The State Small Schools Marimba Ensemble
The State Small Schools Marimba Ensemble was formed in 1996 in the South-Western part of NSW and has grown to involve hundreds of students from small, isolated small schools from all over the state. It enables these children to take part in a performance program that provides unique opportunities for its participants.
Our marimbas are large xylophone type instruments based on traditional South-West African designs that can be played by up to four people at once.
A major component of the program involves the children performing on "home-made" marimbas. They are constructed by the students, staff and parents of the schools involved from a variety of materials including hard and soft woods, PVC pipe, rope and a number of other basic hardware items.
The music played by the children is specifically arranged for the marimbas with different parts played by performers of varying ability levels and each piece having a range of these different parts to enable all children to experience success.
High levels of self-esteem are attained by the children and the focus skills developed extend into other areas of their schooling resulting in improvement in literacy and numeracy skills as well.
The groups of schools perform regularly at community events including CWA, RSL, Church, Age Care and other charity functions. In addition to this, some of the group's major achievements appear below.
- playing at the Sydney Opera House Concert Series in 1998, 2000-2004, 2006-2012 and 2014;
- appearances at the State Schools Spectacular held at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in 2000-2013;
- producing a high quality CD that was highlighted on the Alan Jones show and Clive Robertson's Classic FM and which has sold several thousand copies;
- performing live on National ABC Radio on the "Australia All Over" program with Ian McNamara in 2004;
- "Best Student Performance" at the 2004 NSW Schools Expo at Sydney's Rosehill Gardens.
- performing at the launch of the AARNET 3 academic and research broadband internet launch in 2006.
- beginning negotiations for a performance link-up with students in Africa through the University of Johannesburg.
 Rehearsals at the Opera House |
 Performance Night - Opera House |
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 On Stage - Sydney Opera House |
 School Spectacular |