Here at Cathedral College Wangaratta, we encourage the musical abilities within our students. Music Education is an integral part of our school curriculum with the college offering Music for all ages. Students from Prep to Year Six undergo compulsory musical study, catering towards fun and interactive learning, whilst Years Seven to Ten have Music offered as part of their curriculum with a variety of electives available for the interested learner. Classes are effective, modernised and hands-on, encouraging participation in all year levels. Students explore and use musical elements, principles and techniques through the mediums of body percussion, singing, instrumentation, kinesthetic movement, visual/aural instruction as well as inner-game learning. Students perform both individually and in a class ensemble setting, expressing music through modern-day repertoire. The musical elements of pitch, melody, rhythm and beat are developed throughout the curriculum with a strong focus in rhythmic and melodic dictation and singing. Students also develop teamwork skills in fostering their own creativity through song composition in the lower levels.
Music at Cathedral College Wangaratta is not only offered in the classroom with students participating in ensembles and in Kool Skools, Generations In Jazz, The Wangaratta Jazz Festival, the ASC Concert in Perth and more. Another valued musical opportunity is the House Music Festival. Held annually, this involves the entire students body in performing music from Bach to Beyoncé and builds a strong sense of community and House pride within the College.
Music Technology
A key component of the Music Program for all students at Cathedral College Wangaratta is an introduction to the wonders of music technology. This course focuses on the creative application of technology, with pathways to professional music, sound, broadcast and multimedia and research contexts. Students develop creative and music technology skills within new media, composition, recording and performance creative industries such as sound engineering, computer music, audio-visual production and post-production, mastering, scoring for film and multimedia, audio for games, software development, and multimedia production. We often welcome leading artists and engineers as guest lecturers, to provide insights into professional workflows and creative practices.
Music technology fuses the exploration and use of technology through creative approaches of music and sound, and promotes creative outcomes through current technologies. Students have full access to the classroom Mac Lab, a dedicated class set of iPads, tablets with Staffpad and a class set of Korg midi keyboards to allow them to flourish.
Drama
All students from Year Seven to Year Ten are presented the opportunity to be a lighting designer, or a set builder. These students may read a play, whilst another class of students work on costume designs for the Junior School production. A Year Ten student may rehearse for their monologue assessment and Year Eight students will immerse themselves in the wonder of musical theatre. Drama at Cathedral is about freedom and knowing that students can leap and fall without breaking anything. They develop trust that whatever they perform, matters.
Each year, Cathedral presents a Senior School Musical which has proved to be a real asset for both the College and students involved. Dramatic plays are presented in Term Two and Three and chosen form the inexhaustible list of classical and contemporary scripts. The College travels to Melbourne twice a year for the Malthouse Suitcase Series and a professional music theatre production, as well as supporting the many local theatre performances.
