St Pat's alumni returns to inspire students

In the early 2000s, the college's former band master recalls asking the principal for a new clarinet, hoping it was in the school budget. Fast forward to now, and Mr Brown has come back as a tutor in the well-resourced Amadeus Music Education Program.

"On my first day of Amadeus instruction, I walked into my old school to a classroom that had pallets of instruments there waiting to hand out to the kids," he said. "I literally had tears in my eyes. The excitement of the kids when you open up a brand new instrument and hand it to them is just amazing."

Amadeus is an initiative of Sydney Catholic Schools that has this year realised its target - to put 52,000 instruments into the hands of every Sydney Catholic Schools' student in years 3 to 8.

The program has been integrated into the normal school curriculum and provides the students with classroom music lessons, ensemble lessons and small group tuition.

Mr Brown said some benefits of the Amadeus program included improved academic outcomes, discipline, self-motivation and teamwork skills.

"There is data that confirms that learning an instrument improves literacy and numeracy, because the left and right brain are creating more synapses that cross over from your creative to your analytical side," Mr Brown said.

"When you're part of an ensemble, you're part of a whole. Whether you're playing third clarinet or first clarinet in a performance, the applause is the same. It's so great for the students' self-esteem."

The Amadeus tutor role is the latest in a long and varied professional music career for Mr Brown, who has played trombone with The Metropolitan Orchestra, Australian Wind Orchestra, for major theatre productions including Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera and on cruise ships.

He studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, trained as a conductor in the Czech Republic, and tutored and conducted bands throughout his career.