Page 2917 - Week 07 - Thursday, 7 June 2012

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award judges were there. They were impressed, but they were taken in by the complexity of the play and it took them a while to work out what was going on. I had had a pre-briefing, so it was easier for me.

But the thing that really took my attention was last night when I had an opportunity to attend St Clare’s college year 12 drama class’s presentation of Under Milk Wood. It is running tonight and tomorrow night. If members want to take an opportunity to see it, it is well worth it. I want to pay particular tribute to the musical director, because he is a young student. He is a first-year composition student at the Canberra School of Music. I hope that the vice-chancellor of the ANU has the opportunity to see St Clare’s production of Under Milk Wood and hear the great work being done by the musical director there. The musical director’s name is Thomas Schmocker. He was a graduate of St Edmund’s college last year. He wrote a complete suite for Dylan Thomas’s voice play Under Milk Wood with themes for each of the townsfolk that appeared and reappeared.

It was a fabulous performance by the year 12 students, who were ably led by their teacher, Sally Hendrie. All of the staging was done by the students. All of the staging was workshopped. There was a dance ensemble that performed ballet for two or three of the vignettes in Under Milk Wood. There was a children’s choir provided by the year 8 choir, and fantastic music. The emphasis on the music cannot be overestimated. Thomas Schmocker’s composition, an original composition, for this performance was a standout. The senior music teachers at St Clare’s were in awe and their praise of Thomas’s work was extraordinary.

I want to pay tribute to those involved. The actors were Gemma Armarego, Georgia Cooper, Nicole Creswell, Bella Dunne, Samantha Essex, Casey Green, Michaela Iannelli, Danielle Martin, Grace Odell, Emily Tankey, Michaella Tazreiter, Rachael Vella and Alexandra Wood. The year 12 dancers were Sneha Bhaskar, Alice Brown, Dana Cashion, Georgia Cooper, Caitlin Gordon, Sophie Hattch, Georgia Holgate, Rebecca Leader, Rachael Murphy, Grace Odell, Ella Quinlan and Rachel Stephen. The choir of year 8 were Ashton Black, Shalini Collins, Laura Colosimo, Sophie Edwards, Jasmine Jones, Anna Lee, Averil Maycock, Zoe McAlister, Shinae Coll and Emily Mallamphy. They were in addition to Sally Hendrie and Thomas Schmocker. The choreography was by Trish Brown, who teaches dance. (Time expired.)

Australian Veterinary Association conference

MR COE (Ginninderra) (6.48): Late last month hundreds of veterinarians and associated industry professionals descended on Canberra for the 2012 annual Australian Veterinary Association conference. The ACT division of the AVA, led by President Dr John Aspley Davis, welcomed visitors to the ACT for four days between 20 and 25 May.

The well-established association seeks to be the premier reference point for all topics relating to the veterinary profession, including veterinary careers, veterinary science, animal production and public policy relating to animals. The focus of this year’s conference was on the long-term sustainability of the veterinary profession.


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