Concert 3

Healesville High School is a small school in the heart of the Yarra Valley with a total of 320 students from Year 7 – 12. Despite its small size the school has a vibrant and dedicated music department coordinated by Ms Amanda Morrison. The department has 3 concert bands, a jazz ensemble, percussion ensemble and VCE ensemble. The ensemble performing at ANBOC is the Senior Concert Band, conducted by Ms Amanda Morrison, and involves 20 students from Year 10 – Year 12. The group rehearses once a week for 90 minutes and performs at numerous school events as well as at local community events such as the Healesville ANZAC Day Dawn Service, Remembrance Day Service and Christmas Carols. Healesville High School has a thriving music program that not only focuses on musical development, but also encourages self- growth and community engagement through performance.

The conductor, Amanda Morrison, completed a Bachelor of Music and Education at Monash University in 2006. After five years of teaching in Nhill Amanda moved to the Yarra Valley to enable her to explore additional conducting opportunities. In 2012 she gained the position of Monash Symphonic Winds Conductor, and she has now held that position for 12 years. Conducting, has been one of Amanda’s passions since her first experience of conducting at university, since then she has held a range of positions conducting orchestras, wind ensembles and directing jazz ensembles. In addition to this Amanda has mentored a number of conductors looking to further develop their skills. In 2019 Amanda completed an Honours degree in Classical Music (Conducting) at the University of Adelaide where she conducted various ensembles including the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Recently she took part in the Louise Crossley Conducting Workshop with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Amanda is very passionate about creating memorable musical performances with other musicians and music education. Currently, in addition to being a conductor, she is the Music Coordinator at Healesville High School where she has been for 8 years, director and technician of Morrison Music Repairs and the Australian Band and Orchestra Directors’ Association (ABODA) Victorian President. 

The Royal Australian Air Force Concert Band is a 40 piece ensemble that is recognised as Australia’s premier symphonic wind band. The Concert Band performs an extensive repertoire ranging from the symphonic wind band cannon and orchestral transcriptions to variety concerts that feature popular music, light classics, and instrumental soloists. 

Today’s Air Force Concert Band inherits a proud history of high acclaim for the many concert series and public engagements presented around the nation since the establishment of full-time Air Force bands in the 1950s. Having received a gold record for its album ‘30 Smash Hits of the War Years', the Concert Band has continued to extensively record audio and video products, with digital releases available on request or YouTube, including the highly acclaimed music documentary ‘Through Struggle to the Stars—100 Years of Air Force’. 

Through the delivery of high quality musical performances, the Concert Band supports the Air Force Band mission to promote and enhance the image, reputation, and culture of the Air Force. The members of the Air Force Band are highly skilled and educated professional musicians, drawn from every state and territory of Australia to serve in the Royal Australian Air Force. The Air Force Band is currently under the command of Squadron Leader Daniel Phillips – Director of Music Air Force.