The Catholic Schools Music Festival (CSMF) has wrapped for another year.
Running from September 26 to 29, the annual festival saw more than 2000 students from Catholic schools across South Australia come together to showcase their vast musical gifts.
Held in the Festival Theatre at the Adelaide Festival Centre across four nights, each performance comprised a carefully crafted medley of talented youth.
A 400-voice choir of students in Years 5 to 7 was on show each night from approximately 65 Catholic primary schools, accompanied by a Secondary Girls Vocal Ensemble and a Secondary Boys Vocal Ensemble providing a rich baritone element.
The arrangements of the choral songs involved soloists chosen by audition, complemented by selected secondary students in both the Festival String Ensemble and Festival Rhythm Section.
Throughout the evening, song brackets were interspersed with performances by support acts by soloists and ensembles selected by audition from Catholic secondary schools.
Catholic Education SA director Dr Neil McGoran said the music festival, produced and managed by the small team of director Denise Rothall and production coordinator Samantha Taylor, continues to be a highlight of the South Australian Catholic Education calendar.
“We are so proud of these students who are a part of the festival. It is a wonderful celebration of musical talent, joy and life in our students who come from right across our Catholic school communities.”
Now in its 34th year, this year’s music festival was one of mixed emotions for all involved, with two longstanding festival family members saying farewell after many years of dedicated contribution.
Long-time festival pianist and dear friend of the CSMF team, Pamela Buccini, decided to trade in her piano stool for a seat in the Dress Circle after 80 performances over the last 20 years.
“Pamela is a nurturing, tireless and creative musician, passionate about the success of the students and the festival,” said Denise Rothall, Catholic Schools Music Festival Director.
“She is gentle, humorous, and eloquent in her dealings with all. It has been an honour and privilege to work with Pamela. We will miss working with her and look forward to seeing Pamela and her shoes in their new role as ‘audience member’.”
The festival also farewelled Chairperson and friend, Gennaro Mannella. Currently the Acting Principal at St Brigid’s School, Evanston, Gennaro has been an active CSMF committee member since 2002 before taking on the role as Chair in 2011.
“Gennaro personifies the word empathy,” said Denise.
“He has enormous passion for music education and the Catholic Schools Music Festival. Simply, Gennaro has been a pillar of support for everyone involved in the Festival. It has been a great privilege to work with Gennaro. We’ll miss his ‘wandering minstrel’ sing-a-longs and we are excited that next year, he’ll finally get to see a performance!”
The festival was excited to be back at the Adelaide Festival Theatre this year, its long-standing home of 28 years, after six years of venue changes for various reasons. The 2016 festival was partially cancelled due to the state-wide blackout with scaled-down concerts rescheduled to November of that year at St Michael’s College. The event was moved to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in 2017, 2018 and again in 2021 while the Festival Centre was closed due to construction work, and the 2020 festival was filmed and made into four concert videos due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Students from three South Australian Catholic schools have been awarded among the nation's most outstanding Catholic school science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students at the STEM MAD National Competition.
