The Value of Collaboration
Cocurricular programs provide wonderful opportunities to bring people together and to strengthen community. There are the obvious structures that connect our students that are immediately recognised and valued, including drama casts, sporting and debating teams, musical ensembles and dance troupes. Then there are the slightly less obvious, Duke of Edinburgh expedition groups and the Girls in Black production crew. Yet on occasions, our cocurricular programs extend opportunities for our students to connect and collaborate beyond Brigidine and last week saw a wonderful example of this with the musical collaboration between Brigidine College and St Augustine’s College Sydney.
Cocurricular music at Brigidine College is no stranger to broader collaborations. The 2023 strings collaboration at the Festival of Music with Loreto Normanhurst comes to mind and there have been many others. This week marked the first time that our girls partnered with the boys from St Augustine’s in a day full of shared opportunity, appreciation and performance.
As you read this, I’m sure the majority would agree, that there is real value for our girls in this type of collaboration, yet pinning down the reasons for this value is a little harder and would vary slightly for everyone. For me, I loved the sense of a shared purpose; the validation for students that a wider group of young people shared their love of music. In playing music together students from both colleges created something unique; they were all a part of something special, something beyond the normal and something larger than the sum of the parts. Diving a little deeper, perhaps the boys brought more brass instruments to the ensemble that musically complemented our higher representation of flutes, violins and woodwind instruments, and perhaps this unintended outcome added fuel and energy toward a bigger sound that was both empowering and rewarding. Regardless of the reasons, there was a wonderful energy in Bowie Hall on Tuesday.
The day was a credit to Mr Charlie Lovelock, Head of Cocurricular Music and the wider music staff from both colleges. The students participated in shared workshops, were audience for an incredible concert by the NSW Police Band and then rehearsed as a united group for an hour and half. There was also time for a shared meal and social interaction. This musical collaboration was part of the preparation process for the 2024 Christmas Carols and Markets, where the combined (Brigidine and St Augustine’s) Orchestra and Stage Band will perform fifteen musical pieces together.
This musical collaboration has been a wonderful addition to the Brigidine Cocurricular Program and we look forward to further partnerships and community building with staff and students at St Augustine’s College in 2025.
Owen Vale
Director Cocurricular
