic way to build these from the start.  Take analytical thinking, for instance. When your children tackle a complex piece of music, they’re learning to spot patterns, interpret notes, and make quick decisions—skills that shine in careers like engineering or business.

It’s like solving a musical puzzle, training their minds to think critically. And resilience? They’ll need it when they miss a note or struggle with a rhythm, but each mistake teaches them to adapt and persevere—perfect for today’s ever-changing workplaces.

Then there’s flexibility—mastering a new piece often means adjusting their approach, building agility that employers value.  Leadership and social influence come alive in group activities, where they communicate without words, lead their peers, and collaborate—qualities that will make them standout leaders.  Picture your child conducting a section or playing their part in sync with the group—it’s teamwork in action!

This journey lays a foundation for their adult success, equipping them with job-ready skills. And if they hit a wrong chord now and then, just think of it as practice for bouncing back in life with confidence!  Thank you for supporting their growth, and let’s cheer them on as they build a bright future.

Mr Michael Jones – Director of Music

We are very pleased to announce that our Debut Concert Series is to be convened on Monday 30th and Tuesday 31st March.  Information regarding these concerts will be distributed shortly to participant students and their families.  Both concerts will be in Hanrahan Theatre commencing at 6pm, concluding around 7:30pm.

These events are ticketed through trybooking – links will be distributed to participant families first before being distributed to the broader community.  Please ensure you book your ticket before the event becomes ‘public.’

The Music Support Group will be providing a BBQ prior to each concert, commencing around 5pm.  We trust this will take some of the pressure off families as they organise to attend these concerts.  The MSG will require some assistance on both these evenings; if you are able to roll a snag, or serve patrons, they would love to hear from you.  Please contact the Music Office on 3394 5691 to offer your help.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Year 5 Instruments Home!  Time for some encouragement…

It is an exciting time of year as all of our Year 5 Immersion Program students have received their instruments and have taken them home for the first time over the past week.  It is now that the excitement begins at home!

We appreciate this adds another level of complexity to the challenge of a school commute; however, taking care of and responsibility over a musical instrument is part of the process of developing the personal capacity of our students.  We have discussed instrument care in classes, and have guided the students around parameters of where they can use their instrument (i.e. whilst exciting, sharing your newly developed skill of playing ‘Hot Cross Buns’ with your mates in the playground is not appropriate…) to help the students make good decisions around instrument use.

The challenge commences at home from this week.  We do ask students to practice; however, at this stage 2-3 short sessions (5-10 min) across the week is more than ample.  PLEASE NOTE – there will be some ‘very interesting’ sounds emanating from your son’s room.  We ask that you restrain yourself, against every fibre of your being, to exclaim or comment on the sound – please commend effort at this stage.  Congratulate them for getting the instrument out; pat them on the back for remembering to pack their gear on Monday night for Tuesday music day; give them opportunity to share with family the 3 notes they learn – it is all about supporting effort – we promise the good stuff will come!

Home practice does impact the household.  Every household has its rhythm and routine; it is important that practice becomes a part of that routine and all are aware of where it fits.  If there can be 3 x 10min blocks across the week (same time of day helps build routine) where everyone knows it’s “support the effort” time, it helps your young musician build their capacity for self-organisation and regulation, prepares everyone for the audio assault (I mean, pleasure…), and gives best opportunity for developing habits of playing.  Music is a skill, much like riding a bike, and it develops with regular, small intervals of work that allow neural pathways to develop.  The more often we do those small sessions, the more quickly our skill develops, the more impressive we sound, and the more enjoyment we get from playing.  Practice isn’t easy – routines do grind at times – but it is the regulation and manner in which we approach this that gives the developmental benefits, not just the musical ones!

Jump Start Day 2026

Jump Start Day is the day where our Year 5 Immersion Program students have the opportunity to participate in their first ensemble experience at Villanova.  The event comprises an afternoon of workshops in Band and String Orchestra, with our charges sharing a concert for parents and friends in late afternoon / early evening in Hanrahan Theatre.

Information regarding this event will be distributed to Year 5 families next week.  We are really looking forward to having you all hear to listen to the amazing progress the students have been making.

Year 5 Chorale – Attendance Challenge…

Pizza Party anyone???  We have laid down a challenge for our Year 5 Immersion students regarding attendance at the Year 5 Chorale for the next 2 weeks.  The Year 5 class with the highest attendance at the rehearsal before school on Tuesday morning (17 & 24 March) will receive a pizza party.  This prize will be for the members of the class that did attend over the coming fortnight; we will hold the pizza party during second break on Wednesday 1 April (no – this is NOT an April Fool’s joke!!!).

National Championships in Brisbane…

In the Brass Department there has been an increase in students taking instruments home and practicing as a result there is a noticeable difference from these students and their progress, keep it up! If you’re looking for some music to watch over the Easter Holiday’s there is the National Band Championships held at City Hall here’s the website for more detail. https://www.nationalbandchampionships.com.au/

Need a reset?  Try long tones…

Practicing Long Tones on your instrument is the ultimate way to develop control on your instrument it’s also meditative. When you’re a little frustrated with your homework, family or sport it is therapeutic to play long tones on your instrument. Give it a go…!

Attendance and Application

The Woodwind Department has seen excellent lesson attendance throughout Term 1, however a small number of students are beginning to forget their lesson times. All Woodwind students have been sent a reminder about how to check lesson times using MyVilla, and on the noticeboard outside the Green Room.

Woodwind students are being encouraged to practise regularly in small chunks as they prepare for end of Term 1 assessments. 10 minutes, 4 times a week is far more beneficial than 40 minutes once per week. Similar to learning a new language, using the new language frequently is key to becoming fluent.

Interested in our Chamber Ensembles?

Our woodwind chamber ensembles are working hard and making great progress as they prepare for the Debut Concerts. Air Force and Saxophone Ensemble have positions open for new players – if you’re interested in being a part of these groups, please get in touch with Mr Cavallaro.

Attendance and Communication

The String Department has had an excellent start to 2026, with strong engagement across lessons and ensemble rehearsals. It has been especially pleasing to see most students attending regularly and arriving prepared. We kindly ask that students continue to take their instruments home promptly after lessons and rehearsals, and that families communicate directly with ensemble directors if a student is unable to attend a scheduled rehearsal.

Congratulations Camerata and Amadeus!

Earlier this week, our first string ensemble, Camerata, performed at assembly, and they delivered a truly outstanding performance. Congratulations to all Camerata members—your confidence, musicality, and professionalism so early in the year are commendable and set a wonderful tone for the term ahead.

Practice is Key!

A friendly reminder that regular home practice is an essential part of the music program. Consistent practice not only supports each student’s personal musical growth but also strengthens the overall standard and cohesion of our developing string orchestras. Your support in encouraging a routine at home is greatly appreciated.

The Villanova–Loreto production of Beauty and the Beast wrapped recently after incredible performances that ran through to Saturday evening. The shows were highly anticipated and sold out, and the cast, crew and musicians should be incredibly proud of the stunning production they delivered after so many hours of rehearsals and preparation.

Alongside the roaring success of the musical, our in-school ensembles have been hard at work mastering new repertoire as rehearsals build toward the first concert week of 2026. As we head into the home stretch of Term 1, the music department has been working around the clock to prepare for the Debut Concert Series on March 30 and March 31, where ensembles will showcase the music they have been developing and perform their new repertoire for the first time this year.

Looking further ahead, within and beyond the Easter break, musicians are beginning to turn their attention to another major performance opportunity – QCMF. More information about the festival will be released soon, so keep an eye out for updates regarding QCMF as well as opportunities for volunteering and supporting the festival.

Our Year 5 musicians have also been making great progress this term. Students have been developing their choral skills by attending choir each week, with a friendly competition underway – the class with the highest attendance will be rewarded with a well-earned pizza party. It has been fantastic to see such strong participation and enthusiasm from our youngest musicians.

Adding to the excitement, Year 5 students have now begun bringing their instruments home, marking an exciting milestone in their musical journey. Being able to practise outside of school allows them to build confidence and develop their skills even further as they begin their involvement in the Villanova music program.

With performances, rehearsals and exciting opportunities continuing throughout the year, it has already been a fantastic start to 2026 for music here. We look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming concerts and sharing another great year of music together.

The Music Captains

In 2026, our music department is utilising a number of tools to assist students and families in their engagement with our program.  Some of these will be a work in progress over Term 1, most are currently active and accessible for all participants.

For general program information, including our Music Program Handbook, enrolment form, and uniform requirements, please refer to the Music section on our College website.

For lesson and rehearsal times, please refer to your son’s ‘Calendar’ tab in MyVilla.  Your son will need to log into MyVilla using the ‘Sign in with your School Account’ button.  The calendar tile is found towards the top left-hand corner of the screen, immediately beside the ‘news’ tile.  Along with important College community dates, the calendar will contain your son’s lesson and rehearsal times for music for the term. These times are updated in real-time and are stored in advance – historic data is removed by the program once the day has passed; this is your point of truth for all IM lessons and rehearsals.

Our department will utilise MyVilla for the communication of curriculum and assessment requirements as the term progresses.  We are in the process of refining how we will implement this across our department and are looking forward to the benefits this will bring in the near future.

For lesson content and practice requirements, all students have access to a Microsoft Team for their instrumental music lesson, and for their ensemble/s.  Whilst we will make these easily accessible via your son’s MyVilla page later this term, he will be able to see these ‘teams’ when he opens the app up on his school laptop.  Teachers use teams like the ‘old’ practice diary; this is where your son has access to information immediately pertaining to him and his music experience in the program.  As per the trusty diary, this may be a 2-way source of communication between home and school, as teachers may comment on posts made, or replies to posts in the team or student’s channel.

As always, we continue to provide program updates in our fortnightly College Newsletter, and we look forward to returning to our alternate Music News being distributed to you all as another source of information around our program’s events and activities.

As always, should you require more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us in the music office via phone – 3394 5691, or email – music@vnc.qld.edu.au.  We are always happy to assist!