Sing it

Our girls love to sing and with festivals and competitions back in full swing, they’ve been making some noise!

Kids Sing

The Kids Sing was an incredibly exciting occasion for our girls, even our youngest choristers. After numerous Covid disruptions they were finally able to sing in a choral festival with other schools from around Auckland within the stunning acoustics of Holy Trinity Cathedral.

This year, the Kids’ Sing was a noncompetitive festival that spanned two evenings. The choirs were able to present a recital comprising of two pieces of their own choosing, as well as receiving constructive feedback from the commentator, Vanessa Kay.

The combined Junior Black Watch Singers and Junior Saints was the first choir to perform on the day and set the standard for an energetic event! The combined Junior Black Watch Singers and Junior Saints sang ‘The Witch Poem’ by Philip Norman with text by Margaret Mahy and ‘Child of Tomorrow’ by Mark Patterson, Junior Saints then sang ‘A Clare Benediction’ by John Rutter and ‘An Imaginary Menagerie’ by Philip Norman.

All choirs were presented with a certificate of participation and a commemorative badge for each member. The Gala concert in the evening gave Junior Saints the opportunity to showcase one of their own songs and the evening concluded with a beautiful rendition of Pōkarekare Ana sung by the massed choir.

Song Squad, our Year 7 and 8 choir, sang Cuccini’s beautiful setting of “Ava Maria” and performed a fantastic rendition of “Qangle Wangle’s Hat” whcih went down a treat with the audiece. choirs who sang beautifully, whilst constantly displaying By Love Serve. A huge thank you must go to Mary Cornish for her dedication in preparing all choirs for the festival.

The Big Sing

Our Year 9–13 choirs competed in the regional competitions of the Big Sing competition at the Auckland Town Hall in June. Black Watch Singers, one of the largest choirs, with over 80 students involved, was placed on the reserve list for the North Island Regionals, while and Saints Alive was awarded “Highly Commended” and “Runner Up Best Recital Female Choir.”

The three day event was held at the newly restored Christchurch Town Hall. As always, Saints Alive represented the College superbly, singing a technically difficult and varied programme in English, French and German. The standard was incredibly high and was live-streamed around the world with thousands tuning in to watch the final of one of the biggest choral events in the world.

There was wonderful camaraderie on display at the Big Sing – not just between our students but between all of the choirs. Each session would begin with a spontaneous eruption of singing from the participants around the auditorium.

Being presented with the Silver Award was the icing on the cake of a hugely enjoyable finale. It was such a privilege to be able to compete, and the girls are already planning the repertoire they will learn in the hope they will be invited to attend again next year. Congratulations to Saints Alive, their director Denzel Panama, accompanist Juan Kim, vocal coach Na Young Kim for their hard work and their success at the Big Sing Finale 22.

Choral Showcase

Term 3 started on a high note in the music department with our annual Choral Showcase in Week 1, featuring around 250 students from years 2–13, in six choirs: Junior Song Squad, Junior Black Watch Singers, Junior Saints, Song Squad, Black Watch Singers and Saints Alive. With the choir competition season ahead, it was a great opportunity for our competing choirs to perform in front of an audience and for all choirs to share their music with their families and one another.

The evening began with a combined waiata of welcome. This was followed by the first and youngest choir, Junior Song Squad taking the stage. The girls delighted the audience with their onstage antics, including teaching them one of their favourite warm-ups, Tony Chestnut.

The Big Sister, Little Sister ethos of our Choral Programme was visibly on display with Senior girls helping with the Junior choirs as mentors and accompanists and the choirs enthusiastically supporting one another’s performances. Every choir gave a polished recitals of their repertoire which covered a range of musical styles including music from the 16th century, contemporary art music and even the popular hit “Say A Little Prayer” by Burt Bacharach, sung with panache by our biggest choir, Black Watch Singers.

Saints Alive choir leaders, Eloise Page and Claudia Sayers were the M.cs for the evening and the concert closed with all choirs returning to the stage to sing one last song together: John Rutter’s ‘A Clare Benediction’.

The annual Choral Showcase is a real highlight on the Performing Arts Calendar and this year was no exception, not in the least because the choirs had spent most of Terms 1 and 2 rehearsing outside, with masks on. To finally be able to come together and perform to a live audience without masks was a joyful occasion for all. This year’s Choral Showcase left everyone in no doubt that our choral music is going from strength to strength and a disruption like Covid doesn’t quell the universal desire to sing together. With the opportunity to join a choir at any stage and age, it was heartening to see so many students perform: radiant in their enjoyment of singing and committed to excellence in music.