Battle of the Bands

Melbourne’s Jewish schools once again showcased their incredible musical talent at the second annual Battle of the Bands. Building on last year’s success, this year’s competition, hosted by defending champions Mount Scopus Memorial College, expanded to include bands from The King David School and Leibler Yavneh College, in addition to Mount Scopus and Bialik College.

In friendly but fierce competition, the bands performed songs across three categories: Rock Songs, Israeli Songs, and Iconic Music Songs. The night saw incredible performances and ruach from all schools, with King David taking out the overall win, as well as for their rendition of Evanescence’s ‘Bring Me to Life’ in the Rock Song category. Bialik won the Israeli Song category for their performance of ‘Tagidi Shetov’ by Knesiyat Hasekhel, and Yavneh secured the win for Iconic Music Songs, with their performance of ‘Kiss from a Rose’ by Seal.

Individual performer awards also went to Scopus for Best Instrumentalist and Most Entertaining Performer, as well as to King David and Bialik for Best Vocalists.

The audience was also treated to a special performance by the newly formed Interschool Klezmer Orchestra, which debuted with performances of Romanian Hora and Mitzve Gedole. The four school principals praised the event as a testament to interschool collaboration, the power of performing arts and Jewish pride, with over $4,500 raised from the evening donated to Magen David Adom.