Listen carefully on weekends when you’re in Strathfield for the sound of music coming from our Hall, LER and other rehearsal spaces. Hundreds of talented young people from across NSW are gathering on the secondary campus every Saturday and Sunday.
Santa Sabina is the new home of the acclaimed Sydney Youth Orchestras.
Members travel to rehearsals from across Sydney and from as far away as Jervis Bay, Taree and Parkes. They range in age from five to 24. As well as 10 Santa Sabina students enrolled in the program other local musicians are well represented. MLC, Meriden, PLC, Trinity Grammar, Strathfield High, Strathfield North, Strathfield South, St Martha’s, Burwood Girls, Summer Hill, Ashfield, Ashbury, Concord, Croydon and Haberfield schools all have students enrolled in SYO.
Having outgrown their previous rehearsal home of St Mary’s Cathedral College in the city, SYO is delighted to be using the facilities in the inner west. “The artistic team is ecstatic”, according to SYO General Manager, Mia Patoulios.
Dr Maree Herrett, Santa Sabina College Principal, said that the College is thrilled to be the home of classical music for young people in Sydney.
“This is a wonderful partnership. Our students and the local community are enriched with such an opportunity.”
SYO concerts are also planned at Santa Sabina, beginning with the Autumn Showcase in March.
Santa Sabina’s new Head of Instrumental Music, James Pensini, is also SYO’s Head of Orchestral Training and conductor of SYO’s Symphonic Wind Orchestra and Western Sydney Youth Orchestra. There are 10 other ensembles of various sizes in SYO.
With Saturday sport on the oval, occasional alumni weddings in the chapel and the new “hole in the wall” café in the College’s Siena Centre on The Boulevarde, there’s a lot of community activity happening on the eight-hectare site.
