We are proud to acknowledge the exceptional success of our 2025 HSC Music students: JJ, Andrew, Joel, Benjamin, Russell and Jonathan nominated for ENCORE - a prestigious programme showcasing outstanding HSC Music major works from across New South Wales in performance, composition, and musicology.
Presented at the Sydney Opera House on Monday 2 March 2026, ENCORE recognises students who have demonstrated not only technical excellence but also creativity, discipline, and a deep engagement with their craft.
Our warmest congratulations go to all students and to Head of Music Mrs Kim Barber and Ms Sandy Robertson for imparting their knowledge and inspiring a culture of musical curiosity and achievement. Their guidance continues to shape young musicians who perform with both skill and soul.
Dr Luke Gilmour, Deputy Head of Co-Curricular, addressed the students at our recent Music Function event, offering words of insight and encouragement to guide them as they pursue their endeavours beyond Shore:
For 136 years there has been a sound emanating from Shore. I am not just talking about the music, but rather the conversations and sense of community that has successively built the lives of young men from the inside out. Lives that step into a wide expansive vision, who aren’t afraid to ask the questions of “What if?” and to give of themselves. What does it mean to be a young man making their way in the world?
Music has been, and is, part of that sound. It is a golden thread which weaves into the rich tapestry that makes up the sound of Shore. Music is a joyful endeavour, it is also where you can find flow, peace and experience beauty. Some of my most memorable experiences have been playing or conducting – that immersive sense of playing in the present, whilst simultaneously evaluating the past and thinking about the future. I have had that with the boys, and I hope they have sensed that during time performing with each other and our staff.
And so, the Music Function event is a testimony to and a reminder of why we do what we do.
We know that Music is good for the mind, we know that a strong music culture can add to the wellbeing journey of a boy. We know the importance of singing and playing an instrument. We also know the transformative power of performing in massed events such as a Concert. We know that Music is one of the few areas in a School where our boys can potentially be in front of the same tutor and/or ensemble director from when they start in the prep until when they finish. It really is an incredibly strong pastoral ecosystem which stretches from when they start learning to when they finish.
In fact, the concert stage is a great classroom for us, I have always viewed my role as a teacher first and foremost and to teach music, both in the traditional classroom or on the podium. The rehearsal room as well, just like the sporting field or drama theatre is a wonderful classroom. Above all we know that Music is good for the community and it is good for the students.
Congratulations to our Year 12 boys on their stellar performances. They have shown all of us the joy that exists both in the work and at the end of the work. Music can be tough. Our expectations are high and they have risen to them. Well done.
My upbringing was nothing like an education at Shore. I grew up in a small country town of 800, had a Year 12 cohort of 10 students, did Music 2 and Extension by correspondence, and travelled a 120km round trip to have my saxophone lesson each week. So, when students don’t turn up or fail to communicate, I will be forgiven for showing little sympathy at times. For me, education and particularly music education transformed my entire life. It provided social mobility, travel, unique experiences, friends, and an opportunity to meet my beautiful wife and conduct my three boys on stage.
Studying music at Shore is a gift. I say this so that students might reflect on what music has provided them here at Shore. If I look at the boys in Year 12 — what a cohort and group of friends. They are soon to be Shore Old Boys and that means something. We have Mr Payne, an Old Boy on staff with us in the Music department.
Students enter a complex world filled with ambiguity and uncertainty. In a world of social media, pithy catchphrases, memes and ‘likes’, it can be tempting to ‘play to the crowd’, to build a follower base, to search for meaning in the shallows rather than the depths of something enduring. In facing a world where truth is contested, where Artificial Intelligence is being navigated and where peace cannot be taken for granted, the value of a School where boys and staff lead authentic lives of respect, kindness, curiosity, joy, and integrity will be a vanguard upholding a world of compassion and human flourishing.
Indeed, the world needs extraordinary, kind and courageous young men.
I want to impart some lessons I have learned. I have grouped them in what first appear as opposing statements, but you will get the gist.
There are five points:
1. Life is short and life is long.
Life moves quickly — especially in School years — but its impact can echo for decades. The friendships, lessons, and music made at Shore will stay with you. Yet life is also long enough to reinvent yourself, to grow, to fail and try again. Music teaches us this: a short phrase can carry deep meaning, and a long symphony can be built from simple motifs.
Don’t hang onto bitterness or frustration, it will eat you up. In Ephesians it talks about not letting the sun go down on your anger. Life is short.
Psalm 90:12 — “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Life is long.
Building character happens in the moment and over a lifetime. Build your character, skills are empty without character.
2. Strength in Gentleness, Gentleness in Strength.
True strength isn’t loud or aggressive. It’s found in restraint, in kindness, in the courage to be vulnerable. Music teaches this too — the softest pianissimo can be the most powerful moment in a performance. Be strong enough to be gentle, and gentle enough to be strong. Be humble, seek to serve. "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." – Proverbs 15:1
This is not about being weak but rather live your life with a sense of quiet confidence, that you know who you are, you have a purpose for your life and we all believe that you can impact our world for good.
3. Life is Hard, Life is Easy.
There will be challenges. But success is often found not just in grand achievements, but in the small, consistent choices — the seemingly easy things that build character over time.
Doing your top button up. Making your bed. Saying thank you. Showing up on time. Practising even when you don’t feel like it. Getting out of bed, putting your shoes on and getting on with the day. These things are often simple, but they are not insignificant. They are the building blocks of discipline, respect, and self leadership.
And just as important: allow yourself time to rest. To breathe. To reflect. Music teaches us this too — the rests are as important as the notes.
"The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between them” – Debussy.
In a sense life is the same. It’s the space between the big moments that make the big moments sing.
4. Life is best done with others, but you also need to work on yourself.
Ensemble playing teaches collaboration, listening, and compromise. But solo practice teaches discipline, introspection, and self-awareness. You need both. Invest in your relationships, but also in your own growth.
I have always benefited from having trusted advisors and mentors, even now I have them.
If I think back on teachers who have influenced me, I think of Mrs Schirmer and Mrs Alexander, two teachers at my Central School who supported me in the early years. I think of Mr Mildren, an older dance band leader with an embouchure so loose I am surprised the instrument stayed in his mouth when he played, but someone who conducted the Lockhart District Band. I think of Mr Frost, my first saxophone tutor in Wagga, I think of Mark Walton, my tutor at the Con. I think of Maestro Pallo and Christopher Seaman, who mentored me in my conducting studies.
The point here is that your lives will be shaped by others and yourself. Seek out wisdom, seek out challenge.
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." – Proverbs 27:17
5. Remember the foundation you have but use it to stand on and look to the horizon.
Your time at Shore has given you a foundation — in character, in community, in music. Don’t cling to it as a comfort zone. Use it as a launchpad. Look outward, look forward, and ask: “What if?”. Beware though of the cocoon in which you have existed at Shore, a protective environment which has sought to nurture your character and prepare you for the world – but don’t stay in the cocoon. In order to reach your potential, you have further growth ahead of you and in the struggle to grow and break free of the cocoon, there will be challenges, but push through. As you have been given powerful role models and mentors here, seek out mentors and role models as you travel through life.
Final Thoughts:
As you leave this stage and step into the next chapter, carry with you the sound of Shore — not just the music, but the values, the friendships, and the lessons. Let your life be, built on the themes you’ve learned here. "Sing to the Lord a new song; play skilfully, and shout for joy." – Psalm 33:3 Thank you, and congratulations to all.
Dr Luke Gilmour
Deputy Head Co-Curricular