Kooweerup Secondary College musicians KerrieBy Sarah Schwager
KOOWEERUP Secondary College musicians have the chance to perform with the experts when the renowned Australian Army Band visits the school next week.
The event will be one of the Australian Army Band’s first performances since recently returning from a trip to Iraq – and its first visit to the school.
College music coordinator Claudia Barker has spent the past year asking the band to come and said the news it would finally visit the school was a big shock.
The band’s 35 attending members will spend next Friday running singing and instrumental workshops with the school’s young musicians and rehearsing with the senior school band in preparation for the concert that night.
Ms Barker said the Australian Army Band would be bringing its entire entourage, including two trucks of sound equipment, lighting and staging to be set up in the college hall.
Local politicians and Department of Education representatives will attend the concert, which Ms Barker said was designed as a “welcome to Kooweerup, welcome home from Iraq” event for the army band.
“We want to make this a really big occasion,” she said.
Ms Barker said while the school did not necessarily agree with the Government’s policy of sending troops to Iraq, it did want to support troops that were there, and it was important the Australian Army Band members were recognised for their efforts.
The army band visited Iraq to provide entertainment to the many Defence Force personnel serving in the Middle East, and travelled to half a dozen locations, including Baghdad and Kuwait.
College brass teacher Brendan Barker was a former sergeant with the Australian Army Band for 20 years and will perform with the outfit on the night.
The Australian Army Band will perform a variety of pieces at the concert on Friday, 19 August at 7.30pm, as well as two pieces with senior school band members – the march from Gustav Holst’s First Suite in EFlat, and an arrangement from Jesus Christ Superstar.
Tickets are $5.
