Magnificent and Unstoppable Mungoite: Mana Ohashi (2015)

Mana is an accomplished musician whose hard work and dedication has taken her and her violin around the world since she left MGGS in 2015. Mana started learning the violin at age three and began lessons with the Australian Chamber Orchestra at around seven or eight years old. Mana joined MGGS in Year 7 in 2010 and was an enthusiastic participant in many activities that MGGS had to offer.  

During her Senior Years, Mana truly flourished and became someone all Grammarians looked up to. She was kind to her peers and teachers, generous with her time and always happy to help. In Year 11, she received Senior Shields for Orchestra, Senior Strings and the Chamber Music Ensemble. She was a member of Fiddle Fusion and the Merton Chamber Orchestra, and she won the Speech Night Award for Excellence in VCE Music Units 3 and 4.  

In the same year, Mana was the Year 11 Mungo House Representative; she arranged and conducted Mungo’s House Music Instrumental performance of Dami Im’s Superlove, while also leading and playing in their Chamber Music performance of Rather Be by Clean Bandit (which she also arranged). She also sang as part of Mungo’s Madgi (madrigal / a capella) ensemble in the competition.  

It was no surprise that Mungo House won House Music that year. Taking out the overall Mander Cup, Mungo also collected the Floyd Trophy for the Best Chamber Ensemble, the Stephens Cup for the Best Large Instrumental Ensemble, the Patterson Bowl for the Best A Capella performance and Mana tied for the Baton for Best Instrumental Conductor!  

In her final year of school, Mana was elected onto the Student Executive Council (SEC) as Music Captain and she continued to demonstrate her musical prowess in our many musical events throughout 2015 and at external competitions like the Boroondara Eisteddfod.  

Mana left MGGS and went on to study at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) in Melbourne. After three years of intensive study and performances, she moved to Germany to study at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater in Munich, after previously visiting the Mahler Chamber Orchestra Academy in 2018.  

Mana is a founding member of the Melbourne Partridge String Quartet, which she set up with three other graduates of ANAM. With this group she has travelled across Australia to perform orchestral and chamber music concerts – including the Queensland International Chamber Music Competition and the ANAM Chamber Music Competition (for which they won first prize at both).  

Mana has also performed across the globe. In addition to her time in Germany, she has spent time at the Banff Centre of Arts and Creativity in Canada, and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, USA, developing her skills and gaining experience playing in a range of orchestras and ensembles. Mana has also played at the NUME Festival and Academy in Italy and the Tibor Varga Academy in Sion. Mana was an awardee of the Australian Music Foundation Award in 2021 and the recipient of the 2019 Richard Pollet Memorial Award. She was also recently a semi-finalist in the Dorcas McClean Scholarship competition at the University of Melbourne. Mana has been living in Germany since the start of 2023 and is playing with the Hermann Levi Academy of the Bavarian State Orchestra. 

The dedication that Mana has demonstrated in her development and achievements on the violin is outstanding, and we congratulate her for the many aforementioned Australian an international accolades and accomplishments.  

We wish Mana the best of luck in her future endeavours and cannot wait to hear more about her achievements.  

From Ross Hall to the Big Apple: Kahlia Davis (2013)

For many OGs, the name Kahlia Davis elicits fond memories of enchanting performances, assemblies and rehearsals from 2013 and before, when Kahlia’s talent and energy made her a Grammarian to look up to at MGGS.  

You could say that Kahlia was a star before she left MGGS. Throughout her time at school, Kahlia excelled academically and participated in a number of musical, dramatic and sporting co-curricular programs. She earned the respect of her teachers, peers and her position on the SEC as Clarke House Captain in 2013.  

In 2012, Kahlia played the role of Gertrude McFuzz in MGGS’s Senior Years production of Seussical. Her natural ability to enchant an audience has only grown as she has worked hard and pursued her goals in the realm of Performing Arts. Following in the footsteps of her older sister, Kahlia started her dance training in primary school at Dance Discovery, Centrestage and Patrick School of the Arts (PSA) in Melbourne. During her Senior Years, Kahlia wasn’t sure what she wanted to do after school. She had always loved performing, but wasn’t certain she wanted to do it as a career. At the end of Year 11, Kahlia auditioned for the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) and was offered a place there during Year 12.  

“I didn’t plan to study or pursue a career in theatre, although I think I was destined to do something creative or design related. As my final year of school progressed, I came to realise what an amazing experience it would be to study theatre in the heart of its biggest and most famous international market: Broadway, New York City. I accepted the offer and moved to New York in February 2014.”

Kahlia graduated from the Integrated Program at AMDA and began performing professionally for a number of years throughout the US and around the world. She has appeared in shows including A Chorus Line (in the US, Japan and Shanghai), 42^nd Street and Mamma Mia!. In 2019, she released her debut EP of five songs, The First One, followed by the single Miss You Much in 2020. She then spent some time working as a production vocalist with Norwegian Creative Studios on the Regent Seven Seas Mariner cruise ship.

During COVID, many of Kahlia’s plans were put on hold, including her audition for the Australian production of Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Maintaining the motivation to practice and continue her development at home via screen was, as it was for many of us doing online school and work, very frustrating for Kahlia. But the light at the end of the tunnel came when she finally got her chance to audition and successfully landed her part in the production. When it reopened in Melbourne, Moulin Rouge! The Musical convincingly brought the glitz and glamour of musical theatre back to Melbourne after a significant period of lockdown and COVID-related restrictions.  

“Initially I was a swing on the show. A swing is typically not in the show every night but could be in the show any night for a number of different roles. I covered eleven tracks in total, eight ensemble tracks, the lead Satine, and Nini and Arabia – two of the Lady Ms.” 

At the start of the recent Melbourne season, Kahlia took over the role of the fierce and playful Arabia full time, but still covers Satine and Nini on occasion. “As Arabia I wear a long blonde wig, it’s hard to miss!” According to Kahlia, being part of the Moulin Rouge production is “…invigorating, exhausting, exciting, inspiring and at times overwhelming.”

“The show is larger than life in every way and it demands so much of the cast and crew every single day to make it all come together.”

Kahlia currently performs eight shows per week, nine in some weeks! She says the audiences have been wonderful. “There’s such an excitement and buzz in the theatre which is always so fun to play to. We first opened in Melbourne in November 2021 after an extremely challenging pandemic, especially for Melburnians. We sold out our season then and it’s been amazing to return and feel that same joy and appreciation for our show once again.”

While in no hurry to do anything different, Kahlia is open-minded about what her future holds ... perhaps a transfer to one of the other international productions of Moulin Rouge!. “I would love to try a stint in London’s West End or maybe another show in Australia? I’ll have to wait and see,” she said.

Kahlia left a strong legacy behind at MGGS, with Clarke House going on to win House Drama in 2015, 2017 and 2020 after she left. It’s hard to be what you can’t see, and there’s no doubt that Kahlia’s talent inspired the Grammarians around her to have the courage to be bold and follow their dreams.  

The Debut Novelist: Steph Vizard (2007)  

Written by current Year 11 Grammarian, Isabella Hunt.

The Stella Literary Soiree on 16 October hosted esteemed author and Old Grammarian Stephanie Vizard. It was an encapsulation of our School’s literary culture. We have always prided ourselves on our history, which has been especially central this year, during our 130 Years celebrations. How fitting then, that one of our very own Old Grammarians could come back this year to celebrate literature and the culmination of years of hard work in the Arts.  

Steph Vizard’s award-winning novel The Love Contract was completely invigorating for the Stella Society, as it marked a definitive departure from our usual reading material. Winner of the 2022 Harper Collins Banjo Prize, The Love Contract follows the story of new mother Zoe, who struggles to navigate a Melbourne that seems wholly unequipped to support a single parent such as herself. While the romance novel is often infamous for its lack of emotional depth, Steph defies such limits, unveiling more and more layers as the reader moves through its chapters. Within the romance genre, Steph has interwoven a thought-provoking commentary on the struggles of solo parenting, the lack of availability of child-care in Melbourne, the problematic nature of a workaholic culture, and the way that past family traumas can subconsciously weave themselves into our very being, affecting our future relationships. Steph’s novel reminded me and many of the Stella students of the inherent value of novels whose genres may have been previously critiqued, showing that thoughtful commentary is not produced only by books that are considered ‘literary.’  

The Stella Literary Soiree drew a swath of passionate Stella members ranging from Years 7 to 11, as well as teachers and members of our community. From the outset, the event’s atmosphere was marked by a warm familiarity and relaxation, made possible by Steph’s open nature and her connections to the School. Such an atmosphere allowed Stella audience members to go deeper with their questioning, which ranged from tips for young authors to how to find your authentic narrative voice.

While the conversation was initially led by the ‘panel’ – made up of Olivia Jane, Emelia Koop and I – it was quick to extend to the audience, who proved eager to ask Steph numerous questions. In this way, the Soiree was a classic Stella event, in that question time seemed to swell to enable the immense curiosity and enthusiasm of the audience.

I feel grateful to have met Steph Vizard amongst such passionate Stella students, teachers, and members of community at the Literary Soiree. I am certain that this event will help shape the evolving direction of the MGGS Stella Society to come, as we seek meaning in books both within and beyond the Stella longlist and shortlist. As such, the Stella Society will be able to honour both its history as a book club, but also, our future, as we look ahead to how we can best reflect the readership and vast interests of our School’s readers.

Asking Important Questions with Art: Lisa Roet (1984)

Lisa Roet is an internationally renowned Australian artist and Old Grammarian. Her sculptures, charcoal drawings, film and photography explore the relationship between humans and primates are recognisible across the globe. Lisa encourages us to consider our attitudes towards these creatures – chimpanzees, gorillas and other apes – who share over 98 per cent of our DNA. Her work also touches on the environment and sustainability, global politics, personal connection and ignorance. Lisa’s artwork is impactful and thought-provoking.  

While at School, Lisa was interested in Jane Goodall’s work with chimpanzees in Gombe National Park in Tanzania. After leaving MGGS in 1984, Lisa studied a Bachelor of Fine Arts at RMIT University. Lisa began drawing chimpanzees at the Zoo in Berlin, where she was travelling after finishing university.

Over the years she has improved her craft and travelled the world. Her art has featured in exhibitions in Edinburgh, Beijing, Chengdu, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Shanghai, Auckland, Berlin, Belgium, the US and throughout Australia. One of her most popular exhibitions was Monkey Grip, staged at Deakin University Art Gallery in Melbourne, which then toured several regional galleries throughout Victoria between 2013 and 2014.  

Lisa has received several prestigious art awards throughout her career, including the Geelong Gallery Acquisitive Print Award, the Fremantle Print Award, the Australian National Gallery National Sculpture Prize and the Deakin University Small Sculpture Award. She has also been featured a number of times (2001, 2003, 2007) in Australian Art Collector’s ‘50 Most Collectible Artists’ publication.  

In 2005, she won the McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park Award for White Ape, an art installation featuring endangered monkeys, which has since travelled across the globe. More recently, she has been working on what she calls ‘biodiversity’ projects, in which her inflatable installations, like floating sculptures, cling to buildings in urban areas to pose questions.  

"They are touring to global locations to talk about biodiversity loss and encroaching urbanisation, and the relationship between nature and humans and our urbanisations models," Roet said. 

The Golden Monkey which has been installed in Melbourne, Beijing and Edinburgh is Lisa’s imitation of the snubnosed monkey, native to the mountain ranges of Myanmar and China. It has distinctive features, including a long tail and up-turned face, and has developed a ‘biomorphism’ as a result of global warming – it sneezes when rain lands on its mutated nose. Roet said the prominence of the monkey triggered community conversations. 

"It can be looked at on so many levels ... it can be kids looking at it going it's a gold monkey on a building," she said. "But the conversation can go a bit further which is why is there a gold monkey on that building?"

Lisa looks back on her time at MGGS with fondness, and enjoys returning to the School to lend her expertise to our students and staff as an artisit-in-residence, which she has done a number of times.