The Arts offers many opportunities for students to extend
their musical interests through offerings in Choir, Concert Band, Stage Band,
Strings Ensemble and the Instrumental Music Program.
Choir
The ISHS Choir is very active performing in both the
school and wider local community. Students in Choir have the opportunity to
build their confidence with frequent performances at school parade, local
venues including Riverlink and the Workshops Museum, and community events such
as ANZAC ceremonies. The choir is also heavily involved in the school musical
production and competes in the Silkstone Eisteddfod. Choir rehearses on
Wednesday mornings, 8‐8:45am.
Concert Band
Concert Band is the large ensemble for brass, woodwind
and percussion instrumental students. Students perform a wide variety of music
at venues including Riverlink and Dreamworld, as well as community events such
as ANZAC ceremonies in the local area. It also competes at the annual Silkstone
Eisteddfod. Concert Band is a great way for students to make friends and
develop their musicianship skills. It rehearses every Friday morning from 7:45‐8:30am.
Stage Band
Stage Band is the ensemble for more advanced
instrumental music students. It gives students the opportunity to play a wide
variety of contemporary music, from cool jazz to the latest music releases. Students
develop their musicianship skills playing challenging music and developing
their improvisation skills. The band performs at venues across Ipswich and also
annually at Dreamworld, as well as competing in the Silkstone Eisteddfod. Stage
Band also provides the live music for the school musical productions. It
rehearses every Thursday morning from 7:50 to 8:45am.
String Ensemble
Strings Ensemble provides instrumental strings
students with the opportunity to play challenging music as part of a group. The
group performs a wide variety of music, from classical to the latest releases.
Playing in an ensemble strongly develops students’ musicianship skills and
their confidence as performers, with the Ensemble competing at the annual
Silkstone Eisteddfod and playing in the annual musical production. Strings
Ensemble rehearses every Tuesday from 8‐8:45am.
Instrumental Music Program
Instrumental Music at ISHS gives students the
opportunity to learn a musical instrument with a specialist instrumental music
teacher. Students have a lesson every week in small groups of peers at the same
skill level, as well as access to the various ensembles to develop their
musical skills through performing as part of a group.
ISHS offers instrumental music lessons in brass,
woodwind, percussion and strings. The lessons are free, with instruments
available for hire at a cost of $50 per year.
Learning a musical instrument can lead to various
pathways, including performer, composer, conductor, teacher and a wide range of
other roles within the music industry.
Instrumental Music at ISHS follows the Queensland
state school syllabus, consisting of 5 proficiency levels achieved throughout
the student’s time at school. These levels are designed to help students
develop the necessary skills and techniques on their instruments so they can
perform increasingly challenging music as they progress. They learn how to read
music and the associated terminology as well as how to improvise on their instrument.
These skills allow students to experience performing solo, with the ensemble
opportunities extending these skills to following a conductor and demonstrating
good performance etiquette.
The five levels are designed so that, when completed,
students should be proficient, skilled and well-rounded musicians through
weekly lessons, rehearsals and a significant amount of performance experience.
Contact Us
For more information, please contact
Alison Hamilton (Head of The Arts) on ahami30@eq.edu.au