Arts News Term 2, Week 4

The Power of Music 
Music is an important area of most people’s lives. Whether you listen in the car on your way to school or work, or attend a live concert, there are many significant and long-lasting benefits. One of the most exciting and fun things to do is learn a musical instrument. 

Learning a musical instrument offers a wide range of benefits for cognitive, emotional, and social well-being. It enriches lives and is often something that people regret not doing later on in life. Long-term skills and benefits include:

Concentration and memory
Coordination
Discipline and perseverance
Social interaction
Self-esteem and confidence
Problem solving
Patience
Listening 

Playing music can lower cortisol levels (stress hormone) and induce relaxation. It releases endorphins (chemicals in response to stress and pain) and dopamine (hormones inducing feelings of happiness) helping to reduce anxiety and depression. It stimulates brain cells, improving functions essential for Maths and Science. Who’d have thought?!

There are so many different genres of music and at SMC we host a range of musical groups for all ages, abilities and interests, including orchestras, jazz ensembles, rockbands, and chamber groups.

And don’t forget that the voice is also an instrument and we all have one of those! We have several choirs at SMC involved in many events both in and outside of school.

There are currently 179 girls enrolled in music itinerant lessons. 

Did you know?

Lady Gaga started music at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She plays piano, acoustic guitar and drums and started learning piano at the age of 4! 

Actor Bradley Cooper had 6 months of guitar and piano lessons, 18 months of vocal training and even performed at Glastonbury to prepare for his role in A Star Is Born with Lady Gaga.

Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton is an accomplished guitarist and can play piano. He is featured on Christina Aguilera’s song ‘Pipe’ under the pseudonym XNDA.

It’s never too late to learn. Music is for EVERYONE!

LIONS CHRISTCHURCH MUSIC FESTIVAL
Auditions will be taking place this week for the Lions Christchurch Music Festival.

We have seven girls auditioning to be part of the Senior Choir and six girls auditioning for the Orchestra - violins, cello and oboe. We wish them all luck! Watch this space for the outcome.

SMOKEFREE ROCKQUEST
Smokefree Rockquest takes place this Saturday, 24 May, at the Aurora Centre, Burnside High School, with a 1:30 p.m. start. There are 11 SMC entries involving 34 students, seven bands and four solo artists, from Years 7-13. Tickets are available on the door. We wish all the girls luck.

SPEECH & DRAMA
Last weekend, three SMC Speech & Drama students travelled to Oamaru to compete in the Oamaru Speech and Drama competition. They gave absolutely amazing performances and received the following results:

Mia Wu (Under 8 Verse in Costume), Very Highly Commended and Own Selection Poem (Very Highly Commended)

Ena Yoon - Under 8 Test Poem  (Very Highly Commended),  Own Selection Poem (3rd place), Under 8 Verse in Costume (1st place)

Nari Yoon (Test Poem 10 and under 2nd), Improvisation (3rd), Character Recital (Very Highly Commended), Light verse (4th), Reading at Sight (3rd) 

COMBINED CONCERT
A celebration of orchestras, chamber groups and choirs takes place next week. SMC will combine with our Brother school, Christ’s College, to perform a variety of music, both separately and together. This will take place on Wednesday 28 May 7pm in the Charles Luney Auditorium. Please come and support our talented students.

CHAMBER MUSIC NZ CONTEST
Harps Antarctica will be taking part in the annual competition at the Piano Centre for Music and the Arts. Phoebe He (Yr 7), Caitlin Ching (Yr 8), Faye Lichen (Yr 10) and Bea Bentley (Yr 12) will be performing on 27th May and will compete against many different chamber groups from across Christchurch. It is a wonderful opportunity to be part of this, and we wish them luck for this prestigious and highly competitive event.

DRAMA
The Senior School girls are hard at work rehearsing The Ash Girl, the Senior School Production directed by experienced Theatre Director Helen Moran.

Tickets can be purchased at:

https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2025/the-ash-girl/christchurch

As with any Production, there are a variety of props and set pieces that we are sourcing. If you can help with anything, please let the Co-Curricular Arts team know. We would be very grateful for your support.

DEBATING NEWS
We have a record number of Year 9 & 10 debaters this year with eight teams competing in each of the first three Junior CSDC inter-school debating rounds so far.  The girls are really enjoying their debates, learning lots and developing great skills.

We have four senior teams this year. Our top Year 12 team, Kākāpo, and our Y11 team, Pūkeko, are both sitting on 3/3 wins half way through the competition, so this bodes well for these teams to break through to the semi-finals in late Term Three.

Round 4 for both Senior and Junior competitions takes place soon in Weeks 4 and 5.  Rounds 5 & 6 are not until Term Three, so we get started on our House Debating competition here at school.

This year with so many middle schoolers participating in debating, we won't have a problem making up our teams of three for each house. We're also looking at ways to get interested Year 7 & 8s involved.

SENIOR ARTS COUNCIL
I’m Kieva and I’m the student Head of Debating for this year. We have had an awesome start to 2025 debating this year, with 3/6 Junior and Senior rounds completed already.  This year we have a record 8 Junior teams competing, with very positive results and some promising, up-and-coming debaters. The girls are having fun learning the new debating skills, gaining confidence and competing with teams from across Christchurch.

We have four senior teams this year, with 2 of those teams sitting on 3/3 wins so far, looking to break into the semi-finals in Term 3. Our senior girls are continuing to develop their strong team dynamics and speaking skills with more complex motions and challenging oppositions. Alongside this, SMC debaters attended the Senior Regional Championships in Term 1, where our Year 12 team came away placing 2nd in a tight final. We also had an amazing Year 12 debater selected for the Canterbury Regional Team, who are competing at Nationals in May. 

The Junior regional Competition is coming up in Term 3, which is a great opportunity for our Junior girls to continue developing their passion for debating. 

In Term 3, we also run our House Debating Competition, where the girls compete with people in their house to take away the SMC House Debating Cup. The Year 7 and 8’s also get involved in their junior competition, where they prepare to join debating in Year 9. 

Debating is all about confidence. Trying a new skill, public speaking and stepping out of your comfort zone to address topical issues in today's society. It is also a lot of fun, competing with friends and meeting new people from across Christchurch. Debating at SMC is supported by The Senior Arts Council, which means girls can embrace their creative and performing side in a wonderful and supportive community. I, and the Senior Arts Council, are looking forward to Term 3 as our debaters continue to grow and have fun in their unique field.

VISUAL ARTS
The photography club takes place on Friday lunchtimes and sometimes holds competitions for students. 

A huge congratulations to Divya Pereira for her stunning winning entry in the recent SMC Photography Competition. The theme of the competition was 'My World', and Divya's photograph is a powerful visual representation of a personal connection to place.

TECHNOLOGY
The Tech Clubs at SMC have started and are well underway.  If you are keen to give it a go, then simply turn up to one of the clubs - see the attached timetable.

We are delighted to offer students opportunities to extend their skills in coding with our wonderful tutors.  Hannah has industry experience, and she guides our girls through a range of coding languages.  This year, we have two Year 3 students who have joined this group.  Students start with Scratch programming and then advance to learning text coding such as Python, HTML and C++ in their projects.

We love our big sisters who are helping us learn how to build and survive in Minecraft. This term's theme is ‘Houses’ - tree houses, underwater houses, igloos and underground. 

15 Construction Clubs are busy learning engineering concepts, such as strong structures, axles for turning, and pulleys for lifting weights. The students are building scooters, flying foxes, and ambulances using electronics such as lights, sensors, and lasers. 

The challenge is to be a pyrotechnic engineer and host a fireworks display off a famous landmark. Each landmark will have an electronic element and three party poppers (fireworks) that must be safely let off 2m from the landmark structure. Y11 is building Hogwarts Castle and Y8 building Big Ben.

CELEBRATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Caroline Shallcrass is performing in the National Youth Theatre’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic show CATS. It’s not too late to book tickets - 22-25 May at the Isaac Theatre Royal.

Recently, some SMC Speech and Drama students got an opportunity to utilise their performance skills by taking part in shooting Mother Duck, a short film being made by Otautahi film production company Thirteen Filmworks.

Rose Griffiths, Isla Ballantyne, Ruby Ballantyne, Diya Arun, Charlotte Green, Sadhbh O’Neill, Alex Smith, Peata Baldwin-Smith, Amiria Baldwin-Smith, Caitlin Ching and Chriselle Tok-Lee donned retro rockabilly dresses, twinsets and plaid pinafores to embody students from a 1950s-inspired world, where a boy befriends a duck, much to his mother’s consternation.

One of our actors, Alex Smith, paid tribute to her late grandmother by wearing one of her genuine, vintage sundresses. Others found interesting glimpses into the past in the antique props they used.

The SMC Speech & Drama Silver Screen Queens embraced the learning experience of being on set, with Sadhbh O’Neill being recruited to assist the crew once they’d completed their day of filming.

Over the weekend, three SMC S&D students travelled to Oamaru to compete in the Oamaru Speech and Drama competition. They gave absolutely amazing performances and received the following results:

Mia Wu
Under 8 Verse in Costume  VHC
Own Selection VHC

Ena Yoon
Under 8 Test Poem VHC
Own Selection Poem  3rd
Under 8 Verse in Costume 1st

Nari Yoon 
Test Poem 10 and under 2nd
Improvisation 3rd
Character Recital VHC
Light verse 4th
Reading at Sight 3rd

FURTHER OPPORTUNITIES 
PLATFORM is back in 2025! We are excited to offer this “platform” for up-and-coming youth performers to shine.

This year’s event will be held in the Black Box Theatre in Papa Hou (The Kind Foundation building, 4 Rolleston Avenue) on Saturday 19 July at 7pm.  We will be selecting up to 20 finalists, aged between 13 and 21 years, who will compete again for $4,500 in cash prizes.

Our categories have changed slightly this year; they are Music and Movement.

There will be $1,000 for Best Musical Act, $1,000 for Best Movement Act – with the Best Overall Act (selected from one of these category winners) taking away an additional $1,500!  Runner-up prizes of $500 for each category, too!

Auditions are now open until July 6. 

Contact platform@thekindfoundation.org.nz or go to https://thekindfoundation.org.nz/platform/ for more information.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
EPro8 competition - Thursday 22 May Yr 11-13 Inter-school competition 4-7pm at Riccarton High School.

Smokefree Rockquest - Saturday 24 May 1.30pm at the Aurora Centre, Burnside High School.

Chamber Music NZ - Tuesday 27 May 12pm (Flutes Antarctica) at the Piano Centre for Music and the Arts.

Combined Concert - Wednesday 28 May 7pm in the Charles Luney Auditorium, SMC

Senior School Production - 24|25|26 June in the Charles Luney Auditorium, SMC.