For Mansfield Steiner year nine student Lexie Meek taking on the challenge of achieving a silver award from the Australia Music Examinations Board (AMEB) was a natural extension of her passion for the violin. Recognising the dedication of her student, violin teacher at the Mansfield Steiner School, Danielle Andreasen-Cocker encouraged Lexie to complete her grade five violin AMEB exam which is external to music studies at the school. “She is such a hardworking and talented student,” said Ms Andreasen-Cocker. “I always wanted to play violin since I was a little kid,” Lexie said when the Courier caught up with her at the Steiner school last week. “I like the environment of the Steiner school, I love the people I play with and the teachers are amazing,” she said. To obtain the AMEB silver award Lexie had several requirements she needed to meet over a nine-month period. These are broken down into the main categories of AMEB qualification, performances, and contribution activities. The Silver AMEB Award is designed as the perfect next step for developing performers wanting to explore the possibilities of their discipline and be recognised for the contributions they make beyond performing. Participants need to be aged 12 or above before enrolling in the Silver AMEB Award. Lexie undertook a minimum of three public performances both solo and as an ensemble (she did many more), and at least 16 hours of contribution to music. One of the performances was in Melbourne she said with the Youth Orchestra at the prestigious Recital Centre. The other two were locally, one for a Bendigo Bank community event and the other at a Parkinson support gathering. Lexie displayed her leadership skills in the contribution section of the award by volunteering her time to help run a younger student orchestra at school. Her talents extended to composing her own music and teaching students to perform the music she wrote. Throughout the year Lexie commits to two to three hours of violin practice outside of school. She has enjoyed the journey to achieving the Silver AMEB Award and said it encouraged her to keep going with her music. Long term Lexie hopes to teach music when she leaves school but for now, she is happy to continue playing whenever she can. Last weekend there was a performance with the Flinders Quartet in Melbourne and sure to be many more occasions for Lexie to display her musical talents in the coming months.
