Nedlands Primary School Choir
Each year, At Government House Perth, the members of the Nedlands Primary School Choir join in our Commonwealth Youth Harmony Concert and perform three musical pieces. They usually number 80 girls and boys in all, and we all enjoy their beautiful performances.
Established in 1913, Nedlands Primary School has seen many prominent West Australians pass through its ranks. The school generally draws children of parents in professional fields in the high socio-economic area, and there are strong traditions of attendance across family generations. It also attracts several children of overseas students and staff employed at the nearby University of Western Australia and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.
The school operates a Pre-Primary and Kindergarten program, off-site at the Nedlands Park Early Learning Centre, about 1km from the primary school, in addition to two newly refurbished Early Childhood rooms for Pre-Primary classes on the main school site.
An Instrumental Music Tuition Program has more than 80 children from Years 3 to 6 involved. Instruments include violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute and brass. A Religion in Life program is offered to all students in years 1 to 4, voluntarily, through the Hollywood Christian Group of religious instruction teachers.
The quality of the music tuition has been recognised by the Royal Commonwealth Society Western Australia Branch who invites Nedlands to participate in their annual Commonwealth Day Youth Harmony program held at Government House before the Governor.
Penrhos College Orchestra
Each year the Penrhos College Orchestra is invited to perform for the Royal Commonwealth Society Youth Harmony Concert, at Government House before the Governor.
Penrhos College, Perth, Western Australia founded in 1962 is located on a beautiful old pine plantation in the suburb of Como. The College has developed a reputation for its vibrant and diverse music program, currently under Director of Music, Jane Alderson. The Penrhos College Orchestra is an ensemble formed primarily for the 2019 Europe Music Tour. It consists of around thirty non-auditioned musicians from the College’s Wind and String Orchestras, between the ages of thirteen and eighteen. Both the Penrhos Wind and String Orchestras regularly perform at College and community events. In 2018, both ensembles performed in the ‘A’ division at the ABODA (Australian Band and Orchestra Directors’ Association) Festival, the Wind Orchestra achieving an ‘Outstanding’ rating and the String Orchestra an ‘Excellent’. The String Orchestra toured to Europe in 2016, where they were awarded Third Place with Excellent Success in the Orchestra category at the Tenth Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival. The Penrhos College Orchestra participated in the 2019 European tour, Summa Cum Laude Festival in Vienna, and also performed in Salzburg, Prague, Ljubljana, Venice and Milan.
