Year 9 Performance Music

Performance Music (PMU) at Burnside High School – Course Content and Structure

Please apply through the online form here. Please note you must still choose 2 Arts subjects in SchoolPoint in addition to your application.

For many years Burnside High School has offered a very successful course for Performance Music students.  This full-year course runs in each school Division, North, South and West.  Entry is by application only, providing an outline of the student’s musical experience, and successful applicants are placed within a form class comprising PMU students only. THERE IS NO AUDITION REQUIRED FOR PERFORMANCE MUSIC.  Each 9PMU class has a music specialist as both their form teacher and Music class teacher for the year. 

Students seeking entry to the 9PMU course should be already learning an instrument (or voice) and be actively involved in music at their primary/intermediate school.  A unique feature of this course is that practical music ensembles i.e Junior Strings, Junior Concert Band, Junior Jazz Band, Junior Performance Choir, Junior Percussion Ensemble and Junior Guitar Ensemble are timetabled into the school day (for one period each week) for all Performance Music students. PMU students are placed into one of these ensembles based on the information provided on their application form.  Academically, it is expected that the Performance Music Classes will be at the same above-average level in each Division.  Please note that the school reserves the right to place students where we think the students will function best in their learning.

Aside from the performance aspects of this course, students cover the following areas of musical study:

• Music History
• Music Theory
• General Musicianship - Keyboard skills
• Aural
• Composition