Top UK conductor inspires Flinders' young musicians

(posted 24/04/09)

World-renowned conductor, composer, trombonist and music educator Mark Eager has visited the Sunshine Coast and hosted workshops with students at Matthew Flinders Anglican College. 

Flinders was the only Sunshine Coast school to be visited by Mr Eager, a Trinity Guildhall (Trinity College) examiner, who is on a three-month educational tour of Australia.

Mr Eager is the conductor of the Welsh Sinfonia, the Hertfordshire Wind Sinfonia, the Cardiff University Orchestra and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales Chamber Ensemble. He is also a lecturer at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and is involved in education projects for BBC TV and Radio, including developing programs for schools aimed at regenerating interest in orchestras.

Mr Eager’s Australian tour will take him to all the major capital cities, as well as Cairns and Townsville, where last year he established the North Queensland Youth Symphony. After his visit to Flinders today, he will return to the Sunshine Coast in May to adjudicate at Trinity College examinations.

Mr Eager visited Flinders during his Australian trip last year and was so impressed with the calibre of the College’s music program, its dedicated teachers and talented and engaged students that he asked to revisit in 2009 to workshop again with students.

On April 24 Mr Eager ran a “master class” for Year 12 Music and Music Extension students to develop their musicology, performance and composition skills. He also spent time with younger students (Year 4-7), pictured above, who are members of the Flinders Band, and also worked with the College’s Wind Symphony. 

“Last year I had a great time with the Flinders students,” Mr Eager said. “The standards are absolutely incredible here; really, very, very good quality. The musicianship is second to none worldwide and I do mean worldwide because I have travelled everywhere ... Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Egypt, Jordan, the UK and Europe.”

Mr Eager said teachers inspired their students to achieve at high standards through positive attitude, discipline and setting expectations. “You find here (Flinders) that the expectation is there and therefore the students come up to that standard.”

Interesting information:

• Mark Eager has three sons, Nathan, James and Alex, who attend or have attended Eaton College as music scholars. Eaton was also attended by Princes William and Harry. One of his sons knows Prince Harry and was in the next House to him. In 2002 James won the BBC Choirboy of the Year competition and travelled the world singing solo.
   
• Mark Eager studied at the Royal Academy of Music and received an award for the excellence of his trombone playing and the promotion of the trombone as a solo instrument. He also studied violin and piano from an early age and has conducted since his late teens.
   
• Mark Eager is a triathlete, who would love to come back to the Sunshine Coast to compete at the Mooloolaba or Noosa Triathlons.

Back to College News

Back to Music Excellence