Anniversary dinner a musical Voyage of Celebration
(updated 26.10.09)
Matthew Flinders Anglican College celebrated its 20th anniversary year with a black-tie dinner on Saturday, October 24 showcasing the talents of past and present students in a very special concert event.
The “Voyage of Celebration” evening acknowledged and celebrated Flinders success throughout its first 20 years of educating children on the Sunshine Coast.
The dinner was attended by, pictured below, Chairman of College Council Mr John Gardiner, former chairman Mr John Stevenson, Principal Mr Anthony Vincent, founding principal Mr Stephen Matthew and founding chairman Mr Rod Forrester, who all spoke of Flinders' journey from beginning to present day.
The gala evening was hosted in the impressive Flinders Sports Centre and included entertainment from current and past students, and an African drumming performance by more than 100 Year 7 students.
The musical presentations brought together 350 Primary and Secondary students and about 100 Old Flinderians, as well as staff. The past students travelled from as far away as Adelaide, Townsville and Sydney, and were excited to be invited to return to their alma mater to be part of these special celebrations.
Former and current College captains spoke of their time at Flinders, and foundation teacher and current Dean of Junior Primary Ms Shelley Travers recalled the first day of school. Mr Vincent did the honours and cut the Celebration Cake, which was escorted into the Sports Centre by the College's cheerleading squad, and founding chairman Mr Rod Forrester, right, recalled the commitment needed to establish Flinders 20 years ago.
The Celebration Dinner showcased an incredible music extravaganza on a scale never before witnessed. 
Highlights included a choir medley of Dare to Dream, You Raise Me Up, Adiemus, Hallelujah (from Shrek), and a stirring performance of I Am Australian, reworded to I Am Flinderian. The choir, which was accompanied by the Stage Band, was made up of students from Year 1 to 12 representing the Junior Primary Choir, Flinders Choir and College 
Chorale. The audience was encouraged to join in, particularly in the rendition of I Am Flinderian.
“The scale of this event is something we have never done before,” Head of Music Nick Campbell said before the event. “There’s a grandness about it. We will perform great classical music, through to contemporary music. This is an opportunity to expose students to a standard of music that they wouldn’t normally play.
Other items on the night included Gloria by Vivaldi and O Fortuna by Orff (remember the “Big Beer” ad!), both 
sung in Latin, as well as the Secondary Strings and Wind Symphony combining for the Phantom of the Opera. The spectacular finale to the evening was the stirring performance of the 1812 Overture, complete with canons.
“The primary students are doing Vivaldi and Orff and for children of this age to be playing that standard of repertoire is amazing,” Mr Campbell said. “Then we 
have the extension of the senior students doing Phantom of the Opera and 1812.”
The night kicked off with Fanfare for the Common Man played by the brass musicians from the mezzanine balcony, followed by the 
spectacular African drumming performance involving 110 Year 7 students. Not only had the students learnt how to play the drums with drum teacher Natalie Richy, they had also made the drums in special workshops with Darryn Kruse.
“I’ve always wanted to involve African drumming in the music program,” Mr Campbell said. “Some of our students have shown a real flair for this style of music and we hope to foster this with an ongoing drumming ensemble.”
Photo left: Foundation teacher and Dean of Junior Primary Ms Shelley Travers and Chairman of College Council Mr John Gardiner.
20th Anniversary Celebrations