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This past year the Music Department has enjoyed tremendous
growth. It is fantastic to see that over 100 learners are taking
part in individual music lessons. In addition, we have four ma-
rimba bands, an enormous and vibrant choir, an acappella group
and an excellent orchestra. The fact that the department has
grown by 30% in little over a year is one of Parklands’ success
stories of 2013 and, as such, we are providing an increasing
number of children with an education that is well rounded and
balanced.
We are so privileged to enjoy the world class facilities at
the College! Our sound studio is truly becoming a hubbub
of activity, where learners are given the opportunity to work
with some highly experienced and nationally acclaimed artists.
Richard Black is our resident sound engineer and producer,
and Rob Hack has lent a helpful hand in pre-production. What
this means for the children is that they are able to turn out
professionally cut tracks that they could, if they wanted to,
submit for auditions and to record labels. This is a truly unique
opportunity for the learners and it is wonderful to see so many
of them seizing it with both hands!
A few weeks into the first quarter, Parklands College hosted
the annual Music Evening where over 40 other learners, our
choir, acappella group and orchestra performed. This was a
vibrant celebration of the talent at our school and the learners
received many compliments on their professional and musical
performances.
As usual, our orchestra partook in theWinelands Orches-
tra Festival in March at Bridge House. It was an awesome
weekend and the learners had a super time working with a
rather large senior orchestra, made up of learners from all over
the Cape. The weekend culminated in a performance on the
Sunday evening. There is something so special about seeing the
youth playing in orchestras together. It is wonderful to see the
love of music being passed on to the younger generations.
The orchestra and acappella groups were given the oppor-
tunity of going on camp this year. A great many hours were
spent rehearsing repertoire and getting to grips with the year’s
work. The camps were incredibly successful. Apart from all
the hard work, the learners were given many opportunities for
team building by participating in activities outside. They also
spent time together, simply enjoying each other’s company,
which has gone a long way to building camaraderie and a sense
of team. Both ensembles have had an enor-
mously successful year and have stunned and
surprised their audiences with the quality and
difficulty level of their repertoire. I am incredibly
proud of our learners!
Our culture prefects, Janell Matthews and Emma
Baines, were hugely successful in their planning of Park
Idols. Fantastic prizes were collected and awarded to our
winners. In addition, we had some illustrious judges who were
blown away by the professional performances from our top
nine finalists. Our sound and lighting guys were incredibly
flexible and creative and did a super job of refining the per-
formances. Congratulations must go to Chelsea van derWatt
who won the competition. She performed excellently!
In the second quarter, the music department hosted an
intimate ensemble evening. Our acappella group and orchestra
performed, as well as a number of our top performers in the
high school. What a testimony this evening was to the talent at
Parklands! We must acknowledge the skills and commitment
of our teachers, who have pushed these learners to realise
their full potential.
Various other smaller activities took place over the course
of the year. Our school bands took part in the Battle of the
Bands at Derby Day, hosted by Elkanah this year. This was great
fun and very well supported by learners and parents alike. We
even had a staff band performing at this event. This is always
a lot of fun and great for the children to see their teachers
perform! We also had a number of learners take part in the
SACS National Music Competition in August and the results
were very pleasing indeed. Congratulations go to our talented
LeslieWu who won his age category. Music in the Quad was a
regular occurrence in the fourth quarter, which added a joyful
atmosphere to break time.
This music department has most certainly developed from
a fledgling department to one that is worth its weight in gold.
Thank you to all the learners for flying the culture banner
high at Parklands. Finally, we all owe the part-time and full-
time music teachers an enormous debt of gratitude for their
patience, skill, talent and dedication. Thank you to Rob Hack,
Elina Koytcheva, Ian Black, Richard Black, Dalene du Pisanie,
Bruce Beelders, Leslie Elderkin and Nico Smit! We are looking
forward to yet another productive year in 2014!
Catherine Morrow-Swart
