Students from Kentucky, Woolbrook and Yarrowitch schools were among more than 4,000 NSW public school students who took to the Concert Hall stage of the Sydney Opera House last month for the 2009 Primary Choral Festival.

Students from more than 200 public schools across NSW showcased their musical talents over five nights from October 19 to 23.

Thirty-nine students from Kentucky, Yarrowitch and Woolbrook and other small schools from across the state performed in the Australis Concert as part of the event.

The students were members of the Combined State Small Schools Marimba and String Ensemble that has performed regularly at the Opera House Concerts since the 1998.

The Ensemble was a huge hit drawing great praise from the show’s organisers and the audiences alike. The group was also only one of a handful of acts representing rural NSW with most students coming from Performing Arts Schools in Sydney.

The Primary Choral Festival, which began in 1947, is one of the core arts programs managed for public schools by the NSW Department of Education and Training.

“The students involved in this festival have been rehearsing for most of the year and teachers have also benefited from additional professional learning and targeted resources to assist the students,” NSW Minister for Education and Training, Verity Firth said.

“The NSW Government is committed to providing students with an extensive education and the arts are a vital part of a student’s education.”

As well as their official performance, the children from the Combined State Small Schools Marimba and String Ensemble visited an Ancient Egypt exhibition at the Australian Museum, took a guided cruise of Sydney Harbour with Captain Cook Tours, explored the gruesome Police Museum where they saw the actual gun that shot “Thunderbolt”, raised over $500 busking, and generally “experienced” the city.

Plans are already under way to organise the group’s next trip to Sydney in November to perform at the Schools Spectacular.