On Tuesday the 22nd of October, Ellie, Jessamine, Jasmine, Jerico and I were privileged to take part in the Junior Orchestral Workshop held at Queen’s and King’s High School in Dunedin.

This was an intensive day-long workshop that culminated in a performance at the Performing Arts Center to students, music teachers and whānau. Ellie, Jessamine, Jasmine and I played violin and Jerico played viola as part of the Strings group with students from Years 7 to 10. All up there were a total of 115 string players performing. This included many violinists, cellists, violists, some double bass players and despite being a String Orchestra, some flutes joined in as well! Throughout the day we got to work on four really fun music pieces, and then at the end of the day our group took turns performing with the Woodwind/Percussion Orchestra - which consisted of another sixty or so students.

SOHS Orchestral Workshop Group: Jerico Gerida, Erin Turner, Jessamine Daumann, and Jasmine Anderson. Absent from photo: Ellie Oslen-Vetland

It was such an amazing experience to spend time enjoying music with other lovers of the arts and seasoned teachers. On behalf of our group, I would like to thank our itinerant music teacher, Mrs Kane, who prepared us, and a huge thanks to Mr Sly who drove us to Dunedin and made the day possible. It was such a valuable experience for us and we will treasure it forever!

Erin Turner
Year 10