Primary school students were treated to a fun and educational session about orchestra instruments last Friday.
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The classically trained musicians, who were in town to play at the Craven Creek Concerts, stopped by St Joseph’s Primary School and Gloucester Public School for a session.
Students were given a little bit of information about each individual instrument before listening to a song highlighting its sound. The musicians played songs written by their favourite composers.
There were two violins, a viola, a cello, a double bass and a French horn.
“Does anyone know what animal a double bass sounds like?” Josef Bisits asked the students.
An elephant, was the answer.
Then they played The Elephant (from Carnival of the Animals) by Camille Saint-Saëns. Students participated by waving their arms like trunks of elephants.
Emma Eden, the French horn player, explained how she needed to blow raspberries to get the best sound from her instrument.
Wolfgang Mozart was the composer Emma talked about, explaining how he wrote Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, a song all the students in the room knew.
Emma told the students how being a musician can be a job that pays your rent and buys your food.
But the key is to practice, she told them. Not much but a little everyday.
The players were from the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.