CEO's Report

Thank you to the NECOM Board, community and staff for their very warm welcome when I recently returned to Armidale and to NECOM. It feels like I have come back home and stepping back into the position of CEO has been a great honour.

August has always been a busy month at NECOM but 2019 saw an increase in activities that kept everyone on their toes.

Firstly, we hosted the AMEB exams not only for NECOM students but for students of all teachers across Armidale and surrounding districts. Exams ran across ten days to cater for the large number of strings, brass, woodwinds and voice students. NECOM’s 74 instrumental students performed extremely well so our sincere congratulation to them, their teachers and accompanists for their outstanding results. NECOM also hosted two days of auditions for the Australian Youth Orchestra and the Gondwana National Choral School and once again, we had record numbers of NECOM students who were inspired to audition for these prestigious music training organisations. The fact that NECOM is the only regional centre in NSW chosen to host auditions is testament to the standard of our students musicality and skill.

The last week of August was probably one of our busiest weeks on record and is a perfect example of what a ‘week in the life of NECOM’ looks like. Believe it or not, we presented eleven concerts in seven days –HSC recitals with AMTA; Cantilena tour to Ross Hill PS in Inverell; Chamber Music in Schools to Walcha, Uralla and Rocky River; UNE graduation ceremonies, Winter Choral Concert; Con Brio String Orchestra; John Bell and Simon Tedeschi at Armidale Town Hall and lastly, three wind ensembles performed at the Lift off Festival at Glen Innes.

And that’s not all for that weekend….. String teachers Laura Curotta and Rob Jackson took 12 of NECOM’s senior students to Sydney for a Tertiary Experience Tour – read all about this invaluable opportunity and experience they gave to our young musicians.

Such a productive and high functioning organisation such as NECOM achieves these outcomes because of the dedication and professionalism of its administration and teaching staff and the support of parents. Congratulations and thank you for making this month so rewarding for our students and community.

FROM NECOM CEO, SUSANNE JAMES