KBB Music Young Performers Competition Winner

Big Sing Bronze

Over three days in August, Saints Alive (our Y11-13 Choir), conductor Jayne Tankersley, piano accompanist Dr Greg Neil, organist Roy Tankersley, voice coach Di Rhodes and Associate Director of Music Mrs Sally Tibbles spent the days and evenings at Auckland Town Hall in the company of the 20 best secondary school choirs in the country.
The choirs were selected from hundreds of choirs throughout the country to present two varied programmes in competition for platinum, gold, silver, bronze and finalist awards. Saints Alive achieved a bronze award.
The standard this year was extremely high and it was a delight to listen to all the participating choirs and to the NZ Secondary Students’ Choir, recently returned from a tour of Canada.
All the choirs joined together in the final Gala concert to perform “O Fortuna” from Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana”, accompanied by piano, organ and a percussion ensemble made up of conductors.
Mrs Tankersley did a sterling job on the massive tam tam!
During the lunch break, choirs gave short recitals at central city locations. Saints Alive performed in the Rendezvous Hotel.

Choristers Hit High Notes

St Cuthbert’s students Chelsea Numanga (Y13) and Fiona Tibbles (Y12), together with old girl Caitlin Banicevich (Y13 2009), have just returned from a successful trip to Canada with the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir (NZSSC). They were in Powell River, British Columbia, Canada, to attend the International Choral Kathaumixw (pronounced “ka-thou-mew”, a Sliammon First Nation word meaning “a gathering together of different peoples”) where they competed and gave concerts in this 20-year-old music festival.
NZSCC won the Mixed Choir Competition and achieved second places in Cultural and Youth Choir classes.
They also received the Audience’s Choice Award.
This year’s event took place from 6-10 July. More than 30 choirs participated, which provided stiff competition for the New Zealand contingent. During NZSSC’s 24 years of existence, several St Cuthbert’s staff and students have been members, including Jayne Tankersley, Alexi O’Brien, Gabriella Ali and Helen Tibbles.
Membership of the choir is for a two-year period culminating in an overseas tour to take part in a festival. Prospective choristers prepare for a rigorous audition (for this choir 250 auditioned for 54 places from Gore to Russell) and then attend a week-long course in each of the school holidays. Students relish the opportunity to tackle a wide range of demanding repertoire and improve their vocal skills while making friends with young people from around the country who share their passion for music.

KBB Gold!

The four St Cuthbert’s College Y9-13 ensembles entered in the competitive section of the 2009 KBB Music Festival have each won gold or silver awards. Three also made top four placings in their categories, resulting in performances at the festival’s two prestigious Gala Concerts.
After playing in the chamber music concert, Sebastian Squad, a string orchestra, won a gold award and achieved the most outstanding performance of a New Zealand work for their rendition of David Hamilton’s Concerto Grosso No.2, Prelude.
The St Cuthbert’s College Concert Band featured in the concert band gala and won a gold award, while the St Cuthbert’s College Stage Band featured in the jazz band concert and won a silver award.
In the symphony orchestra section Black Watch Orchestra, a string and wind orchestra, won a silver award.

The KBB Festival is an opportunity for concert bands, orchestras and jazz bands from all over Auckland to demonstrate their ability, be inspired by what is going on in other schools and gain experience in performing at competitive or non-competitive level.
Competitive groups perform for a gold, silver or bronze award and a place in one of the two Showcase Gala Concerts, non-competitive groups play to receive a helpful adjudication report, and beginning ensembles enter the Fringe Festival where they are mentored by experienced directors.
The St Cuthbert’s College B-band, a jazz band, received a very encouraging adjudicators report in the non-competitive section.
The College’s premier choir Saints Alive is off to the finals of the national Secondary School choral competition Big Sing, in Dunedin today.

Leidenschaft Better Than 100 Others

Congratulations to St Cuthbert’s College Y13 student Esther Kim, whose piano trio Leidenschaft won the finals of the Auckland regional New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest, on Sunday. One hundred and one groups entered the competition.
Eun-ji Cho, Min-joo Yoo and Jimin Kang’s Islanz Trio, and Sylvia Jiang’s Roseberry Trio were also in the eight ensembles selected for the finals.
Kylene Jones, Bernina Chan, Min-joo Yoo and Jessica Lim’s Quator Claude and Tiffany Kim, Eun-ji Cho and Fiona Tibbles’ Phantastique Phore were in the 16 selected for the semi-finals.

St Cuthbert’s College students were in seven ensembles in the competition. Associate Director of Music, Mrs Sally Tibbles, says the College Policy this year was to encourage music making amongst friends.
Leidenschaft, Roseberry Trio and Phantastique Phore were made up of students from St Cuthbert’s College, Westlake Girls High School, Epsom Girls Grammar and Auckland Grammar School. “It’s about learning the craft. We encourage students who participate to select repertoire they love. They have made musical friends from other schools which is lovely.”
Along with her commitments to her trio, Esther Kim has helped mentor a younger string quartet from St Cuthbert’s College this year. “She willingly and beautifully shared her expertise,” says Mrs Tibbles.
St Cuthbert’s College teacher Miss Amelia Giles and itinerant staff Mrs Catherine Bennett, Ms Jessica Shaw, Ms Margaret Cooke, Ms Judy Stokes and Ms Alison Jepson, coached the ensembles.
Experts from the community have also visited to share their skill, including New Zealand String Quartet member and St Cuthbert’s College Old Girl Gillian Ansell, senior lecturer at Auckland University School of Music, Elizabeth Holowell, and retired lecturer Carol Bognuda.
The NZCT Chamber Music Contest finals will be held in Christchurch on August 1. The contest is the longest running youth music competition in New Zealand and is the only nationwide chamber music competition for young musicians and composers in the country.

Young Violinist Takes To The Stage

St Cuthbert’s College Y13 student Esther Kim is one of the featured violinists with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) at this Saturday’s SKYCITY Starlight Symphony in the Auckland Domain.
Esther will play Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Spring.
Performing to the estimated 200,000 spectators is not a daunting task for the music scholar who loves being on stage.
“I get nervous just before I go on stage but when I’m up there I love being able to reach people with my music.
“Baroque music is really clean and I think you can show a lot of character because you can improvise the way you play it.”
Esther has been learning Spring since being invited to play in January; her first practice with conductor Marc Taddei is today.
The 16-year-old won last year’s APO Music Works Competition with Vivald’s Four Seasons, Autumn and having already learnt Summer, Winter is the last left to perform.
St Cuthbert’s College Director of Music Mrs Kathleen Mulligan says the College is very excited Esther has been given the opportunity to perform at such a high profile event.
“She plays with flair and musicality and has the ability to project herself to a large audience.”
Esther attended the Queenstown Violin Summer School earlier this year, where she won the opportunity to be a soloist with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra at the ASB Classical Sparks concert in early February.
“After a performance I just want to do it all over again. I can’t relax or get to sleep!”
She is already booked to play at Auckland Symphony Orchestra and APO concerts in May.
Esther has been playing the violin since she was five and plans to study performance music at university next year, on her quest to become a professional violinist.
“I’ve always had the goal to play at Carnegie Hall in New York.”

Y8 Pianist in Secondary School Finals

St Cuthbert’s College student Sylvia Jiang not only competed far above her age group at the recent inaugural Ronisch Auckland Secondary Schools Piano Competition, but the Year 8 student made the top six.

Sylvia, who has been playing the piano since she was four, was chosen to represent St Cuthbert’s College in the one-student-per-school competition earlier in the year.
The College had to gain special dispensation because of her age.
“I was still asking the organisers, ten minutes before the finals, ‘Are you sure I should be here?’” said Sylvia.
She was eventually assured when she received fourth place and a very highly commended certificate – a superb result considering her age.
St Cuthbert’s College Head of Music Mrs Kathleen Mulligan, said: “The students who placed first to third were indeed remarkable, but by next year they may need to step aside as Sylvia grows as a musician.”
When asked if she hopes to enter next year, Sylvia commented, ““If no one better comes along!”

Date:2008

Three Golds at KBB.

St Cuthbert’s College students have performed extremely well in the 25^th annual KBB Music Festival.
The Stage Band, Sebastian Squad and Black Watch Orchestra all achieved top four placings in their categories, resulting in gold awards and a place in the festival’s Gala Performances.
The only other schools to be showcased three times in the galas were the combined forces of Westlake Girls and Westlake Boys High School.
Associate Director of Music, responsible for co-curricular music programmes, Mrs Sally Tibbles, says: “We are all absolutely delighted with the success of the ensembles and their directors.”
“It couldn’t have been achieved without the skills of our co-curricular team Ms Kathleen Mulligan, Mr David Edmundson, Ms Amelia Giles, Mr Andrew Uren and Ms Elizabeth Lau.
We are supported by a wonderful itinerant staff and a special group of Y13 students who lead the younger players by being both outstanding role models and incredibly generous with their time in taking sectional rehearsals.”
Mrs Tibbles says that above all it is a tribute to the students’ ability to prioritize and balance their busy academic programmes with co-curricular music, which they make at such a consistently high level.
The purpose of the KBB Festival is to provide a professional platform for all secondary school ensembles.
Concert bands, orchestras and jazz bands from all over Auckland come together for the festival, to demonstrate their year’s achievements, gain experience in performing and of course compete for the medals.
Ensembles can choose to be in different categories.
Competitive groups perform for a gold, silver or bronze award and a place in one of the two Showcase Gala Concerts, non-competitive play to receive a helpful adjudication report, and beginning ensembles enter the Fringe Festival where they are mentored by experienced directors.
“We are already choosing our repertoire and looking forward to preparing for next year’s school events and the KBB Festival.  I would like to acknowledge the support and initiative of KBB and The Edge in sponsoring this event and especially congratulate David Squire for his impressive running of the festival and chairing of the management committee.” 

Date:2008

Hitting The High Notes

It has been a busy but highly successful week for music at St Cuthbert’s College. Last Wednesday [June 11], the Saints Alive choir and Black Watch singers competed at the Big Sing contest at the Town Hall, coming away with Highly Commended and Commended respectively.
Saints Alive also won ‘Best Performance of a pre-1900 piece’ and earned a place in the Big Sing finale in Wellington later in the year.
Two days later, rock band Interrobang‽ performed at the Smokefree Rockquest Regional Finals.
And on Sunday [June 15] five of the seven St Cuthbert’s College Chamber Music Groups competed at the Chamber Music Competition Finals.
Zoe Butters, 17, and Zenith Chae, 18, were in the group which gained first place while two other groups received Highly Commended.
At the Big Sing contest, St Cuthbert’s College choral director Jayne Tankersley was awarded most promising director.
Photo: Interrobang from left: Kate West-Walker, 16, Izzy Kirkpatrick, 15, and Morgan Tupaea, 15.

Date:2008