He is only 14 but music is very much a part of Oscar Gill’s life.
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His mother, Helen Gill was a professional symphonic trumpeter and Oscar has just returned from a workshop at the Opera House where he was only one of 38 high school students to work with the acclaimed Academy of St Martin in the Fields chamber orchestra.
The NSW government’s Arts Unit joined forces with the London Academy of St Martin in the Fields to present a group composition project for students and learning opportunity for teachers.
The weekend involved intensive rehearsals, discussion of composition and performance techniques, and a culminating performance with the workshop led by John Webb.
For Oscar, of Tantawangalo, who plays the baritone sax, the weekend was a great experience with the opportunity to work on Felix Mendelssohn’s haunting work, the Hebrides (Fingal's Cave).
“Probably the best thing was remixing Fingal’s Cave. It’s not everyday you get to remix a classical work; everybody contributed,” Oscar said.
Oscar started playing piano when he was five and more recently had three years of playing bass clarinet before he moved on to baritone sax a year ago.
“I like the baritone, I like the lowness of it and the depth,” he said.
Oscar is a regular in the Sapphire Coast Concert Band and Sapphire Coast Big Band and will be performing in the bands’ upcoming concert on May 19 at Club Sapphire.
The workshop at the Opera House was part of the chamber orchestra’s first visit to Australia in nearly 30 years, and made it a special opportunity for the talented group of students.