With a stellar career spanning 45 years, acclaimed composer Dr Gerard Brophy has been commissioned and performed by some of the world’s leading ensembles across dance, ballet and opera.
But ask him to name a career highlight and his role as composer in residence at Newington College sits at the top of the list.
‘I was at the College last week working with the Year 12 Music class because students are doing their final preparations for their HSC, and I walked out of that class and I just thought once again, wow!
‘These kids are doing so incredibly well. Not only have they got terrific senses of humours, and enjoy great collegiality with their peers, what they are doing expressively with their music is just so impressive. Tick, tick, tick, tick.’
Composer of works such as ballet Yo Yai Pakebi, Man Mai Yapobi, which was first performed by the Nederlands Dans Theater in Amsterdam as well Semele and Halcyon for The Australian Ballet, Dr Brophy’s mentorship and guidance of Newington’s musical talents, especially the Year 12 students, will be on show again tomorrow at the Founders Concert in Centenary Hall. The program this year includes a mix of classic and contemporary performances and will feature our College Choirs, String Ensembles, Rock Band, Jazz Combo, Chamber Music, Symphonic Winds Band, Symphony Orchestra and Percussion Ensemble.
With more than 250 musicians set to take the stage, Dr Brophy says the Founders Concert is an annual testament to the talent and dedication of the College’s Music department, headed up by Mr Mark Scott, and the broad musical base of the Newington school community.
‘Where else could you go to see such an energetic, eclectic program played by some of Sydney’s most promising young musicians and singers that includes everyone from Handel to Dvorak to Abba?
‘The breadth of musical offering and talent across Newington is truly phenomenal. When I went to school, there was one student in Year 12 out of a year group of 145 who studied music in our final exams.’
Composer in residence for 16 years, Dr Brophy finds students often seek out his expertise in their final years.
‘For their HSC particularly, Year 12 Music students are required to compose an original piece which is two minutes long – no more, no less – and they also have to present a musical score to accompany it,” he says.
‘This is no mean feat because writing music is about inventing a problem before you can solve it, and it is quite a miraculous thing to see how these students are inspired through their imagination and ingenuity to create something from Ex Nihilo, that is from nothing.’
Mr Brophy is currently finishing work on his latest commission, a guitar concerto for classical guitarist Karin Schaupp and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. As professionally gratifying as this is, he reveals, watching our music students perform on stage, in the knowledge some may go on to have a career in music as he has for nearly half a century, is something else altogether.
‘Teaching Music students at Newington is the career highlight for me. To see these students grow over the years, flourish and tap into their music potential – that is the best thing ever. Full stop. No argument.’
