September 2019 – Matthew Hall

Marlborough Performing Arts Competition

Today I performed pieces for 5 categories of the 11 & under 14 section of the Marlborough Performing Arts Piano Competition. I was really nervous before I played each piece, and for the final piece I played, Piano Man, I was so nervous that my pedalling-leg was shaking!

20th Century Classical — Tango Passionis
I was placed second in this section and the judge wrote (in very messy handwriting) “This performance had well judged dynamics and good balance. The tempo was consistent and the mood was very well communicated. A good performance.”

Piano Solo Test Piece — Melody
I got first in this section and won the Rowlands Cup as well as a gold medal. My music teacher won the cup in 1981. The judge wrote “There was a good feeling for the style, with nicely shaped phrases, and good hand balance. The right hand had good singing style. Dynamics were used to good effect. Touch was just a little uneven at times.”

Piano NZ Composer — It Takes Two
I was placed second in this piece also and the judge wrote “The mood was very clear from the start. Notes were fluent and accurate. Dynamics and articulation were well observed. A fine performance.”

Pre 20th Century — Study in E Minor
I made a couple of mistakes in this piece and was tied for third in this section. The judge wrote “There was some good shaping and nuance. Tempo was a little inconsistent at times but there was good attention to detail. There were one or two slips in notes, but generally a good performance.”

Modern Piano Solo — Piano Man
I was second again in this section but was pleased with how I played. The judge wrote “The style was clear from the start. The balance was good, but the tempo was not consistent. There were some little hesitations. Dynamics were effective. The mood was mostly conveyed.”

Study in E Minor

This is a piece that Henri Bertini wrote for his students in the 1800’s. I learnt it as one of my Grade 4 pieces and played it in my Trinity Exam, I am also going to play it in the Marlborough Performing Arts competition.

Study in E Minor

Grade 4 Piano

In December 2018 I started to work on learning Grade 4 piano and in Term one of this year my music teacher suggested that I should sit the Trinity examination in August.

I learnt 6 grade 4 pieces and picked three of those to do in the exam. The pieces I ended up playing where: Study in E Minor by Henri Bertini, Barcarolle by Friedrich Burgmüller and Tango Passionis by Barbara Arens. Over the 8 months that I spent learning grade 4 pieces I had a 45 minute lesson once a week and then practiced for about 30 minutes a day. As the exam got closer I sometimes had two lessons a week and increased my practice to about 45 minutes a day.

Three weeks prior to the exam I played Barcarolle at a master class, where a visiting music teacher helped me to fix errors in my playing. There were 4 other students there as well and we all got to listen to each other playing and hear what the teacher suggested.

The exam had five sections; scales and arpeggios, exercises, pieces, musical knowledge and aural. You can gain points from each of these sections which go towards your final score. Practicing for the musical knowledge section involved going over musical terms and knowing the names of the notes. In the aural section you need to listen to music and being able to identify mistakes, or say if the final cadence is perfect or imperfect.

The exam was held at the Nelson Centre of Musical Arts on August the 15th which was a Thursday so I had to take the day off of school. We drove over in the morning and Mum had booked a practice room so I could play my pieces through before I went into the exam. The whole exam only took about 15 minutes and I felt like I had done well overall, although I knew I had made a few mistakes.

About two weeks after I sat the exam I got my results from Trinity College London and I passed with Distinction.

Enviro-Schools

At Bohally, I am a member of the BIS, Enviro-Schools team. We do things like organising activities to help make the school tidier. Enviro-Schools is a great way to show that I care about the environment, and you get a cool badge for it as well.

Helping out when asked

I have, many times, been asked to help out in class, and around the school. Some examples of that is helping sort out the adventure week notices, doing an ICAS exam early to test it for other students, and organising a class assembly. I am always happy to help out when asked.

Band

This year and last year, I have been in the school band. We are a rock band, I am the keyboardist, and we have practice on Friday’s. We have been practising for a while now, and have performed lots. At last years price giving, at assembly, and at the year 6 info evening. We are also going to perform at Max Factor, the BIS talent quest, prize giving at the end of the year, and the year 6 info evening. Our teacher, Mr Johnson, also mentioned that we might go on tour around some other schools. I really enjoy band, and am glad I got in.

Road Patrol

Road Patrol is one of the many activities we can do at BIS. Many schools have road patrol, as it is very useful. Students can help to keep other students safe, with stop signs and orange vests. This creates a safe way for students to cross the road. You get a badge for doing this, as well as the feeling of helping others. I am glad that I have done road Patrol this year at BIS.

Peer Mediation

This year at BIS, I have been doing peer mediation. This is where students walk around the school, and help students with any minor issues they may have. This is a great way to resolve problems, and a great way to help take some of the load off of the teachers at my school. You also get a badge for it, which is pretty neat. I am glad that I have done peer mediation this year at BIS.

Math Badges

In the last 12 months I have completed three math badges, Me, Myself & I, Cultural Maths and Cost of Living. As well as getting badges for each of those units of work that also meant I was awarded a Super Math Badge as well.

Each badge took me a few weekends work to do, and they may sound boring but they are actually lots of fun and really satisfying when you get the badge.

iNVENTIONATOR 2019

In August, I was selected to take part in iNVENTIONATOR 2019 along with Grace, Will, Sylvie, Ethan, and Ted. iNVENTIONATOR is a challenge for gifted learners, in which skills such as team work, creativity, and innovation must be used, to create solutions to real life problems. Leading up to the event, we received a series of emails, with information and challenges, such as recording problems you notice, or learning your mihi. Yet, even with those emails, we still had no idea what iNVENTIONATOR would be like. On the day, we drove up to Founder’s Park, where we used the old granary as our main workstation. We began with some team building activities, such as finding creative solutions to one of the 17 global goals for sustainable development. We then pitched our ideas, whether it be a problem which needs solving, or a solution to an existing challenge, and formed our teams.

Together, we worked on our ideas, to present to the judges at the end of day 2. I worked with students from Lower Moutere Primary School and St Mary’s School on my idea to produce a pen/pencil which can be rubbed out, but doesn’t have lead that breaks. There were so many good ideas, some of them wacky, some of them super well thought out. At the presentation my team won the award for the best pitch delivery. Vortex Co., Will and Ted’s team, got an award for the most even score across all areas.

All of the teams did well, and we all went home feeling pleased, and happy that we were lucky enough to go to iNVENTIONATOR.