At our School, music is life. It fills our hearts, lifts our spirits, raises our voices. Music moves us.
Our music program is unrivalled. From Kindergarten through to Year 12, our students receive the highest standard of music tutelage by first-class specialist music teachers in purpose-built music facilities.
Music is medicine for the mind and playing and listening to music can enhance learning, cognition and memory. It also makes you feel really good!
A love of music, in all its forms, has become somewhat characteristic of the HVGS experience due entirely to the number of students who engage with music out of sheer love, and who value it as an important component of a terrific school experience.
Junior Music
Early Learning Centre
The ELC is where HVGS students first find their beat. Discovering patterns, rhythm, beat and rhyme are a focus of the preschool music program.
Kindergarten – Year 2
Learning through exploration is the key focus in the infant’s music program, and enjoyment is fostered through a range of singing, moving and playing activities.
The recorder is introduced in Year 2, and students work towards reading and performing simple 3-note melodies by the time they transition to Year 3.
Individual music lessons in piano, violin and vocal are available for students K- 2.
Years 3 – 4
New pathways to engage with our co-curricular Instrumental Program open up to students from Year 3 onward. Greater connections are made between co-curricular and classroom music, as students are encouraged to use their instruments in practical and compositional-based activities.
Individual music lessons in singing, piano, strings, guitar, woodwind, brass, percussion also become available from Year 3.
Years 5 – 6
All students in Years 5 – 6 are introduced to the keyboard, ukulele and guitar. Solo class performances encourage students to develop their self-confidence in a nurturing environment.
Senior Music
In Senior School students really find their tempo.
Music is compulsory in Years 7 and 8 and is offered as elective from Year 9. Music 1 and Music 2 are available for students who choose to study music for the HSC. We’re proud of our HSC musicians who consistently achieve some of the state’s very best results.
Co-curricular Music
There’s a myriad of music ensembles available to musicians at HVGS. Ensembles perform at school events, community events and lunchtime concerts, including:
- The K-2 choir, 3-6 choir and Senior Vocal Ensemble (Year 7-12)
- Stringendo (Beginner String Ensemble) is for brand new string players from Years K-7
- Guitar Ensembles Years 3 – 12
- Rock Bands for selected students Years 5-12
- Brass Ensemble students Years 3-12
- Swing Band and Jazz Train are available to selected Senior and Junior students. These group perform at various school events like Morpeth Chapel Jazz and HVGS Rowing Regatta
- Le Petite Toot (beginner concert band) is for students Years 3 – 7 who are brand new to band instruments
- Concert Band is open for students in Years 4 – 6 and Symphonic Wind Ensemble in Years 7-12
- Thump Percussion Ensemble is an option for students in Years 3 – 6 who learn piano or percussion.
- The HVGS Show Band is for selected students from Years 7 – 12. The group performs at school events lunchtime concerts and community events; including, Lizottes and Morpeth Chapel Jazz.
Music Tuition K - 12
HVGS students may choose to enrol in Specialist Individual Instrumental and Vocal Lessons that are provided at school five days a week. We employ fourteen fantastic specialist music teachers that nurture students’ talent and love of music, of all levels from beginner to advanced.
For students Kindergarten -Year 2 we offer vocal, violin or piano lessons as this provides a wonderful musical grounding and supports their development.
From Year 3 – Year 12 there are many additional instrumental choices such as flute, clarinet, viola, cello, double bass, saxophone, trombone, trumpet, drums,
The inclusion of ‘endangered instrument’ tuition in instruments of high demand (such as the oboe, bassoon, French horn, tuba, euphonium and double bass) provides a unique opportunity for students to add a point of difference and a unique tone and colour to our program.
Music Snapshot
Music Facilities
Our Music Centre is a joyous, bustling creative hub for students interested in playing, composing or practising music. The Centre includes fifteen music studio’s for individual instrumental lessons, a fully-equipped recording studio, an orchestra room, a percussion studio, a keyboard and computer lab, two specialist Junior music classrooms and four Senior music classrooms.
Music Curriculum
Music is for everyone, so all students at HVGS learn music from Kindergarten – Year 8. Music is offered as an elective from Year 9 which incorporates lessons in theory, oral, performance musicology and technology for composition. Talented musicians can choose to study Music in Years 11 and 12. Our HSC course extends to include Music Extension 2.
Music Ensembles
The academic music courses are only part of our story. Our music ensembles are an important inclusion in our music program and enrich the cultural fabric of our School and our region. Ensemble groups for students K – 12 promote a mutual love and enjoyment of music.
Performance
Performing to an audience is an important aspect of learning and enjoying music, so we keep a busy diary of performance dates, including the annual HRIS and HICES Cultural Festival, the Morpeth Jazz Festival, Inspired Art Exhibition, Vibrant Voices, cocurricular music concerts and the acclaimed HVGS Symphony Orchestra Concert … to name but a few!
Specialist Music Teachers
Classroom music teachers across K – 12, and specialist music teachers nurture students’ talent and love of music to the highest level. With our own band of specialist instrumental teachers encompassing all ensemble groups and instruments, music at HVGS is a complete experience.
Music Scholarships
Our Scholarship Program is currently under review. Subscribe to receive updates on when scholarships go live on our Scholarships page.
“When I arrived here in Year 4, I had no real interest in anything. After starting group drum lessons, I suddenly had goals and opportunity – like the school band, music trips and performances that fostered friendships at school and beyond.”
Jack Holmes – Class of 2019
