Music matters

St Kilda Road Year 10 student, Jared Gibson, is a co-host on Music Matters Sunday, a radio program “run by young people for young people” on 94.1FM (School Broadcasting Network). Jared has performed live on the station and has had some fantastic experiences interviewing international artists. Jared has only been involved with the radio program for six months and his talents are already being recognised worldwide.

The 16-year-old was recently awarded the “people’s choice award” for his live radio performance of a Beatles medley, resulting in the prize of a live interview for the segment “International Emerging Artists Showcase” on a radio station in Fort Collins, Colorado USA. Jared says the experience was “exhilarating”. He had the opportunity to speak about his music and other creative endeavours, and the station played two of Jared’s songs, one original and one cover.

Jared first developed his passion for the creative arts when he moved to Wesley College Elsternwick in Year 7, and was selected for the challenging lead role in The Pirates of Penzance. Jared considers this rewarding experience to be his proudest achievement to date. He says, “Not only was I new to the school, I was also new to singing and acting. It meant a great deal to me that the teachers at Wesley showed such faith in me as a student. Opportunities like this remind me why I am so fortunate to be a student at Wesley College”.

Jared has since been involved in several school productions, short films and amateur musical theatre productions. He says he satisfies his love of music through song writing and making the most of musical programs made available at Wesley. Jared is a member of Jazz Band, Jazz Ensemble, Senior Symphonic Winds, Festival Orchestra, Senior Percussion Ensemble; Senior A Cappella Choir and Pop Choir.

Jared is currently studying VCE Music Performance in Year 10, and hopes this will give him the opportunity to complete a number of creative VCE subjects over the next couple of years. He says “there is nothing better that studying what you love”.

Wesley congratulates Jared on his latest achievements, and encourages everyone to tune in to Music Matters Sunday from 3.00-5.00pm on the first Sunday of every month, to hear Jared in action.