There were three orchestras in total who were rehearsing throughout the whole week. This included the Chamber Orchestra conducted by Kirsten Williams The Bishop Orchestra conducted by Tzelaw Chan and The Alexander Orchestra conducted by Brad Cohen, I was part of the Alexander Orchestra throughout the week. For our repertoire, we rehearsed Symphonic Dances by Rachmanioff and Funeral Song by Igor Stravinsky, two of the most memorable pieces I have played to date. On the first day my first rehearsal was with the Alexander Orchestra at 7:30 pm at the Kenneth Myer Auditorium. The camp was mainly situated around the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music campus in Southbank.

Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of the camp was staying at an apartment accomodation in the city. I was situated at the Oaks Southbank Hotel which was along the Yarra River. Staying by myself really tested my independence as I was in charge of my own food, room card, id, transportation etc. There would be times between rehearsals where my friends and I were able to walk around the city. It was great meeting other musicians outside of Perth and spending time with them. I still think one of the best parts of the camp was walking back from the con after long days of practice. We would leave rehearsals late at night and walk back to our apartments where we would hang out in each others rooms and stay up until 1-2am.

During NMC, each day was different to the next. The weeks program consisted of workshops, chamber group rehearsals, orchestra rehearsals, talks, performances etc. One of my favourite components of the program was the sectionals. As I was part of the first violin section our tutor was Michele Walsh, who was a very helpful and skilful teacher. From the sectionals I was able to gain a better understanding about the context of our repertoire, delving into the deeper stylistic approaches and techniques that come with playing certain pieces. Michelle talked about the importance of certain techniques & skills such as playing with appropriate articulation, using full bows to maximise sound potential, matching each other as a section etc. It was great being able to hear the other players in my section and receive feedback from Michele. Another component of the camp was chamber group rehearsal & performance. For the first session (midway through the week) we were each placed into various chamber groups who each performed unique repetoire. There were groups of string octets, quartets, trios, piano quintets, wind duets etc. I was part of a violin quartet with three other participants. We played repetoire by Telemann and worked with multiple tutors in acheiving an accurate and full sound. Towards the end of the week each group choose one piece they would perform for the rest of the camp members in the concert auditorium. The performances were a great way to show off your creativity and skill, some groups following themes, dressing up, or playing unique and interesting modern pieces.

Overall, the most rewarding moment came from the performances by the orchestras at the end of the week. We performed in the Melbourne Recital Centre which was a great acoustic to play in. The performance was very epic that night. At the end of the day, I celebrated by going out for dinner. My flight was soon after that, having to wake up at 4 am the next day to catch a plane back to Perth. The overall experience was great. Through NMC I learnt many vital skills that I can apply in the continuation of my explorations with music.