13 minute read
Performing Arts
The Hall was alive with “The Sound of Music”
“Let’s start at the very beginning, A very good place to start.” This year, our Senior School Musical was the ‘The Sound of Music’. Over four nights, our very talented girls captivated audiences in Clouston Hall, and had them singing along too!
There is perhaps no musical as popular and well-known as ‘The Sound of Music’. This collaboration between Rodgers and Hammerstein, (revered as gods in the musical theatre universe who delivered ‘Oklahoma!’, ‘Carousel’, ‘South Pacific’, and ‘The King and I’) was the final show in their partnership. The book is by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse, Rodgers composed the music, and Hammerstein wrote the lyrics.
‘The Sound of Music’ is a heart-warming musical set on the eve of the annexation of Austria in 1938. It tells the story of Maria, who takes a job as governess to a widowed Naval Captain with seven children, while deciding whether to become a nun. She falls in love with the children, and eventually their father, Captain von Trapp. However, he is ordered to accept a commission in the German Navy, but he opposes the Nazis, so he and Maria decide on a plan to flee to Switzerland with the children. You will recognise classic songs in the show, such as “Do-Re-Mi”, “My Favourite Things”, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”, and the title song “The Sound of Music”.
Musical Director Oliver Gilmour shares with us his experience.
It was a great pleasure to be Musical Director for the St Cuthbert’s College Musical Production of ‘The Sound of Music’ this year. The show was once again a collaboration with Auckland Grammar School, from which we utilised the skills of several boys for the much-needed male roles! The show played for four nights in Clouston Hall with appreciative audiences throughout the season. There was much anticipation and excitement about this year’s musical due to the College not being able to produce a show last year due to COVID-19 lockdowns. ‘The Sound of Music’ is a classic story with muchloved music and its enduring nature was one of the reasons we selected it for this year’s show.
The cast was ably led by Sarah Boswell playing the role of ‘Maria’, Ben Ross playing ‘Captain Von Trapp’ and Enyah Talamaivao as ‘Mother Abbess’. Their superb voices and characterisation made the show something very special. As well as an exceptional cast of students playing the main roles, the ensemble created some beautiful singing in harmony. Mention must be made of the cast of Von Trapp Children who were terrific in their ability to work together as a team to bring the much-loved story to life. It was a delight for the audience to spot some familiar faces from the staff on stage too, as they lent their hand as nuns and members of the Gestapo. Huge acknowledgement must be made of the outstanding orchestra, technical and backstage crews and front of house personnel. A highlight of producing our show was the collaboration between our girls and the boys from Auckland Grammar. Scheduling and logistical challenges aside, our students pulled together as a team and supported one another to learn their lines, their notes, their dance moves and more! Many hours of rehearsal, including weekend workshops, were spent with our students working hard to bring the show to life. Extra rehearsals were added by the students, so they felt confident on stage by the time opening night arrived, which is testament to their diligence and commitment. Acknowledgement must also be made of several of our cast members’ parents who decorated Clouston Hall Foyer and fed hungry students during their long rehearsals.
The success of ‘The Sound of Music’ is testament to a strong Performing Arts Faculty at the College. The opportunities created for our students ensure lifelong memories for them and are a vehicle for them to develop their skills; not only in acting, singing and dancing, but also in collaboration, empathy and resilience. These values are all important as our students progress through their College years. We look forward to future Musical Productions.
Thanks and Congratulations
Our thanks and congratulations to the staff and students from the production crew, the orchestra and of course the cast from Auckland Grammar School and St Cuthbert’s.
A special mention to director Cherie Moore, St Cuthbert’s own Judy McIntosh, Head of Performing Arts, LauraBeth Warne, Deputy Head of Faculty - Performing Arts / Head of Subject – Dance, for her choreography and ability to hold the cast with such care, Oliver Gilmour, Associate Head of Faculty - Performing Arts, for his brilliant ear and musical direction, Samantha Meagher, Performing Arts Centre Coordinator, for her organising prowess and skill, Mirabai Pease for her massive effort with the costumes and props, and Jonathan James for pulling everything together with such enthusiasm!
Introducing our new Head of Co-Curricular Music
We are very excited about having Mike Young as our new Head of Co-Curricular Music. In addition to his teaching experience, Mike is on the Subject Expert Group for the review of NCEA Music, and is one of only three examiners for Trinity College Rock and Pop syllabus in New Zealand.
Music has always played a significant part in Mike’s life. Since Mike was a ‘young lad’ he has played the trombone. As a student he found the time to play drums, bass, and keyboards in and out of various rock bands, but the trombone has been the constant, right through. He currently conducts and plays in the Auckland Jazz Orchestra, New Zealand’s only original compositions jazz big band, and is lead trombone in West City Concert Band which has been the National champion four years in a row. Mike was a member of The Rodger Fox Big Band for over fifteen years, including three tours to America, and he has performed and recorded with several artists including New Zealand bands Nesian Mystik and dDub.
It’s Mike’s love of music that makes St Cuthbert’s so lucky to have him. The College has over 340 Co-Curricular music students, one of the highest participation rates in the country. Mike says this was one of the factors that drew him to the role.
“I knew St Cuthbert’s Performing Arts faculty had a number of highly capable teachers and students and thought this was an amazing opportunity to work with them.”
Despite a lockdown the third week in, Mike has hit the ground running, with a focus on getting to know students first and what their interests are.
He says, “From day one, I wanted to find out more about our students and where they may fit in. I really like taking the time to get to know them and what their interests might be and helping them follow that through.
“There is a really high level of intrinsic collaboration that goes on with Co-Curricular activities including music, and I think that is because everyone is striving towards a common goal. Belonging to a group of like-minded people is really important for wellbeing.”
Mike says Co-Curricular activities, including music, also help with students’ self-confidence.
“Confidence comes from a sense of purpose. Being a participant in something gives selfassurance in the knowledge that you are in the right place for you, at that time. In the Performing Arts there are always opportunities to express who you are, to gain confidence as you present performances, and go further and further with your artistic and personal milestones.”
St Cuthbert’s girls storm the K-Pop world!
Credit image: K-Pop Academy / HeiHei /NZ on Air
Four amazing Senior School girls were chosen to take part in TV series K-Pop Academy 2.0 which aired on Heihei and TVNZ On Demand in August. Selina Liu, Queena Jin, Abby Sun and Angel Wang had to work hard, stretch their limits and learn new skills, including another language, to take part in the high-action TV event.
Creative subjects are essential to the overall wellbeing of St Cuthbert’s students. As well as giving girls the chance to express themselves, performing arts can be credited for building key skills including collaboration, empathy, curiosity, risk-taking and an ability to think outside the square. Therefore, we jumped at the chance to be involved in K-Pop Academy 2.0, some of which was filmed in our Performing Arts Centre and featured four of our students.
Over 50 tweens and teens were selected for the show and made into eight competing teams, one of which was the St Cuthbert’s team. As there were only four St Cuthbert’s girls, the group also included some new friends, back up dancers from Carmel College.
K-Pop Academy 2.0 was presented by renowned ‘K-Pop Queen’, Rina Chae, with whom the girls said they adored working, alongside many of the stars from the first season. To make it on the show, our students had to learn a dance and song from the first season and submit this by video. They also had to improvise the initial part of a dance to not only share their ability to learn from others, but also to showcase their originality, skill range and individual style.
Selina, Queena, Abby and Angel had to learn to dance, sing and rap to a K-Pop song specifically written for K-Pop Academy. The lyrics were a mixture of both English and Korean and, as none of the girls spoke Korean, it was no small feat to master the challenging pronunciations and voice inflections to convey the meaning of the songs. Asked about what they enjoyed about the experience they said, “We really enjoyed the music: singing it, rapping it, the style of the songs and overall we really love the songs themselves. In addition, the dance choreography was particularly great. Our most exciting experience was definitely being in the recording studio and taking part in the bootcamp. Bootcamp gave us the chance to help to clean up each element of our dance to make sure it was as polished as it could possibly be for the performances”.
We asked the girls what they thought was the most challenging part of the experience, they said, “Memorising the words in Korean and mastering the pronunciation was such a challenge at first but we stuck with it and practised a lot. K-Pop Academy provided us with two Korean voice coaches so quite quickly we were able to make improvements to how we were singing each of the songs.”
The eight teams took part in a sevenday bootcamp where their dances, songs and raps were fine-tuned to be performance-ready with the help of Greenstone TV’s crew. They also had to work on their costumes to ensure that their look matched the vibe of each of their songs.
The girls had a ball learning how to create a K-Pop makeup look, and they said they especially loved taking part in a photo shoot, shooting their music videos and taking part in the grand finale which was held at the Pumphouse Theatre in Auckland. This was attended by their family and friends and even an international judge from South Korea.
The eight episodes can be viewed on HeiHei, an age-appropriate, ad free kids channel on TVNZ OnDemand and, knowing how popular K-Pop is, K-Pop Academy also created eight tutorials where dances were broken down and demonstrated so viewers could perfect every move from home!
Why Everyone Can Sing
At St Cuthbert’s singing is for everyone, with over 234 singers taking part in our choirs including Years 2 – 13 students and staff! We also have one auditioned choir, Saints Alive, which runs in parallel to Black Watch Singers, our all-comers Years 9 - 13 choir. Teacher In Charge of Vocal and Choral Programmes Mary Cornish tells us why everyone can sing.
Mary Cornish’s love of singing is incredibly infectious, so infectious that I’m singing the lines of this article as it’s written! Mary celebrates the life-long benefits of singing. It’s her aim for students and staff to experience these, and contribute to the wairua, or spirit, of the College. Mary shares,
“The St Cuthbert’s Choral Programme is integrated across the Junior and Senior schools, with Senior students very involved with the younger choirs. There is a very holistic emphasis – our goals are inclusion, wellbeing, service and excellence. Everyone can sing. I meet so many adults who were told they couldn’t sing at school and then they don’t for the rest of their lives – fearful even of the unavoidable rounds of family and workplace happy birthdays (having said that Happy Birthday is a tricky song to sing!)
“With Old Girls coming back as accompanists and conductors, the connection with the Choral Programme at St Cuthbert’s doesn’t necessarily end when students leave, and it is our hope that many will continue to enjoy singing beyond their days at school and go on to become singing leaders themselves.
“Both Mr Panama and I are alumni of the world acclaimed New Zealand Youth Choir and we often have students from Saints Alive who successfully audition for the prestigious New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Choir. This year, that person is Year 13 student Enyah Talamavaio. We are very proud of Enyah, she is inspiration for our younger singers and a Saints Alive choir leader.
“Whilst we do enter the competitions, this is just one aspect of the Choral Programme. Competitions are motivating and compel us to aim higher and they are a great opportunity for us to connect with other schools and perform in some beautiful venues like the Auckland Town Hall.”
Here are some of our performance highlights from this year.
St Cuthbert’s Choral Showcase
Senior choir leaders Hayley Minturn and Enyah Talamavaio were the MCs for a delightful night of choral singing from all of our choirs. The Senior girls were hands on, supporting the younger girls both on and off the stage. Without a doubt, the stars of the night were Junior Song Squad, our Year 2 and 3 choir. They were a huge hit with the packed audience in the Clouston Hall and were clearly enjoying their time on the stage!
Kids Sing
We were truly impressed by our very own Junior Saints choir who, just before the Term 3 lockdown, were awarded Gold for their performances at the Kids Sing competition.
Sadly, Song Squad who were due to compete the day after, missed out for the second year in a row due to COVID-19. The girls worked so hard to be ready, and we are so proud of their hard work and positivity!
Big Sing
Saints Alive and Black Watch Singers both sang in the regional competition of the Big Sing at the Auckland Town Hall. Saints Alive won the Te Tohu Manu Waiata Special Award for the best performance of a work using Māori text at the Big Sing Auckland Regionals. There were more than 20 choirs entered in the Waiata section, so Saints felt very honoured to win this award and to be among the top school choirs nationally to be selected for the Big Sing Finale in Christchurch.
Our Black Watch Singers had so much fun representing St Cuthbert’s in Rotorua at the Upper North Island Big Sing Regional event, just before the Term 3 lockdown. They were the largest choir with 51 performers and received the Korimako award.
