By Jed Lanyon
Little Yarra Steiner School students have been selected to perform to over 3500 people in Berlin, Germany for the Metamorphoses 100 year celebration of Steiner Education on 19 September.
The Little Yarra Ensemble is an extra-curricular musical group that features a mixture of brass and string instruments.
While the students will be playing in front of a large crowd live at the Tempodrom in Berlin, the performance will be live streamed to an estimated 200,000 people worldwide.
Wood wind teacher Damien Callan said, “For the kids and the school, it’s just a real honour, and a sense of privilege that we’re representing Australia.
“We’re trying to bring as much Australian music as we can into that performance to give people a good depiction of our culture.”
While the students have regularly performed in front of audiences, including a choir performance at St Pauls Cathedral, Mr Callan admits that they haven’t performed at an event of this magnitude.
“While we’ve been trying as hard as we can to mentally prepare them for that, there’s an element that you can’t replicate.
“I know I’m biased, but I think the school prepares the students to be incredibly self-confident… Because we take them out as much as possible in front of people.
“They do get that sense of pride and the feeling that they can do it… And they’ll be the best that they can be prepared.”
A group of 20 students will be travelling with Mr Callan, and music teachers Celia Callan, Wendy Rowlands, Jenny Rowlands, tour manager Julie Wright and principal John Stewart for two and a half weeks.
The Little Yarra Ensemble will be performing a farewell show at The Memo on Friday September 6, just two days before they leave for Germany.
To book tickets to their farewell show, visit: http://ach.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Whats_On/Music
