BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Competitions can be challenging even for the most professional of players. So where do young musicians fit into the picture — those who are still in the earliest days of making music, and haven’t had many experiences of live performance in front of a substantial audience?
With thoughtful preparation, even high-pressure competitions can become “excellent devices for growth” when it comes to young players, according to Mat Noble. And that’s exactly why this South Australian music educator entered his students into the Strike A Chord competition. Having taught them how to adopt a healthy approach to preparation and performance, he has helped them make it to the Grand Final.
Strike A Chord is a national chamber music competition from Musica Viva, and this year it featured 155 entries. Mat’s group of students — The Baroque Ensemble — will perform at the Grand Final this 31 August. The concert takes place in the Melbourne Recital Centre, and it will also be livestreamed.
We wanted to learn more about how Strike A Chord can help the development of young musicians who are still in a school environment, but are taking part in a real-world experience of a national music competition. In this interview, Mat — who is the head of music at Marryatville High School — tells us about the value of such an experience for his school’s chamber players.
As a school music teacher, why did you want to get your students involved in Strike A Chord?
This event carries great significance in secondary music education calendars each year. It offers students an important performance goal to aspire to, anchored in the knowledge of how high the musical standards are across the Strike a Chord process.
How do you approach discussions about competitive music making with your students?
I remain steadfast in acknowledging the importance of competitions for my students remains in the processes required to become ‘performance ready’. Beyond creating an environment of high expectations, collaboration, aspiration for excellence, and resilience, competition results are out of our control. With this in mind, our objective is to practise, rehearse, and perform the best we can. In essence, we are really only competing with former versions of ourselves by trying to be better than we were the last time we practised, rehearsed, or performed.
As difficult as it can be, our focus should remain on our personal and collective musical development, not the outcomes and results of competitive music making. If competitions are approached as opportunities to become better, I believe they can be excellent devices for growth.
What do you feel Strike A Chord can teach these young musicians, beyond learning to play the pieces?
In addition to the elevated purpose-driven approach to the Strike a Chord repertoire adopted by our students, I have been so pleased to observe increased focus, collegiality, and collective empathy displayed in rehearsals. Students, teachers, and parents are clearly invested in this opportunity, and there are tangible non-musical benefits emerging. Leadership, mentoring, communication, risk taking, organisation, learner agency, and problem solving are all being practised throughout our preparation processes, and these skills will remain with the students beyond this event.
How have you prepared your music students to perform in a high-pressure concert?
It’s critical that we prepare our young musicians for what they may feel before and during performances. We are all vulnerable to the adverse effects of anxiety, so understanding its potential physical and emotional effects can assist us to identify methods of diminishing them. Visualisation, use of effective breathing techniques, and exposure to various performance opportunities as part of our preparation can offer young musicians mechanisms they can call upon should the perception of pressure negatively impact performance.
Naming symptoms and their neurological causes may also help performers to build skills in combating them, so explicitly teaching students why we react under stressful situations can aid us in how we respond.
Having progressed your group to the finals, what have you noticed are some of the values and skills adopted by these students?
Teamwork. Working together to create music which connects with your audience is a team effort. Yes, individual accountability is essential to the process, but playing for and with others has far-reaching and long-lasting benefits for us.
What do you feel is the value of chamber music in schools more broadly?
The value of chamber music is immense. It engages students in a style that utilises different ways of approaching music to those which may otherwise not be accessed. It demands a different level of accountability from individuals within ensembles, and provides complementary but diverse techniques which expand knowledge, techniques, and emotions.
Why do you feel it’s important to have a strong interaction between your school and Australia’s performing arts organisations — that “real world” experience for students?
Whilst our expectations aren’t influenced by where we perform or who we perform for, when performing in professional musical settings, students are accessing authentic, ‘real world’ experiences, which are likely to have greater impact on them.
I’m convinced that interacting with professional organistions in industry-compliant venues elevates standards. Students seem to appreciate their surrounds more, so may invest at a deeper level.
What words of encouragement do you share with your group before they head on stage?
Be present in this opportunity. Play for each other and play your best. Breath intentionally and enjoy the music you’re about to make with your friends.
Experience the Grand Final of Strike A Chord at 2pm August 31 in Melbourne Recital Centre, or streamed online. Tickets and more information via the Musica Viva website.
Here is the full list of 2024 finalists:
- Aneres Piano Trio, VIC
- The Astra Octet, NSW
- The Fritzi Trio, NSW
- The Frosty Shosty Quartet, NSW
- JPMS Ensemble Animato, QLD
- Kingussie Trio, VIC
- Lumina Quartet, NSW
- Marryatville High School Baroque Ensemble, SA
- Syncopact, ACT
- Take Six, QLD
- Timli Trio, QLD
- Trio Fantastique WA
We collaborated with Musica Viva to bring you this interview! Stay tuned for more stories that support emerging musicians in Australia!
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