Of the 1500 students at Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview, around 600 learn a musical instrument! In order to cater to different student abilities and varying stages of development, the Riverview Music Department offers tuition on 23 different instruments and there are 21 music ensembles encompassing a wide variety of genres from Rock to Jazz to Classical Music.

The College boasts a Symphony Orchestra, two Stage Bands, three Concert Bands, two Choirs, three Guitar ensembles, three Percussion ensembles, a Drumline, three Rock Bands and three String ensembles. All students are encouraged to learn an instrument at the College as part of the private tuition program.

Professional staff

The success of the music program is evident in our consistently exceptional HSC results. Since 2005, the class average for HSC Music has been above 90 each year.

Part of this success can be attributed to professionalism of our staff who have a wealth of musical knowledge and experience. The Music Department comprises: 

• Four full-time and four part-time tertiary qualified music teachers employed for classroom teaching and conducting ensembles.
• 36 casual music tutors who teach in the Private Tuition Program and who are involved in the Music Activities Program. The majority of these tutors are professional musicians currently involved in the music industry.

As well as the Private Tuition Program, the Department runs a Music Activities Program which offers group instrument tuition to students in Years 5—8.

The chance to shine

There are around 20 music performances each term at the College,making over 80 performances in each school year. 

A Senior School musical runs each alternate year to showcase the talents of the students from Years 9 to 12, while a Middle School musical runs every alternate year, involving students in Years 5 to 8.

Students also perform at all assemblies, liturgical events and masses at the College. Recordings of student and ensemble performances and compositions are released each year.

Abundance of choice

Every student in Year 5 and 6 is involved in the Music Activities Program and learns a string instrument. Students are taught in groups of three and private tuition is an option that is strongly recommended for gifted students. In Year 6, students can opt for lessons on a woodwind or a brass instrument instead.

The Program continues in Years 7 and 8, with all students gaining experiences with percussion, guitar, keyboards and computer-based composition skills. The majority of these students are in ensembles.

State-of-the-art facilities

The Woods Music Centre has 23 practice rooms. Optional practice sessions are available each day to all students from 7.30am to 6.30pm.The Woods Music Centre has a 26-station Macintosh Computer Music Laboratory, and is well-equipped with resources for staff and students.

Elective music students are encouraged to participate in the extra-curricular industry-related activities such as learning to use the Department’s DJ equipment, hard-drive recording console and sound equipment.

Using advanced technology

The Woods Music Centre is equipped with the latest in technology so that our students can keep up to date with the changing nature of the classroom. This includes a 26-station Mac music lab. 

Students are taught to use the following software for sound samples, audio recording, MIDI entry and loop-based recording:

• Cubase and Garageband (Years 7—8)
• Cubase, Sibelius and Auralia (Years 9—12

Students are also taught to operate the following pieces of equipment:

• Sound (PA) systems
• DJ equipment
• Lighting equipment
• Recording equipment such as Roland hard-disk recorders and Roland CD recorders
• Instrument amplifiers and electronic effects

Other programs and platforms such as MS Word, MS Excel, MS Powerpoint, Quantum and Wordpress are also used across year groups for written and research tasks.

Programs for the gifted and talented

The College has processes in place to specially cater for gifted and talented students. This includes offering individual lessons; encouraging participation in external exams, College ensembles, musical performances and musicianship classes; teaching extended composition, and setting additional classwork, including musicology assignments.

To read the Department's full policy on gifted and talented programs, please click here.

Caring for special needs

The College specially caters to students who have special needs. This includes offering modifying assessments where appropriate; checking all exam material for appropriate vocabulary; streaming students into set groups during practical components; providing extra provisions for examiniations; offering individual instrument lessons; encouraging computer use; encouraging participation in musicianship classes; and encouraging participation in developing ensembles. 

To read the Deaprtment's full policy on special needs students, please click here.