Youthful exuberance strikes a chord

MARCH 2009

One of Queensland's leading music teachers is embarking on an international musical odyssey including the study of an unusual approach to teaching classical music.

Stephanie McCaw, the head of instrumental music at Brisbane's Ferny Grove State High School, was awarded a Churchill Fellowship last year.

She is using the award to study community music projects in the UK, the US and Finland, including a groundbreaking venture known as Sistema Scotland.

High note ... Ferny Grove State High School's head of instrumental music Stephanie McCaw in action. Ms McCaw is travelling overseas to study a unique approach to classical music teaching.

Ms McCaw said Sistema Scotland have adapted a revolutionary music education system from Venezuela to empower a deprived community in the Scottish town of Stirling.

'"El Sistema", as it is known, has been operating in Venezuela for some 30 years but came to world attention only recently,' she said.

'Some of the biggest names in classical music have become ardent fans of the Sistema approach, with stellar conductor Sir Simon Rattle describing it as "the most important thing happening in classical music today".'

Ms McCaw said she discovered the approach on a video clip of a Venezuelan youth orchestra performing at London's Royal Albert Hall.

'Everyone is really struck by the energy and exuberance of the Venezuelans' performance,' she said.

'Here is an orchestra of extremely disadvantaged young people from a third-world country performing with an energy that far exceeds that of many professional ensembles.'

Ferny Grove State High's instrumental music program won a Showcase Award for Excellence in Innovation in 2007.

Ms McCaw said one of the school's aims was to translate students' natural energy into their musical performances - a natural fit with the Sistema approach.

'Often when you see kids play, they look as if the life force has been sucked out of them,' she said.

'But with that Albert Hall performance you can tell something special must be going on for all that life and joy to be so freely expressed on stage.'

By giving intensive musical training to children from the poorest backgrounds, El Sistema acts as a catalyst for social justice, saving many from lives of hopelessness, violence and drugs.

'Some of the situations teachers in Venezuela and Scotland face are quite different to what we have here but the fundamentals of music are the same and I'm sure we can learn heaps from their experience,' Ms McCaw said.

Ms McCaw is looking forward to incorporating the Sistema approach at Ferny Grove State High School upon her return in April.

She will also contribute to a national body that's been set up to establish a similar program in Australia.