The culmination of a year’s worth of amazing creativity, technical flair and artistic energy will be showcased by Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) Music and Audio Production students at Centrestage on November 4th, in celebration of the stunning talent in the SIT student community, and making it through what has been for many, the most challenging of years.
Dr Jeff Wragg, Programme Manager for Music at SIT, said the show is a chance for students to celebrate reaching the end of a particularly tough year, and what better way than to throw a big concert.
“It’s the opportunity to put together a highlights reel of stand-out performances from during the year”.
It also allows SIT to open its doors to the wider community and let them see what the students have achieved during 2020.
“It’s a great way to engage with Southland’s community” said Dr Wragg.
He commented on the challenges this year through lockdown and how tough the social isolation was on the students at their faculty.
“We have a really strong community here and we’re a tight-knit group. Lots of students come from other parts of NZ to enrol in their programme, so that separation of not being able to meet with their peers every day, impacted them a lot”.
He said they had to work with the difficulties of finding ways to connect, as playing together is such an essential part of being a musician and performance, but the students took it all in their stride.
After the year it’s been, it makes the concert all the more important, “to celebrate that we can meet and play music together”.
Dr Wragg said people attending the concert will see a very diverse range of music played, but to expect contemporary music in a variety of genres – funk, rock, ballads and reggae to name a few.
With an emphasis on inclusion, it’s free to attend and “we do like to keep it family friendly”, he said.
Doug Heath, Programme Manager for Audio Production has a message to share with the Southland community: “Get out this summer and kick-start the music industry again, buy tickets and go to events, and keep the Arts moving forward”.
He’s calling the 2020 concert a poignant celebration for the year – with Audio Production roles sidelined due to COVID, he’s concerned the industry will lose people, but says there is a positive way everyone can help, by attending events and re-engaging with public performance, there’s the capacity to stem the flow of talent exiting the sector.
SIT Audio Production students are the production crew for the concert, managing all the sound and lighting. Mr Heath says there’s always something different about the final show of the year, with the students pulling out all the stops and saving their best till last.
“It’s not assessed, and we usually find the students’ performances are the best we’ve ever had”, he said.
For a great night of live music and to support creativity in the community, come to SIT’s Music and Audio Showcase. Free entry, and it’s on at 7pm, Wednesday 4th November, at Centrestage in Don Street, Invercargill.