FIVE hundred students from across the Warwick area have joined with students across Australia in the annual Music Count Us In event.
Students from Warwick Central, Warwick East, Warwick West, Glennie Heights, Freestone and Leyburn State schools came together at the Leslie Park Rotunda, Warwick, on Thursday to sing three songs to celebrate and promote music in education.
The three songs included the official MCUI song for 2014 – Paint You a Song.
It was the fifth year that Warwick Central had been involved with Freestone and Leyburn both participarting for the past three years.
Glennie Heights and Warwick East had both taken part before while Warwick West was celebrating its first year.
MCUI began eight years ago after it was initiated by the Music Council of Australia which is passionately involved in promoting the importance of music in every child’s education.
Each year a group of high school students are selected to write the song that will reflects the power, the passion, the private and the public perception of the role music plays in society and is also catchy, able to suit a wide range of voices and easy to play.
Each year students across the country get together to sing at the end of the October.
In the past, student choirs have assembled at Parliament House, Canberra,
the Opera House, Sydney, and Melbourne’s Federation Square to perform the special song.
Warwick Central State School music specialist Jayne Shelley said the day, which involved half a million Australian children, highlighted the importance of music.
“We are very fortunate that here at Warwick Central (and all state schools in Warwick – East, West, Glennie Heights), that we actually are the one Australian school in five that can offer a quality music program and throughout our school’s history we have always maintained a strong music culture,” Ms Shelley said.
“Warwick Central regularly compete at eisteddfods for choir, big band and string performances thanks to the hard work and dedication of our instrument teachers, our supportive admin team, the patience and support of music class teachers, the backing of parents and the hard work of our music students themselves.
“Our choirs regularly perform at many events in the Warwick district,” she said.
