{"id":113874,"date":"2026-05-04T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?p=113874"},"modified":"2026-04-30T18:27:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T08:27:35","slug":"girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Girton guitarist lands for Top Class show"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority’s Top Class Regional Bendigo concert, taking place next Thursday at Ulumbarra Theatre, will feature former Girton student turned trainee pilot Oscar Woods.<\/p>\n

Other high-scoring 2025\u202fVCE and VCE VET dance, drama, theatre studies and music students from around Victoria will also take the stage, with a question and answer session with examiners and selected performers to follow.<\/p>\n

Virtuoso guitarist Woods completed year 12 last year at Girton and scored an almost perfect mark in VCE Music Repertoire (Performance).<\/p>\n

He confessed that in the immediate lead-up to last year’s final VCE exam he was “absolutely nervous”.<\/p>\n

“My hands were sweating the whole time from beginning to end, from the car ride there to the car ride home,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I sort of calmed down during the performance because you get in that mindset where you’re playing and all you’re focusing on is the music, and that was really enjoyable.<\/p>\n

“But I was definitely nervous.”<\/p>\n

\"\"
The student pilot said he’s going to be playing until the end of his days. Photo: Supplied.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

His homecoming Ulumbarra show next week will see Woods performing At First Light by American guitarist Steve Erquiaga.<\/p>\n

“It’s a relatively technical, melodic fusion-folk piece,” he said.<\/p>\n

“There’s an improvised solo in it, so that requires a different sort of technique.”<\/p>\n

The current Bachelor of Aviation\/Graduate Certificate in Piloting student said flying frequently is his focus for now, although he’ll definitely keep up his guitar playing pursuit.<\/p>\n

“I live on campus and I basically get to study and fly planes at the same time, which is amazing,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’m aiming for international commercial airlines, like Qantas.<\/p>\n

“But I’m definitely going to be playing until the end of my days, because what else was the point in learning how to play?<\/p>\n

“I love it, so I’m never going to let it go.”<\/p>\n

Tickets for the concert are available at Gotix<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority’s Top Class Regional Bendigo concert, taking place next Thursday at Ulumbarra Theatre, will feature former Girton student turned trainee pilot Oscar Woods. Other high-scoring 2025\u202fVCE and VCE VET dance, drama, theatre studies and music students from around Victoria will also take the stage, with a question and answer session […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":113879,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-113874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGirton guitarist lands for Top Class show - Bendigo Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Girton student Oscar Woods performs at the Top Class Regional Bendigo concert at Ulumbarra Theatre. Book your tickets now!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Girton guitarist lands for Top Class show - Bendigo Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Girton student Oscar Woods performs at the Top Class Regional Bendigo concert at Ulumbarra Theatre. Book your tickets now!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bendigo Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-03T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/05\/TNG-29-apr-31.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adam Carswell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adam Carswell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Adam Carswell\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c\"},\"headline\":\"Girton guitarist lands for Top Class show\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-03T18:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":341,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/TNG-29-apr-31.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Living\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\\\/\",\"name\":\"Girton guitarist lands for Top Class show - Bendigo Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/TNG-29-apr-31.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-03T18:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Former Girton student Oscar Woods performs at the Top Class Regional Bendigo concert at Ulumbarra Theatre. Book your tickets now!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/TNG-29-apr-31.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/TNG-29-apr-31.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Virtuoso guitarist Oscar Woods completed year 12 last year at Girton and scored an almost perfect mark in VCE Music Repertoire (Performance). Photo: Supplied.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Girton guitarist lands for Top Class show\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bendigo Times\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Bendigo Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":491,\"caption\":\"Bendigo Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c\",\"name\":\"Adam Carswell\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/author\\\/adamcarswell\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Girton guitarist lands for Top Class show - Bendigo Times","description":"Former Girton student Oscar Woods performs at the Top Class Regional Bendigo concert at Ulumbarra Theatre. Book your tickets now!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Girton guitarist lands for Top Class show - Bendigo Times","og_description":"Former Girton student Oscar Woods performs at the Top Class Regional Bendigo concert at Ulumbarra Theatre. Book your tickets now!","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/","og_site_name":"Bendigo Times","article_published_time":"2026-05-03T18:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/05\/TNG-29-apr-31.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Adam Carswell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Adam Carswell","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/"},"author":{"name":"Adam Carswell","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/person\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c"},"headline":"Girton guitarist lands for Top Class show","datePublished":"2026-05-03T18:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/"},"wordCount":341,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/05\/TNG-29-apr-31.jpg","articleSection":["Living"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/","name":"Girton guitarist lands for Top Class show - Bendigo Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/05\/TNG-29-apr-31.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-03T18:00:00+00:00","description":"Former Girton student Oscar Woods performs at the Top Class Regional Bendigo concert at Ulumbarra Theatre. Book your tickets now!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/05\/TNG-29-apr-31.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/05\/TNG-29-apr-31.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Virtuoso guitarist Oscar Woods completed year 12 last year at Girton and scored an almost perfect mark in VCE Music Repertoire (Performance). Photo: Supplied."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/girton-guitarist-lands-for-top-class-show\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Girton guitarist lands for Top Class show"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/","name":"Bendigo Times","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization","name":"Bendigo Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2021\/02\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2021\/02\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":491,"caption":"Bendigo Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/person\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c","name":"Adam Carswell","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/author\/adamcarswell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113874"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=113874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}