Music & Instrumental Music

We have entered a new and exciting phase where we are nurturing and developing a new Arts program through an engaging and fulfilling program in Music and Instrumental Music.

Aims

Balcatta Senior High School offers a dynamic Contemporary Music program for students entering Year 7. We facilitate pathways into senior school and beyond through courses and study opportunities at a TAFE level.

Our focus is performance driven with the fundamental skills and elements required to understand Music are integrated throughout the learning program.

Selection into the Program

Entering the Music program involves a careful selection process with multiple criteria. Students currently learning an instrument or with prior involvement in Music are encouraged to detail their experiences in their enrolment form. Students may be requested to send a video audition displaying their musical abilities.

Structure of the Program

Balcatta Senior High School offers a general classroom music class in Years 7-10, with the option for additional lessons through the IMSS program. There are several performance opportunities throughout the year for Music performances where students will be given a chance to demonstrate what they have learnt throughout the year.

IMSS is a Department of Education program which delivers instrumental lessons to schools, free of charge, for selected students with aptitude. Instrumental teachers visit our school during school hours to deliver instrumental lessons to selected students, in small groups of approximately 2 two to five students per class.

For students who undertake the commitment of IMSS, there will be two periods per week of a music class, plus an instrumental music class and ensemble rehearsals (approximately one (1) hour per week), provided by the Instrumental Music School Services.

Students who have been involved in the IMSS instrumental lessons in primary school will be provided an opportunity to continue their lessons at Balcatta Senior High School. Please note that not all instruments offered through IMSS are available at Balcatta Senior High School and are subject to the availability of tutors and demand for individual instruments within the Music cohort.

Music Teacher/Coordinator (Balcatta SHS)

Daniel Rees

Daniel has been teaching at Balcatta Senior High School across various subjects since 2014. His current role at the school is teaching classroom Music and running the Certificate II in Music course through COSAMP.

Daniel graduated with a Bachelor degree in Science and Health & Physical Education at Edith Cowan University in 2012. In 2013, he attained a diploma in Sound and Audio Engineering enabling him to engineer sound for the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis Show, Perth Comedy Festival for Habib (Fat Pizza), Claire Hooper (Good News Week/Great Australian Bake Off) and many others.

In 2014, Daniel built a home studio where he writes and records a lot of his music. Using his 20 years of experience, he has co-written and co-recorded several albums with Australian heavy act “Saviour” which have accumulated over 15 million streams on Spotify. He has toured Australia on multiple national headline tours and international acts such as ‘Parkway Drive’ and ‘Northlane’.

In the future, Daniel sees himself creating a culture of loving the performance and recording elements of music, knowing how infectious the feeling of music can be. School is where he found his love for performance and to be able to facilitate that same feeling in others is really exciting and rewarding.

In the future, Daniel sees himself creating a culture of loving the performance element of music, knowing how infectious the feeling of music can be. School is where he found his love for performance and to be able to potentially facilitate that same feeling in others is really exciting and rewarding.

For further information, please contact Daniel Rees, Music Coordinator by phone on 9345 8200 or by email at Daniel.Rees@education.wa.edu.au

Music Teachers (IMSS)

Greg Brenton (Percussion Drumkit)

Greg Brenton is a drummer who holds a Bachelor of Music Performance in Jazz from the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, A Post Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education and is currently studying a to attain a Masters Degree by Research in Education.

He also has a permanent drum set teaching position with the Department of Education at the Instrumental Music Service. Greg has also taught Contemporary and Jazz drum set at WAAPA, along with several of Perth’s larger private schools.

Greg has played, recorded and toured nationally with such bands as The Roast, The Mace Francis Orchestra, The Hounds, Stingray, Paul Gioia Band and Fat Sparrow. Other notable credits include performing with Jim Pugh (world reknowned trombonist for Steely Dan), Brian Mannix (Uncanny X-Men), Sean Kelly (The Models), Lucky Oceans (The Zydecats and Asleep At The Wheel) and singer Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu.

He has performed several times at the York Jazz, Wangaratta Jazz, Fairbridge Folk, Perth International Jazz and Bridgetown Blues Festivals. In addition to this Greg has played for critically acclaimed musicals Waltzing The Willara and Menopause The Musical.

Current musical engagements are extremely varied and Greg has regular performances with corporate party band Proof, contemporary jazz big band The Mace Francis Orchestra, blues singer Harry Deluxe in her current outfit Mama Red and The Dark Blues, art rock band Fat Sparrow, and Triple J Unearthed Candidates The White Orcas. This is along with a very busy freelance drumming schedule and other gigs as a guitarist, singer and songwriter with a couple of contemporary music projects.

Downloads

• Specialist Programs available at BSHS

Please complete the Enrolment Expression of Interest Form (refer to the Enrolment page) to register your interest.

You will be contacted later in the year regarding the outcome of the selection process.