Far South Coast students travel to Sydney to play the recorder on world-famous Opera House stage

Many rarely envision that practising on the woodwind musical instrument would see them perform on stage at the Sydney Opera House alongside another 499 other recorders and a strings ensemble of 200 violinists.

But students from Bega Valley Public School, Candelo Public School, Wyndham Public School, Wolumla Public School, and Merimbula Public School have done just that.

More that 2700 primary students between Years 3 to 6 from 326 public schools performed at the Festival of Instrumental Music's four concerts between June 13-16, 2023.

Teachers, parents and students travelled upwards of six hours to Sydney for the opportunity to play in the world-renowned venue.

Repertoires included Franz Schubert's Marche Militaire, Singin' in the Rain, and compositions by Australian composers Tracy Burjan and Alex Pringle.

Instead of one constant noise, the festival's performers had learned their pieces like that of a choir, where different compositions were allocated to different roles within the ensemble including Descant 1, Descant 2, Treble, Tenor and Bass parts.

Descant refers to an independent treble melody played above a basic melody.

Candelo Public School's principal Suezanne Bourke said it was very rewarding watching children learn to read music for the first time, learn that music off by heart, and learn to play with an orchestra.

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"It's a really big program, and huge expectations, and I think that's fantastic," Ms Bourke said.

"I love watching kids rise to those occasions and really put in the hard work and the hard effort.

"So that's what I love about it. They don't give up, they just keep persevering until they get it."

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