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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-16 Daily Xml
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GENERATIONS IN JAZZ

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:35): On the weekend of 4 to 6 May, Mount Gambier again hosted the fabulous Generations in Jazz. Since 1982, this event has gone from strength to strength and it is now a jewel in South Australia's crown, and not just musically. The event is testament to the vision of its founders and board, and to the people of the South-East who get behind it every year.

I have been attending for many years to support Modbury High School, a great school with a strong culture for excellence, which has thrived because of the dedicated teaching staff, a strong parent community and the wonderful student body which has gone through this fine public secondary school. Perhaps the most well-known past student to those on the other side is none other than Brendan Nelson, a former leader of the opposition and minister in the federal government.

The school is ably led by current principal Martin Rumsby, the latest appointment in a line of well regarded principals. Mr Rumsby attended his first Generations in Jazz this year and no doubt was very impressed, not only by the event itself but also by the fine performance of the Modbury High School stage band under the direction of Ms Rosie Carr and Ms Joan Baker, with Mr Chris Goult also travelling to the competition.

At its core, Generations in Jazz allows schools from all over Australia to come together to compete in various sections: to meet with peers and learn from each other, the wonderful seasoned musician mentors who come to the festival every year, and to experience the opportunity of the event, which is now held over three days.

This year, as I drove over the hill on the way to The Barn on Nelson Road, I caught a glimpse of the newest marquee, a giant Cirque du Soleil type tent named the Schagerl Pavilion after the newest sponsor, now making a range of exciting instruments to the specifications of James Morrison, that great Australian jazz icon. James's commitment to Generations in Jazz means a great deal. He brings his rhythm section—Phil Stack on bass; John, his brother, on drums; James Muller on guitar; and Kevin Hunt on piano—and vocalist Emma Pask with him.

The weekend has become such a wonderful event that judges of the calibre of Ed Wilson, Bill Broughton, Ross Irwin, Graeme Lyall, and now also Gordon Goodwin from the US, return each year. In 2012 we also saw the welcome return of patron Daryl Somers, who wowed the massive audience with vocal and drum performances, and it is a huge audience now. The Schagerl Pavilion may soon be too small to house the growing public audience, along with the nine division 1 bands, 23 division 2 bands, 24 division 3 (section 1) bands, 23 division 3 (section 2) bands, and 31 division 4 bands. That is a total of 110 bands with at least 1,800 student musicians and their teachers, support staff and families.

We were also treated to a growing vocal competition. There were 12 vocal groups in division 1 and 22 vocal groups in division 2, who were judged by Emma Pask and that wonderful vocal ensemble Idea of North, who are an absolute a cappella joy. There is a concert each day featuring previous winners of instrumental and vocal sections, as well as James Morrison Jazz Scholarship winners. We also hear super bands, melded together from talented players from each of the competition bands, often with only a morning's practice on charts they sight read for the first time that day.

Gordon Goodwin wrote a special chart of three movements for the weekend, and it was wonderful. It was really important to see James and the others really working hard to deliver a new chart too. I know I speak for the member for Mount Gambier in thanking all the sponsors: Schagerl, Winston Music, Stuckey, City of Mount Gambier, District Council of Grant, Scott Petroleum, OGR and The Barn Palais, along with the Evans family and Pat Corrigan's Musicians Scholarship Trust, for making the weekend possible. There was also ongoing support from businesses in Mount Gambier such as Hansen Printing, Hyland Fox Signs, Chapman's Newsagency, Baxter Hire, N.F. McDonnell and Sons, Genesis Creative, Joanne's Express Espresso and Green Triangle Electronics.

I took messages of goodwill from our Premier and the Minister for Education and Child Development. I am pleased to advise that the winning division 1 band this year was from Marryatville High School under the musical direction of Robbie Chenoweth. This is a specialist public school that continues a fine tradition. Modbury High School finished a credible 12th in its division. Thanks go to the teachers from the education department's instrumental branch, who serve the education department in our state and its students so well in so many schools. Among them are high schools like Woodville, Golden Grove, Port Lincoln, Brighton, Fremont-Elizabeth, which also attended the Generations in Jazz competitions.

Thanks, too, go to Karen Roberts and her wonderful team of volunteers, particularly in this Volunteer Week. Hundreds of people make sure that everything goes according to plan, and then when things do not, that somehow they still do. The City of Mount Gambier is a wonderful host to this great competition. As I said, bands from all over Australia come. It is something that happens nowhere else in Australia. It is now well known internationally and it can only go from strength to strength. I urge all members to go down and support schools from their electorate. The Florey Music Award in each school has played a very small role in encouraging music in our area, and it has been wonderful to see students who have won that prize go on to careers in music.

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