2026 VCE Music Reimagining Masterclass

Written by Mrs Ebony Piccolo (Music Coordinator)

16 March 2026

For the second year in a row, the VCE Music Reimagining Masterclass has provided the opportunity for Brookhill students with a passion for music to engage in an interactive workshop of music making and creativity. Students who study Music as an academic subject and those who are heavily involved in the College’s comprehensive, co-curricular Music programs were invited to partake in this masterclass to learn and enhance their skills in reimagining a piece of music.

To reimagine a piece of music is to create a new version where performers make it distinctive by bringing their personal voice to the performance. The process of creating a reimagining requires the musicians to make informed decisions about how they will manipulate elements of music and concepts to achieve expressive intentions.

To facilitate the learning process, the masterclass began with a live performance from expert music staff, Instrumental Music tutors, and volunteers where they demonstrate, in real-time, how focused discussion, an open mind to experimentation, and a willingness to trial a range of musical ideas were key to developing a new version of a piece of music. There was an overwhelming consensus amongst students that they found this demonstration extremely beneficial as they were exposed to how musicians communicate with each other and the precise language used when discussing how a piece can be reimagined.

The remainder of the workshop saw students break off into mixed year level and ability groups where, with the guidance of the experts, they spent the next few hours putting the critical thinking and collaborative skills they had just witnessed into practice to reimagine a piece of music of their choice.

Engaging with this learning is vital for our VCE Music students, who are required to perform a reimagined piece of music as part of their Year 12 performance exam. Reimagining music was a familiar concept to our Unit 3/4 students, who utilised their experience with reimagining to take leadership within their workshop groups: another performance exam requirement and criteria. Students studying VCE Music Units 1/2, were able to gain valuable insights into what lies ahead for Units 3/4 and begin participating in the creative reimagining processes they are required to experiment and become more comfortable with throughout the duration of their course.

For students who partake in Music as an co-curricular activity at the College rather than the subject, their learning shared direct links with the highest levels of the Victorian Curriculum 2.0 for Music where outcomes include:

develop, practise and refine the use of listening skills and style-specific vocal and instrumental skills and techniques to interpret music and communicate expressive effects (VC2AMU10D01)
interpret music in a variety of forms and styles, manipulating the elements of music and compositional devices, and using style-specific vocal and instrumental techniques to communicate ideas, perspectives and/or meaning (VC2AMU10C01)
rehearse and present planned performances of music they have learnt to audiences, using relevant vocal and instrumental techniques and performance styles (VC2AMU10P01)

The VCE Music Reimagining Masterclass concluded with all students performing the pieces they reimagined with their groups to each other, their very proud parents, and the experts in attendance. The music played was interesting and exciting to listen to as all pieces were performed in a truly unique way. To achieve this, students worked collaboratively, outside of their comfort zones, and with a high level of professionalism to bring these performances together in a matter of hours. The variety of music ideas performed is a testament to the success of the masterclass, as the students were truly able to apply personal voice to their playing.