KidSpirit

The Finale

Fun and CreativityGlobal Beat

When I first moved to Australia, the sheer volume of music my new school entertained baffled me. All Year Seven’s were required to pick up an instrument — why? Everyone who played an instrument had to perform as part of an orchestra or band in front of hundreds of people multiple times per year — what? And everyone who participated in the compulsory music program was “strongly encouraged” (read: required) to find a private tutor to further their music studies — now that’s just ridiculous. I didn’t see why music was such a big deal, in my school or in Australia.

Then came Year Ten, when all students not in an orchestra or band were required to attend the mass singing at the “Foundation Day” concert commemorating the founding of the school. Initially, I moaned and groaned my dissatisfaction, and many of my non-musical peers shared my sentiment. Even when they announced that we would be in Hamer Hall, the gigantic concert hall in the middle of the city center, no one took the rehearsals seriously — the occasions were fraught with unwilling students and extended periods of chatter and kids who thought screaming the songs at the top of their lungs was funny. Our conductor had warned us that “on the day, when you see the thousands of people in the audience, you’ll want to do well,” but no one took him seriously either.

On the day of the concert, everything changed. Mass singing being the finale meant everyone could enjoy the preceding two hours of music by the dozens of orchestras and bands of the school. I’d never been to a school concert before, so imagine my surprise when the Chamber Choir’s rendition of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" left me speechless, or when the jazz band provided the most fun show I’ve ever listened to, or when the symphonic wind orchestra blew me away with their performance of "Blue Shades"! It was incredible. And the sheer amount of people present in the stands just to watch some kids play music… I finally realized what music meant to the school, and to the country.

But the mass singing was the true climax of the already enchanting night. As everyone stood up from their seats, a collective resolve to perform this as well as possible seemed to sink in. Seven-hundred-and-fifty-odd pairs of eyes focused on our conductor with unwavering intensity, and when the baton fell to signal the start of "Loch Lomond," we all fell into harmony — imperfect, of course, but wonderful all the same. The difference in quality between it and our rehearsals was stunning: there was no screaming, no talking; the rhythmic problems which had plagued us disappeared like magic; and most importantly, everyone sang in a unified expression of our school’s creative spirit. And the audience joined in!

The atmosphere after the conclusion of the concert was buzzing, with everyone talking about how the mass singing was great — a far cry from the beginning of the night. For me, this was the night when I realized the importance of music in our school culture, and by extension the culture of the country. It’s a form of creativity, of expression, which brings a certain unity to the school and wider community otherwise invisible. The next year, there was significantly less chatter and screaming in the rehearsals. I suppose we proved our conductor correct.

Max is a 12th grader from Melbourne, Australia who is interested in writing, environmental activism and advocacy, literature, politics, and sports.

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Art by Jaden Flach, Brooklyn

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Art by Jaden Flach, Brooklyn