MusiClub Newsletter

YOU’RE INVITED To the Best Musical

Events this Spring

Bernies Music Land is proud to

offer a sensational lineup of

artists and events to inspire

your music making!

December

Brush up your festive playing

technique with our fun Players

Afternoon at 2pm on

December 5th. The theme is

“Christmas Music” so join us to

play or just to listen.

Finish the year with some

festive cheer at our Tony

Fenelon Christmas Workshop,

2pm and 7.30pm on Thursday

12th December. This

sensational organist will

perform plenty of organ

favourites on the Atelier organ

plus there will be plenty of

Atelier playing tips, nostalgia,

Christmas cheer and more!

$20 or 2x 2013 vouchers

Book Now: 9872 5122

January

Piano Educators Day returns

for the fifth year. This fabulous

day program features keynote

presenters; Samantha Coates

and Robert Chamberlain.

January 20 and 21, earlybird

tickets $49 so book today!

www.musicland.com.au

Dear MusiClubbers,

As we wind up the year, I hope you are preparing

for a very musical Christmas!

Pianist and TV personality, Peter Sullivan, was here

at the store in October (pictured above). Peter

bought a number of his friends along and they

chatted about different styles of music. The playing

and interviews were recorded for a future television

series called “Piano Talk”. Stay tuned for details of

the viewing dates.

In October a group of Bernstein dealers from

around Australia visited the Bernstein Hailun factory

in China. It is amazing to imagine that this factory

will soon produce 50,000 pianos annually. Photos

are on the back page.

Hey, do you know Bernies Music Land has a

facebook page? We update it weekly with plenty of

news and events, so please “like” us and stay in

touch! (search for Bernies Music Land Events)

Please make sure to join us for our Christmas

Celebration with Tony Fenelon on December 12th.

I think consumers have forgotten how much retail

stores have to offer their customers. I believe in

good service, professional advice and dedicated

backup support. I hope you will tell your friends

about Bernies Music Land so we can continue to

provide this great service for you for the future.

There may be something special we can offer you

for Christmas, so please visit or phone me today on

9872 5122.

I hope you enjoy the articles and Christmas

Playing Tips in this edition.

Thank you to our contributors for this edition; Max

Cooke, Lester Cheung and to our editor Michelle.

Wishing you a happy and musical Christmas.

Bernie C.

Christmas Trading Hours

December

Monday to Thursday 9.00am – 5.30pm

Friday 9.30am – 7.00pm

Saturday 9.00am – 5.00pm

Sunday 12.00pm – 5.00pm

Christmas Day Closed

Boxing Day Closed

New Years Day Closed

Tuesday 31st December 9.00am – 3.00pm

January

Monday to Friday 9.00am – 5.00pm

Saturday 9.00am – 5.00pm

Bernies Music School Lessons recommence

Monday 3rd February 2014

This issue Welcome, You’re Invited P.1

What’s Happening at Bernies P.2

New from our Favourite Brands P.3

Travel Tips, Shanghai Photos P.4

SUM ME R 2013/14

381 Canterbury Road, Ringwood, Victoria, 3134 P:03 9872 5122 F:03 9872 5127 E:info@musicland.com.au

Around Town Events Sponsored by

Bernies Music Land

Star Chorale Christmas Concert

Methodist Ladies College, Kew

3pm Sunday 1st December

www.starchorale.org

Glen Eira City Choir; Christmas

Here, Christmas There

St. James Church, Glen Iris

2.30pm Sunday 8th December

www.gleneiracitychoir.org.au

Monash University Choral

Society; A Christmas of Organ

& Brass

Ormond Uniting Church

5.00pm Saturday 14th December

www.monucs.aicsa.org.au

Save the Date for 2014:

Royal School of Church Music

Summer School

3-10 January

www.rscmaustralia.org.au

Suzuki Organ Summer School

19 – 22 January

Enquire to Craig: 9872 5122

The Team of Pianists’ Piano

Marathon at Rippon Lea

Thursday 16 January

www.teamofpianists.com.au

Players Afternoon at Bernies

Music Land

2pm Thursday 20 January

www.musicland.com.au

Robert Barbarossa Hammond

Concert at Dontown Music Club

Friday 28th February

Travel Tips Who has tried “Q Streaming”? It’s new on Qantas. My wife and I are on the way back from Sydney. I thought to be fair I would double check the process before writing this… It began when we put our seat belts on. I went to place my diary in the seat pouch and noticed there was an iPad in it. Quick… don’t close the door, I thought! Some poor person has left their iPad in the seat pocket! Showing my wife and looking around for a flight attendant, miraculously another iPad appeared in my wifes seat pocket as well. Fishy! Then on the TV screens an announcement mentioned Qantas being the first in the world to introduce “Q Steaming”, an iPad based entertainment system that works wirelessly for your enjoyment. Sounds like a good idea however I was more keen for a snooze. My wife had other ideas. Out came the iPad and for about five minutes the screen said “loading”. I leant over and pressed the menu button and on came the selection screen. “Wow”, she said.

For the next few minutes she had fun trying to get the iPad to sit in the holder attached to the seat. It was half in, so it rocked back and forth with the motion. Between dozes I could see that she was watching animal shows while pushing the buttons on the armrest console to try and get the sound working. After 30 minutes she gave up watching the wobbly thing with no sound and put the iPad away. Then, as we were about to land, on came a video showing how the ipad would fit in the holder securely and where to plug the headphones. As mentioned, it is now the trip back and with the bottle top points we have upgraded to business class and are in row 1. Guess what? iPads but no holders! So my wife is holding the iPad in one hand with the sound on this time. And still no explanation video! Captain just announced that we are landing so have to turn the computer off. Quick tip therefore is if you wish to embrace this wonderful new technology perhaps bring along an 8 year old or ask the flight attendant… happy travelling. Bernie C

Make Music this Christmas with Bernies!

From Bernie and all the team at Bernies Music Land

Bernstein Hailun Dealers Hit China

It wasn’t my first visit to China, but the factory tour in October was a unique and exciting

trip! I was fortunate to join a group of Australian representatives including Ned & Rob

from Carlingford Music Sydney, Peter Bailey from Piano Magic Perth, Mark Morris from

Brisbane and Bernie.

Our trip included a visit to the Shanghai music fair to see the impressive Bernstein

Hailun display, and a full tour of the new factory in Bailun, China. We met Hailun’s

President, Mr. Chen and also Danny who designed Hailun’s exclusive “soft close” grand

piano lid mechanism (pictured right). The new factory is spectacular and Hailun

produces 30,000 pianos a year for the international market. It was fascinating to see

the manufacture process, and to be able to meet the talented craftsmen. It is wonderful

that pianos of such “affordable excellence” are available to our customers and I hope

you will consider Bernstein Hailun for your home or venue. Lester C.

Recent Happenings

Playing Tips

For a happy musical Christmas, you

will need a good collection of

popular Christmas print music

including Carols, Hymns and

Songs. Don’t forget O Holy night,

Do you Hear what I hear and, you

know it, Mum kissing Santa! A great

example is the book A Family

Christmas Around the Piano, here

at the shop for $15.95.

Next, check the keys that the music

is written in. Much of the “easy to

play” music is written in keys easy

to play but hard to sing. Check the

note range; is the highest note an E

or even a G? Then forget it for a

Christmas singalong. When I play

the Organ for Midnight Mass, I often

use the transposer to get to a key

that the congregation are happy to

sing with.

The third step is to have a

Christmas singalong with your

family and friends and you be the

accompanist. The beauty is, if you

have all the favourites ready, they

become quite easy to play along

with a singing troop. If you would

like a complimentary sheet with the

words of the Carols please call in to

Bernies. Having the words handed

around breaks the ice and gives the

singers something to hide behind!

Be sure you play good introductions

so they know when to start singing

too.

Next, volunteer to play at church for

a Christmas service. It is an

amazing experience. If you are in

the mainstream, then the service is

very similar and you need four to six

Christmas Hymns in your repertoire.

A good Entrance Hymn is Oh Come

All Ye Faithful. For the Offertory,

either The First Noel or Away in a

Manger. For Communion, Silent

Night is a must. Then, for

Recessional, Angels we have heard

on High (everybody sings the Gloria

bit!) or Joy to the World. It helps to

have one or two of your family

members there to lead the singing

and you can brief them beforehand

about the songs.

Finally, keep a Christmas folder with

all your favourites music

sheets/books and the word sheets

in a special findable place. Then,

next year when the Carols start

playing in October (or earlier each

year), you will be ready.

Bernie C.

Piano Educators Day Announced, January 20 & 21

Bernies Music

Land is proud

to announce

the

sensat ional

f i f th annual

event

Due to popular demand, Piano Educators Day is

back with a sensational program featuring

renowned author, Samantha Coates and

educator Robert Chamberlain.

Kick start your year with this day of professional

development that also includes an exclusive

print music exhibition plus presentations from

examination bodies including AMEB and

ANZCA.

Take advantage of the earlybird special of just

$49 for a day ticket if you purchase before

January 10th.

Tickets are now available by phoning Bernies

on 9872 5122 or visit www.musicland.com.au

Raising Hope with Bernies On Thursday 31st October, Pamela Reynolds

and Kenneth Briggs presented a variety

concert at Bernies Music Land to raise money

for the Alfred Hospital Cancer Unit. This is the

second recent concert that Bernies have

donated for this cause.

Kenneth Briggs is a piano teacher and has

been a regular Church musician for 50

years… and still going! Pamela is a

recognized soprano whose CDs and

performances have made great contributions

to charity.

The night included a host of guest performers;

Richard Luke on bagpipes, David

Williamson’s Elvis impersonation and a

presentation on the developments of the

Centre for Eye Research Australia, who we

also support. Sacred hymn arrangements by

Tedd Smith were much loved, and

demonstrated the beautiful singing tone of the

Schimmel piano. These pieces feature in the

current ANZCA syllabus, available at Bernies.

The syllabus allows students to explore

Church music and gives a pathway to

accreditation. We need more Church

musicians, so start today!

The magnificent Schimmel Konzert grand

piano can be heard on the CD of the night,

which will be available soon at Bernie.

Thanks to all the attendees and especially to

Bernies Music Land for a wonderful nostalgic

evening. Kenneth Briggs.

Johannus Ecclesia – Just Arrived The long-awaited Johannus Ecclesia D-350 classic

organ has now arrived at Bernies Music Land. This

advanced instrument features 3 manuals with

drawstops and powerful 10.1 Audio System.

The D-350 was launched on November 20th with a

special recital by Jennifer Chou. The instrument is

now available for your testing at Bernies Music

Land. For details or a brochure please phone Craig

Douglass on (03) 9872 5122.

Suzuki Organ Summer School The Suzuki Organ Method is a revolutionary new

organ learning system for 5 to 12 year olds. The

method is expanding rapidly throughout Australia.

Bernies Music Land is proud to sponsor the

Summer School, to be held in Geelong from

January 19 to 22. This event is for organ students

and educators, with concerts and presentation

sessions. For details please contact Craig

Douglass on (03) 9872 5122.

Hammond XK-1c Introducing the smallest and lightest genuine

Hammond organ, the XK-1c. The new Hammond

XK-1c provides the full majesty and versatility of

the industry standard B-3 in a compact package

weighing just 7.5kgs.

Following the lead of the wildly popular SK series

of stage keyboards, this new model uses the

same Virtual Tonewheel engine as Hammond’s

flagship B-3, along with the traditional elements

such as Hammond’s original Chorus/Vibrato and

Touch Response Percussion. The latest digital

Leslie is on board – one of the most desired

features of any keyboard player.

The XK-1c features extensive customization

capabilities, allowing it to be tailored to replicate

any vintage Hammond / Leslie combination, with

settings that can be stored in each patch. A wide

variety of different Hammond tones are contained

in the patch library, with 64 factory patches and 64

programmable patches available.

In addition to the drawbar profiles, the sounds of

two of the most popular transistor combo organs

are included, along with 28 equivalent ranks of

classical pipe organ sounds. The Combo Organ

and Pipe Organ voices may be fully registered in

the traditional fashion via the drawbar controls.

A sensational instrument for any keyboard /

organist, and fantastic value for just $1895.

36 t h National Bernstein Piano Competit ion After another successful year of the

Bernstein Masterclass series held in

Brisbane, Perth, Shepparton and

Melbourne, 12 outstanding performers were

selected to compete in each section of the

Bernstein Piano Competition, held on

Sunday 6th October at Bernies Music Land.

This year the competition’s talent pool was

exceptional. All competitors in the Junior

section (12 years & under) were playing

above 7th Grade level, and the Senior

section (13 to 16 years) were playing at

associate level and above!

The Junior section trophy was taken out by

Douglas Law, whose virtuosic performance

of Grieg’s Scherzo and Barrett’s Capriccio

pleased our judges, Professor Max Cooke

and Mr. Darryl Coote.

Second place was awarded to Richard Liu

and third place to Lawrence Dinh. An

Honourable Mention went to Brendan Chew,

who, at 9 years of age, was the youngest

finalist in the competition’s history.

The Senior section was also a fierce battle

with a number of competitors having won

numerous awards in other eisteddfods. The

decided winner was Stephen Tam, whose

beautiful rendition of Mozart and Schumann

touched the audiences hearts. Stephen

possesses a unique talent for producing the

most beautiful tone from the piano, the

Bernstein 198 semi-concert grand, and he

was a deserved winner. Runner up was

awarded to Vivian Chen and third place to

Brisbane finalist, Nelson Hu, who both

played with maturity and virtuosity.

Honourable Mentions went to Rahul Lobo

and Nancy Yao (Perth finalist).

My highlight this year, was the performance

of Sophie Bahana in the Junior section.

Sophie is a student of Alison Kirkpatrick,

and she performed the most musical

interpretation of the Rachmaninoff Prelude

that I have heard from a 12 year old.

This concludes another wonderful year of

the National Bernstein Piano Competition. I

would like to thank Bernstein Australia once

again for their continual support of young

pianists across Australia, and providing this

wonderful platform for young piano students.

I would also like to thank Don and Sylvia

Curtis-Morris from the Syldon Music Group

for their sponsorship of the third place

prizes. Stay tuned for next years program –

we are very proud to host Australia’s longest

running branded piano competition.

Lester Cheung.

Bernstein Piano Competition Junior award

recipients (above) with Bernie and

adjudicators. Senior winner, Stephen Tam

(top left) and senior finalists (left)

From The Team of Pianists The Team of Pianists began its life in the

1980's, by giving concerts to raise money for

students to go overseas. It has continued for

nearly 30 years to organise recitals, make

CDs and DVDs, and it has promoted young

people in music. It has done much for music

and young musicians, and its association

with Bernies Music Land has been significant

in all of this.

Bernies Music Land have long

supplied fine instruments, Bernstein and

more recently, Schimmel pianos, which Team

members like to play in public concerts,

whilst the Bernstein Masterclasses and

Competitions have been an important

undertaking which has involved

Bernies and the Team. After many years

working together, it is noticeable that the

standard of young players' performances in

the Bernstein Piano Competition have risen

dramatically, especially evident this year at

the Finals in October. I think we can all be

proud of what the Bernstein masterclass /

competition combination has achieved in this

regard.

The Team of Pianists can be contacted on

9527 28521 or www.teamofpianists.com.au

Professor Max Cooke.

Piano Marathon at Rippon Lea returns on

January 16th with the Team of Pianists

New from Our Favourite Brands