Encore 2011 (in 2012) (2 Viewers)

[madharris]

I went to encore for the first time this year, and had high expectations.
But out of the 20 or so who played, I only enjoyed a few of them.
Don't get me wrong, some of them were amazing, but some were just... not good
I thought encore was meant to be the best in the state, because i was really disappointed.

Were my expectations just too high do you think?

 

[madharris]

oops sorry i was meant to post this in the 'music' section not the 'performance' section

 

[qrpw]

I agree that a few performances weren't so good. I can think of one in particular.

But the thing is, they have to put in a variety of different ensembles/instruments, and genres. For example, personally, I haven't heard of an Australian work from the last 25 years that I would ever want to listen to, but it's mandatory. So they may not be your cup of tea or mine. Plus you have to admit performing (especially by yourself solo) on the stage at the Opera House is quite daunting, and I wouldn't be surprised if many of the performers would have stage fright. If you are nominated, the selection process is that you have to send in a video of your performance, and obviously you can repeat that a million times to become 'perfect'. It's not so easy on stage to do that though...

I suppose it's good that you have high expectations- expect more from yourself! A 50/50 in ext (performance) will get you 100% nominated, so you might be on that stage in 2 years

 

[madharris]

Well I'm not doing performance for my extension, only music 2

But you don't need 50/50 do actually get into the performance (the person from my school only got 49 while 4 other people from my school got 50 and didn't get in)

I just think it that encore should be the best, and that the board of studies shouldn't be worried about getting X amount from private and X amount from public schools and X amount from music 1/2/ext. It should purely be about the best people in the state

 

[qrpw]

Eh, if you do extension composition and it's an accessible ensemble who knows? Still might get into encore. Yeah I meant if you actually did get 50/50 you definitely would be nominated, but getting picked is something else. You must go to a really good school if 4 people managed to get 50/50 for Ext.

I just think it that encore should be the best, and that the board of studies shouldn't be worried about getting X amount from private and X amount from public schools and X amount from music 1/2/ext. It should purely be about the best people in the state

In an ideal world, yes. In reality, unfortunately not- they can't just put in 20 extension performances, regardless if they were the best. Plus 'best' is relative- according to actual difficulty? or entertainment? Depends on what music you like I suppose.

 

[madharris]

Not so much difficulty but a mixture of expression, technique, tone, etc I don't mind if they put music 2 or 1, as long as they're 'the best'
Of course they have to mix music 1/2/ext in it, but even some of the extension ones weren't that good
I know it's all subjective, but if the best arn't in encore, what's the point of of getting in?

 

[ochaguy]

The selection process for ENCORE is highly political and arguably, performers are chosen based on the high school teacher's connections with the Board of Studies.

Every year, you will almost certainly have someone from:
Performance High schools (Obviously): Conservatorium High School, Newtown High School of the Performing Arts
The private schools: MLC, Knox Grammar, Abbotsleigh,
The selective schools: North Sydney Boys/Girls, Sydney Boys/Girls
Comprehensive Public Schools, Cherrybrook Tech, Cheltenhem Girls

Also remember that Encore includes students from Music 2, extension AND Music 1. Keep in mind that a 50/50 in Music extension is arguably a different standard to a 50/50 in Music 1.

There's also a geographical aspect, where a few students from rural/regional schools MUST be included for demographic's sake - these do not necessarily have to be 50/50 students.

In all, Encore will inevitably have a wide range of genres and the repertoire may not please all tastes. But the playlist for ENCORE is more political than anything else.

 

[Charlotte00]

That's very interesting.....My music teacher also said that it has to do with what instrument you're playing. They get lots of violin and piano players (and vocalists in music1) but they don't want the whole show to be the same instruments.