Music at high school continues to impress

April 15th, 2013
[by David Armstrong]

The range and depth of musical talent at Motueka High School was again on show at the annual Showcase concert held in the school hall yesterday afternoon.

Some students were doing performance items as part of their assessment for NCEA music courses, while others just took the opportunity to perform to an appreciative and at times spellbound audience.

Last year's concert (see our review here), also organised by the school's head of music Hilary Sinclair, packed the Chanel Arts Centre in the evening, and this year about the same number of people were at the afternoon performance in the much larger school hall, but the audience made up for the empty seats with enthusiastic applause.

This amateur reviewer cannot hope to give informed assessments of all the acts, but each in their own way did themselves proud, even if a few were not of a genre which many 'oldies' readily appreciate. Most heartening was the continued improvement of students who also performed at last year's concert.

The 90-minute concert kicked off with the all-comers Motueka Singers which, under Hilary's direction, sang two pop songs, Barbara Ann and Mama don't dance. While very bright and accurate with well balanced harmonies, they were a little lacking in the punch needed to get the toes tapping.

Christie Ahern played a lovely piano piece with great expressiveness and a sensitive and accurate touch. (As she was facing away from the audience, there is no photo of her.)

Ella Doty performed one of her original songs in her distinctive guitar and vocal style, showing she continues to be an assured performer with a bright voice.

Ryan Lomas played the rhythm guitar part to a backing track of, I assume, a modern rock song. It was a long piece which tested the memory of the various timings, most of which Ryan got right or recovered quickly when slightly missing. Not knowing the song, I cannot judge the accuracy of the performance.

The school's top choir, Suono Bellissimo, sang two complicated numbers which they will use in the Big Sing competition later this year. The first song, in German, was ably handled and the second really challenged them.

The pleased look on their faces when they finished showed their relief that it worked out well in the end, but they will agree that there will be a lot of work ahead of them to master the complex timings and discords involved.

A big plus is their willingness to tackle such a challenge. When it does all come together as the year progresses, they will turn heads.

Mikaela Grant recovered beautifully after an early slip and completed a complex piano number involving lots of arpeggios. She displayed lovely touch and colour with great confidence and dexterity.

Kora Appleton played a recorder piece with Bill Buck accompanying. The relatively straightforward tune was handled well, with good clarity, expressiveness and breath control throughout the range.

Celia McAlpine on violin was another very good performer, combining a confident feel for the instrument with excellent tone and control to nail a difficult Bach composition.

The musical mood changed when Julian Mittman took the stage, wowing many of the younger people and doubtless bemusing most of the parents and grandparents with his guitar riffing over a heavy metal (I think it's called death metal) backing track with such deliberate distortion that many could not discern an actual tune (but perhaps that is the point).

Whatever you thought of the sound, Julian certainly commands the guitar fretboard but also entertains with his athletic stage presence. Fans of this genre probably love his style and talent.

Second in the heavy metal trifecta was Harry Alexander who drummed to a drumless modern rock backing track. Again, a bit loud for some listeners, but the drumming to amateur ears appeared very solid, accurate and entertaining (including the tossed sticks).

Ben Eastwood followed the same fluid, screaming style as Julian, but made up for sitting (rather than jumping around) with what could possibly be even faster fingerwork. I'll let them argue out their relative speed and accuracy levels between themselves.

A change of pace brought Victoria Hart on stage to sing a modern, slow love ballad to a backing track. She has improved well since last year and showed good mastery of the microphone. Her sound was as good as many female singers I've heard on radio, confident and accurate with good feeling.

Four international students have been working together to build a quartet, playing guitar, bass, clarinet and recorder. They performed two numbers for voice and instruments, giving a bit of variety to the concert. They do have a little way to go to build their confidence and engage the audience, but their basic playing of the instruments is a sound platform.

The concert finished with the three stand-out items. Alana Behringer performed a beautiful, slow, reflective version of "Wonderful World", one of the best versions of this often-recorded song I've ever heard.

Alana continues to mature as a singer with her distinctive breathy style, and while her finger picking guitar playing is basic it complements her voice and the song perfectly. She is growing in confidence, broadening her vocal range, gaining superb skills and taking on bigger vocal challenges.

Then her brother Izaak did three guitar pieces showcasing just how far his fretboard skills are advancing year on year. The first was a classical item on nylon strings, then came a delightful rendition of the Titanic film theme on steel string, and finally a superb driving item on 12-string guitar.

Izaac is now confident in his picking style, with few if any dead notes, light touch and control across the neck. This continued on the 12-string, a notoriously hard instrument for finger picking (I'm speaking from experience here), and as the item built with driving chords and rhythms the audience were totally drawn in - a sign of real ability. Izaac, hopefully off to music school in Wellington next year, may well become a very good performance guitarist.

And finally the school's outstanding musical product in recent years, Louis Lucas-Perry treated the audience to yet another wonderful piano item and send us home with a smile.

Here are photos taken of most performers. If anyone would like original high-resolution versions emailed to them, please saying which photo(s) you would like. This offer is open until April 25th.

The Motueka Singers

Ella Doty

Ryan Lomas

Suono Bellissimo

Kora Appleton	Celia McAlpine
Julian Mittman	Harry Alexander
Ben Eastwood	Victoria Hart
The international students	Alana Behringer
Izaac Behringer	Louis Lucas-Perry

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