The evening celebrations of  25 October 2019 for the community of Colegio Monte VI (parents past and present, old boys and their families, teachers and workers of every kind, including a dear old lady in a wheelchair who had been a cleaner at the school for 20 years) began with Holy Mass in the school chapel concelebrated by the Vicar of Opus Dei in Uruguay and four ex-student priests.Two of these, Father Carlos and Ignacio Varela, are cur-rent chaplains of the school and are two of the eight children of the second Headmaster Juan Alberto Varela and his wife Elaisa.

At the end of Holy Mass, a canvas print of The Virgin and Jesus was blessed by the Vicar of Opus Dei Mgr Gonzalo. This was a gift to Monte VI from Red-field College to celebrate their 40th anniversary. This canvas is now in the chapel replacing a small, dark picture of Our Lady which is over 100 years old. The new canvas will be an inspiration to the boys when they turn to sing to Our Lady “Maria De Nazaret” at the end of daily Mass.

After Holy Mass, the festivities began. The Brass Ensemble played three pieces and then accompanied the Violin Ensemble of 70 primary students perform-ing Land of Hope and Glory to begin a wonderful evening. The third and current Principal, Mr Pablo Carriquiry, said it was a dream come true for himself and the Deputy, Mr Juan Rachetti. Since Pablo came to Redfield in 2004, he had dreamed of a band for Monte VI.The dream began to take shape in 2017 when Mr Paul Quinn and Mr Marcelo Machado (accompanied by Angela Quinn as teacher's aide and amateur translator) took eight Uruguayans and eight Aussie boys back to Uruguay, each carrying brass or woodwind instrument through all four customs and immigration checks along the way. The next two exchange groups did likewise to the tune of 38 band instruments donated by Mr Quinn and supported by Dural Music to Monte VI which are impossible to purchase in Uruguay.

In 2018, Mr Quinn auditioned the Year 5 boys at Monte VI and got them started. During that year, two local music teachers worked weekly with the twenty two boys on basic rudiments and the boys were beginning to lose any interest they had when Mr Quinn returned to work a little magic. In four weeks, the boys learned three new band pieces. Music could be heard coming from the courtyard, lunch room and classrooms at any time of the school day. Mr Quinn encouraged every parent to sit with their son while they practised for ten minutes every day and eventually the whole Year 6 class learned to play, in the midst of also sitting for their final Cambridge Primary Exams in Science and Maths (in English) and English as a first (not second) language in grammar and literature.

It was a truly memorable occasion. Now that the Monte VI Band boys and their regular conductor have grown in confidence and proven their abilities to themselves and the school community, they will hopefully continue and grow.

 - Angela Quinn