JWA students have once again done extremely well both in HSC music and in university auditions.
All our HSC students who worked with our teachers towards their performances achieved “band 6” results, meaning they scored 90% or higher.
As well as this, all the Jazz Workshop Australia students who wanted to get a place in a tertiary music degree got a place in a Bachelor of Music course. Two go into the Jazz Studies course at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, on saxophone and drums. One was accepted into the Bachelor of Music Studies degree also at the Sydney Conservatorium, on clarinet. A fourth student got into the Bachelor of Music degree at the University of NSW, on saxophone. A fifth student auditioned for the Conservatorium on guitar, but decided to study law instead.
As always, the students who got into the Jazz Studies course at the Sydney Conservatorium took regular lessons with a jazz teacher, played in jazz combos for at least two or three years before auditioning and rehearsed regularly with a quality big band. This year’s students were both members of the Sydney Youth Jazz Orchestra big bands (SYJO).
In addition to these students who were regular members of JWA programs, many others who were alumni of our holiday workshops or the annual JWA Jazz Camp, or of the SYJO program also had some great audition results. A second drummer who was a member of JWA combos for several years got into jazz at the Conservatorium, as did two JWA tour band and Jazz Camp alumni. Another SYJO 2 member got into the music degree at UNSW.
One of the students did not get into the Conservatorium on the first attempt, but spent a very focused “gap year” taking lessons, practicing hard, playing in combo and big band, going to gigs, meeting local musicians and building a network of professional contacts, and so on. This is an excellent thing to do and a smart way to very quickly improve one’s playing. Previous Conservatorium students have even commented that they learnt more and improved more during such a practice year than at any other time.
Anyone considering auditioning for the Sydney Conservatorium should be aware that their intake is very small, and that it tends to be based around the balance of instruments they need to form ensembles within the course.
Congratulations to all these students on their excellent results, we wish you well. Of course many students choose not to study music at university, despite reaching a very high level with their playing. This doesn’t mean that music stops for them – there are plenty of opportunities here at JWA to keep playing and to keep improving.
