Arts News Term 1, Week 7

MUSIC UPDATES

Chamber Choir Workshop with Catrin Johnsson

The Chamber Choir were treated to a very informative and interesting workshop with the mezzo soprano Catrin Johnsson. Catrin has worked for professional companies in the UK and made her debut with NZ Opera in 2016. She is a performance vocal and stagecraft teacher at the University of Auckland, a language coach for Voices NZ Chamber Choir and the Auckland Chamber Choir, and the principal of faculty and curriculum for the NZ Singing School. In 2017 Catrin was National Adjudicator for the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition. She is also an accomplished organist.

She spent the day with the choir and worked on vowel placement, alignment, posture, general musicianship and vocal quality. Catrin enjoyed working with the students for the day and the girls were very receptive to her. The choir worked on the Big Sing repertoire, and it was a very productive workshop in which a lot of note learning was accomplished.

OPERATUNITY!

Do you know a young singer who is ready for a big opportunity with NZ Opera?

With our very special season of La bohème this winter, we're looking for outstanding young vocalists to make up our children's choruses for this opera in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch. Auditions will be held in all three cities, and are open to singers aged 8-14. 

For more information please contact karen@nzopera.co.nz, and to apply please visit here

La bohème - children's chorus auditions:

Ötautahi | Christchurch

Monday 31st March | 4.30pm - 6.30pm

Venue: The Piano

156 Armagh Street Christchurch

NATIONAL CONCERTO COMPETITION FINALS PERFORMANCE

Heavily subsidised student tickets for this year’s National Concerto Competition Final are on sale. After battling it out with 40 other pianists, three young pianists will compete for the prestigious title. Whilst the competition is open to those under 25 years old, one of the finalists is only 14 years of age and still in high school - definitely one to watch for the future!

All students will be given special seating to give them the best view of the performers. Tickets are just $5, plus a booking fee.

All tickets need to be booked via Carmel at typerite@xtra.co.nz 

SAT MARCH 22 accompanied by CSO and James Judd. 7pm start time, Town Hall.

DRAMA UPDATES

There will be an opportunity for Yr 7-13 students to audition for TheatreFest 2025. See the audition pack below.

Theatre Fest 2025 - Audition Pack

SENIOR SCHOOL PRODUCTION

The Senior School Production of the Ash Girl by Timberlake Wertenbaker was launched this week. The play is based on the fairytale Cinderella, with its usual character line up of the Prince, Stepmother, Sisters and the mysterious shoe, but wait…there’s a twist! 

The play is a dark and introspective retelling of the story, where Ashgirl, isolated and tormented by her stepfamily, must confront her inner demons. These demons are manifested as the Seven Deadly Sins in order to find her self-worth, inner strength and resilience. 

This is going to be a fun, new interpretation of a well-known, much loved fairytale, and we can’t wait to get auditions and casting underway. The production will take place in June and is definitely going to be fun watching the rehearsals and staging come to life.

Auditions will take place in Week 8 and there are sign up sheets outside the Black box.

Tuesday 18th March - Principal Roles - CG204, CG203  3:45pm - 6:15pm

Wednesday 19th March - Dancers - WN201 2.30pm - 4pm

Ensemble workshop - Sunday 23rd March - CLA  2 - 4pm 

DEBATING SUCCESS

It was an epic weekend of debating at the Canterbury Debating Senior Regionals at UC.

SMC had four teams competing and all did very well.

They debated topics like whether teacher pay & promotions should be influenced by student feedback, whether we should tax businesses which use advanced automation, the exportation of nationally significant animals for international zoos, whether we should allow people to trade in years of their life to enhance their skills, traits or appearance, and whether indigenous people should be tried in accordance with their community's customs as opposed to the state justice system.

Our top Year 12 team of Kieva, Sneha & Orla won four of their five debates, went through to the semi-finals, and convincingly beat a team from Papanui High School. They debated in an excellent final against Cashmere High School but sadly didn't win. 

If you see Orla, Kieva or Sneha, please congratulate them on their excellent debating and being Canterbury runners-up.

Overall results:

1st Senior Round debate - 3 wins and a loss

1st Junior round debate -  2 wins and 5 losses (most of the teams were novice Year 9's so they did really well for their first debates ever)

Senior regionals - 4 teams went, 1 team made the finals and came second overall. 

Orla Miller was named best speaker of the tournament and selected for the Canterbury team to debate at Nationals in Wellington in May.

SENIOR ARTS COUNCIL

Term 1 is probably the most chaotic, fun-filled term for music at St Margarets, with all the new rock bands, orchestras, choirs, and other groups being freshly established for the new year. As Head of Vocal, I feel so privileged to see the behind-the-scenes of these groups getting put together, particularly the reestablishment of the Christ's College and St Margaret's combined choir. This group is a completely student run initiative that is working towards competing at the Big Sing choral competition in June. Blending two schools together has been an exciting challenge, and it’s amazing to see how quickly they’ve come together. - Juliet

We have been looking forward to all of the performances in assembly that are yet to come. Our rock bands have been all organised and are starting to come together very well, with help from Emily, Steve and Ms Woods. Rockquest is also an exciting upcoming event scheduled to be run on (May 23 & 24, 2025), so if you are a solo musician/band member looking for an upcoming event to participate in, click this link to keep an eye on when sign ups are available :) Senior School Only! - Keira

https://www.rqp.co.nz/rockquest

Both Keira and Juliet cannot wait to see all our wonderful school groups showcase what they have been working on at the Twilight Concert, on the last Thursday of term. This night is a wonderful evening of music, dancing and drama, with pretty much every style and sense. For those who are still warming into large performances, the Cushion Cabaret, a very relaxed lunchtime concert held on the grass, is the perfect space for students to try out new things. Everyone is always very encouraging of younger or newer performers, and an incredible camaraderie is formed.

– Juliet Grey (Head of Vocal) and Keira Fulford (Head of Contemporary Music)

MIDDLE SCHOOL ARTS COMMITTEE

19 girls successfully interviewed for a position on the Middle School Arts Committee. Watch this space for news of exciting events and activities as the girls start to work together each Tuesday at intervals. 

CELEBRATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

We would like to congratulate two of our musical students who have been accepted to perform with the NZ Secondary Schools Symphony Orchestra. Yr 12 students Summer Zhou, violin and Grace Kim, oboe successfully auditioned to represent SMC in a full-size orchestra, made up of 96 secondary students from 35 schools across 11 different centres across New Zealand. Drawing from New Zealand’s top secondary school orchestral instrumentalists, the NZSSSO is highly competitive and is widely regarded as a significant training ground for young players aspiring to membership of the New Zealand Youth Orchestra and ultimately to a career as a professional musician.

Students involved in this course will participate in an intense six-day orchestral event, run by the Christchurch Forte Team of Itinerant Music Teachers (an attached unit of Hagley College) in the second week of the school holidays, culminating in two public performances - the first on Friday 25th April, a 1-hour "taster" concert; and the main performance on the 26th April from 7pm. Both performances are at the Cashmere High School Performing Arts Centre, Christchurch, entry off Barrington Street.

This year’s programme promises to be vibrant and full of colour. Guest conductor Leonard Weiss, who will bring his expertise and experience to a truly exciting programme of music. Further details can be viewed on www.nzssso.com

Stella Lee from Year 5 has just completed the Showstopper Dance Competition in San Francisco. This is America’s first and most prestigious dance competition.

She won both her Jazz and Lyrical solos in the Elite category, plus the prestigious All Star Top Overall Highest Scoring Soloist 2025 Title in the Junior 9-11 years, and is now invited to go to the Opening Dance in the Grand Final Championship in July. 

She also won two full scholarships to top dance conventions and received their highest honour, the Crystal Award. 

Alice Penney, Lucy Penney, Isolde Evans and Juliet Borst are performing in an upcoming season of CATS - Young Actors Edition at Isaac Theatre Royal this May. This is a 60-minute adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's blockbuster meow-sical. 

CATS is set amongst a larger-than-life junkyard playground and is alive with purr-fect felines. Featuring famous numbers such as 'Memory', 'Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats' and 'Mr. Mistoffelees' with fabulous costumes that bring this production to life.  

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:

31 March - 3.45pm Itinerant Music Concert (CLA)

Come and celebrate our young musicians as they perform a variety of music.

2 April - 7.30pm Orchestra Extravaganza (Christ’s College)

Support our talented musicians as they join forces with Christ’s College and Rangi Ruru Girls’ School to perform as a massed orchestra.

3 April - 5pm Twilight Concert (CLA)

Celebrate the end of term with our young artists performing an arts showcase presenting work across our co-curricular groups in drama, dance, music and more.