New Member From Down Under!!

[mr_syms]

Hi Y'all!

I've just joined recently and i think this place is so awesome!
all the knowledge and experience that is accesiblbe, it rocks!

i'm from Victoria, Australia, is anyone else out there from down under?

I'm in year 12 (last yr of high school) here and have been playing saxophone fro 6 years now, and this is my 12th year of playing the piano. I also play flute, and clarinet.

i mostly play alto, however i've been playing a hell of alot of sop lately, i've just recently put the keilwerth ST sop out to pasture and bought myself a brand new SX90II, tis rather a nice horn.

I imagine i'll talk to y'all alot, if there's anyone out there from australia, say g'day, i'd love to hear from you!

Josh

[sax_appeal]

Hi mr_syms, I'm also an Australian and in year twelve though I'm only in my fifth of year of playing.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to like you though... you being a Victorian and me a South Australian.

Alto is my main horn, though I play bari in a couple of bands and tenor on the weekends, just for fun.

Do you do AMEB?

[mr_syms]

Hi!

i was going to talk to you and everything

then said you're a south australian.............








ah what they hey : P

yeah, i did ameb grade 7 on sax last year, i'm doing amus this year

you?

are you doing school music type stuff (i dunno what they have over in SA)

what horn are you playing?

i have a keilwerth ex alto
and sx sop

[sax_appeal]

hi mr_syms

I am doing AMEB this year (why else would I ask). I've just started doing eighth grade pieces I finished grade five earlier this year, so I'm pretty happy).

There is a lot of school music stuff here in Adelaide, everyone says its the best state to learn music (take that NSW- 'the first state').

Lemme see, I actually own one of my three horns (whoopee?)
yamaha yas275 alto
yani T800 tenor
yamaha ybs32 bari

and I wish I had a soprano- trying desperately to get my hands on one.

Are you going to be competing in the national band championships solo competition next year. It would be good if you could because we'd be in the same division.

[mr_syms]

What are these band championships?
i would i think maybe
if i knew about them :D

are you going to study music next year?
i think i will, hopefully VCA

what school are you at?

do you know my cousin? he lives in adelaide :P
he's in year 12, shaun king (i think that's his name :))

what pieces are you doing for your exam?

for my amus i'm doing the glazounov concerto, karg-elerts's ciaconna, caravan's blue episode and handel's opus 1 no. 4

[Black875]

Hey Guys.

I know NZ isn't quite down under, but it almost is, right? I'm in my first year of a BMus (Jazz). I did AMEB Gr 7 but got bored after that (or perhaps i wasn't good enough :roll: ). There wasn't enough Jazz in it for me.

Did you guys ever come to NZ for a band thing in Rotorua? I met heaps of australians at that.

P.S. Go ALL BLACKS!!!!

[mr_syms]

Hi black

new zealand is pretty down under i guess! :P

i've never been to new zealand, and i don't know where rotorua is, so thats a no :)

have u been to australia?

what uni are you studying at?

syms

[sax_appeal]

Basically, if you are in a concert or marching band which is registered as part of a certain band association, you are eligible for the national band championships. Members of the bands are also able to compete in a solo section.

I don't think I'm doing an exam this year, but I'm concentrating on pieces for uni audition. I'm studying a couple of Vivaldi pieces and a Hindemith.

Is your cousin musical? If so, what does he play, and in what band(s)?

[mr_syms]

i think i've heard of those championships, but our bands not in them
i'm some other competitions we have around here, our chool and goes in the melbourne school bands festival, geelong eisteddfod, south street (ballarat eisteddfod) and some other stuff
i'm going in south street for solo stuff, and i went in the mars young performer of the year (and won it! yay) just recently

my cousin's not really musical. my uncel is though, he played piano for rhapsody in blue with some big orchestra at the adelaide town hall
he grows rasberries! :D

are you going to go to uni in adelaide?
are there any good ones in adelaide? (i've never looked)

[sax_appeal]

Ahhh, you shouldn't have asked me that! There used to be several places to study music in Adelaide, but they've all merged and become the one place, as a part of Adelaide University- the only university in the state to be losing money!! I've heard from a lot of clarinettists that the quality of the con is declining, but you can't trust clarinettists! Fortunately, the professor for sax, Dusty Cox is really good and gets great results from his students.

I don't think I know your cousin, but I might know your uncle, I know lots of professional musicians here, who is he?

[mr_syms]

ummm, i can't actually remember his name!
how terrible of me

king i think is his last name

you should come to victoria to study
we have lots of stuff to do here

it's heaps better than victoria!

(but you knew that already :P)

[mr_syms]

i think i posted that twice

[Black875]

Yeah , i've been to Oz a few times, only the Gold Coast though (got mates there). Loved it, but missed schoolies by a few weeks :? .

Im at the NZ Conservatorium, which is run by Massey University in Wellington, our nations fair capital. It's the most fun ever.

I had to switch tutors recently though, as my last tutor (who plays a Selmer Mk VI) believes that the sax world begins and ends with selmer, and i'm a huge yamaha fan. that and he hates black saxes, and guess what i have. A black yamaha. shocker. fortunately my new tutor (the senior lecturer who usually only teaches 2nd and 3rd years) has a black Kielwerth, its a perfect match.

New Zealands a great place, you guys should visit. The Jazz scene is awesome in wellington. I see live stuff at least 3 nights a week, most of it free.

P.S. Don't mean to gloat, but we keep the Bledisloe Cup for another year.

[mr_syms]

gloat away

you still have to live in new zealand :P

[Black875]

Ah, touche.

[DanY]

Ahhh, Good old Massey. I went to it when it was in the old tuberculosis hospital on Mt Victoria!

Black875: Is that Colin Hemmingsen with the black Keilwerth? When you see him, tell him I (Daniel Yeabsley)just sold Warren Maxwell an old Keilwerth tenor.

This story that got passed down to me from other former students of his:
He used to have a complete set of matching Mark VIs! Then the Yamaha dealer offered him a set of Yamahas (early ones I think, Mark VI copies) and he traded his Mark VIs away. Then, the Selmer dealer gave him a set of new (SA80 I think) Selmer horns.
When I was studying with him, he had yet another Mark VI tenor.

[Black875]

Thats him! I'll let him know, Dan. We had a long discussion bout his various saxes through the years.

[DC]

Hello guys!

It's Dusty Cox here, thanks for the kind words above! Let me clarify, that I'm the Jazz Saxophone Lecturer, and it is "style specific" at the Elder School of Music. Damien Hurn is the main classical saxophone Lecturer, and he's a fine player and teacher.

Yes, we are getting good results with the jazz sax students, and the jazz students as a whole. We have a very healthy jazz program, that has been going strong for many years. We recently had one of our 2nd year Bmus tenor players win the James Morrison jazz competition, David Duncan, a very fine young player indeed.

I'd like to invite you all to hear Big Bands 1 & 2 at the Griffin Head's pub, off of Pultney and the Rundle Mall, tomorrow, Wednesday, 11 August beginning at 8 p.m. We've just begun to book jazz back into this venue, and need all the support we can get. My band did the first Wednesday (every Wed is jazz night) a couple of weeks ago, and we had a great time.
I've also got the Marryatville High School, St. Peters College, and Concordia College big bands booked to play on 15 of September, don't miss this night!

There are many terrific saxophonists in Adelaide, I'll list a few that you can hear around town most every week. I admire all of them both personally and musically. Chris Soole, Bob Jeffrey, Tom Pulford, Ralph Franke, Gabs, Beth Lyons, Vashti Tyrell, Derek Pascoe, Frank Althuisen, and my former grad students (and friends) Mike Stewart now studying in New York, and Pete Raidel now gigging in London!

Best of luck all, hope to see you at some of our concerts! Cheers, Dusty