![\"\"](\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/choir-325x122.jpg\" "\\"choir\\"")
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This week, over 600 students from the length and breadth of New South Wales are\u00a0busy with preparations for In Concert, <\/em>an initiative of the\u00a0Arts Unit of the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities.\u00a0\u00a0When they gather in Sydney next week, several ensembles, both large and small will perform\u00a0choral, orchestral and jazz repertoire from Vivaldi\u00a0(excerpts from the Gloria)<\/em>, Bartok, Wagner and Sondheim.<\/p>\n The\u00a0students of the Combined Secondary Schools Choir will\u00a0sing in a\u00a0massed choir of 450;\u00a0they will perform with the 80 strong New South Wales Public Schools Symphony Orchestra, and have the opportunity of working with\u00a0the nation’s leading music educator and conductor, Richard Gill, OAM. As well there will be smaller ensembles like 60 musicians of the New South Wales Public Schools Wind Ensemble, and the 18 who make up the New South Wales Public Schools Jazz Orchestra.<\/p>\n Richard Gill’s experience in\u00a0opera, musical theatre and vocal and choral training is unparallelled and his\u00a0work in developing young musicians and creating opportunities for them is recognised worldwide. He is Music Director of Victorian Opera and\u00a0Artistic Director of the Education Program for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.\u00a0 He has been Artistic Director of OzOpera, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and the Adviser for the Musica Viva in Schools program. Yet, he continues to be excited by the prospect of working directly with secondary students, an idea which he finds “irresistible”. He continues “I have never lost interest in working with students, especially those that sing! When secondary students sing, it\u2019s very special!\u201d<\/p>\n The students are drawn from 67 schools from Cobar to Caringbah. The event and its preparation is means for the Arts Unit to\u00a0take\u00a0music to schools\u00a0across the state. Conductor Elizabeth Scott will prepare the choirs in Sydney, before they meet with Richard Gill. They will have already have\u00a0learnt and\u00a0rehearsed the music within their schools. She says ” It’s always exciting for them and\u00a0very different to what they do in regular school time – to sing large scale choral works with 450 people, an orchestra and to work with Richard Gill\u00a0and\u00a0learn repertoire that is more challenging. I love working with massed choirs; I\u00a0love seeing kids from all walks from life and\u00a0a varity of levels of experience and ability work alongside each other. It’s so\u00a0rewarding to see the students tackle something beyond their normal limits and see them rise to the occasion\u201d.<\/p>\n The students generally stay in Sydney for two nights. In the choir, the students are mixed, so there are\u00a0opportunities for meeting new people and to share and\u00a0compare experiences.<\/p>\n The engaging and entertaining Richard Gill will present a pre-concert talk, and so\u00a0the last word is\u00a0best left to John Carmody of The Sun Herald: \u201cPerhaps it\u2019s just as well that Leonard Bernstein is dead. Otherwise he\u2019d probably have to relinquish his great reputation as a musical educator \u2013 or at least share it with Sydney\u2019s Richard Gill.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Richard-Gill-credit-Brendan-Read-256-100x100.jpg\" "\\"Richard")