Sydney schoolgirl Emily Sun seems shy, lacks confidence and bears the scars of barely knowing her Chinese father who was killed while changing a tyre when she was four.
Sixteen-year-old Emily is one of the stars of Mrs. Carey’s Concert, an admirable addition to the ranks of documentaries which demonstrate the transforming, and possibly life-changing, power of music.
Karen Carey is the head music teacher at the MLC School in Burwood. Filmmakers Bob Connolly and Sophie Raymond spent 18 months following the inspiring Mrs. Carey, fellow teachers and students as they prepared for the girls school’s bi-annual concert at the Sydney Opera House.
The result is an illuminating, fly-on-wall study of the struggles, hard work, personal dramas, tears and triumphs involved in the challenging project.
It’s Connolly first film since 2001’s Facing the Music: he took a break to focus on raising his two daughters, who went to MLC, after his wife and co-director Robin Anderson died from cancer.
The middle-aged Mrs. Carey may not put much store on her clothes or personal appearance but her charges could not ask for a more dedicated teacher and leader: she comes across as passionate, kind, patient, firm but fair and tolerant as she exhorts the girls to put their hearts and souls into their music.
Emily’s personal growth under her tutelage is remarkable. Offered the chance to be leader of the orchestra, the violinist demurs initially, confessing, 'I’m not the leading type. I’m so disorganised. I’m always late. I’m not responsible."
Sensing she’s capable of great virtuosity, Mrs. Carey later asks her to perform a solo at the concert and gives her just 12 weeks to learn the piece.
If Emily is proof of how music can be empowering, Iris Shi is at the other end of the spectrum. Iris is a talented musician but she’s also a troublemaker and a disruptive influence, moaning that she finds rehearsals 'tedious."
Mrs. Carey implores Iris to do her best: 'It would mean a lot to me if you can show you know how to be part of a team."
Some kids will never learn, and the recalcitrant Iris continues to demonstrate her lack of enthusiasm at the dress rehearsal, causing Mrs. Carey a fleeting moment of self doubt.
Mrs. Carey shows her steely side when she has a terse phone conversation with a mother who wants her daughter to miss the dress rehearsal, and, on the night itself, when she temporarily mislays her music.
The concert and rehearsals of pieces by Brahms, Ravel, Handel and Bruch and others are highly enjoyable, even for someone with my untrained ears. As Mrs. Carey watches Emily’s solo turn, her eyes glisten, reflecting pride, joy and, almost certainly, relief.
To the credit of Mrs. Carey, other teachers and students, none seems self-conscious when the cameras are filming, although Iris seems to enjoy the notoriety of being perceived as a rebel.
If I’d had a teacher like her, I probably wouldn’t have been the only one in my year 9 class who flunked a music exam.
