At 7am each weekday morning, the doors of the College Music Centre open and fantastic music making begins. Each week at the height of the musical year, over 400 individual lessons are delivered weekly by 35 outstanding itinerant teachers, while over 30 ensembles rehearse all genres of music for concerts, competitions and assessment. Heading into competition week, upwards of 48 separate rehearsals are co-ordinated to make best use of the space and talent available!

During Terms 2 and 3 the Music Centre heads into top gear as our large ensembles prepare in earnest, for the KBB Musical Festival. As a final rehearsal performance before their competition, the Stage Band, Sinfonia, Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra and Concert Band delivered a Showcase Concert last night bringing the skills of over 100 of our best musicians to an appreciative parent audience at the Vodafone Theatre in Manukau. Held here for the second year, it is not only a fantastic venue acoustically for our big performance groups but the large professional performance space allows for the stage to be reconfigured quickly as the different groups move on and off.

The Stage Band, under the musical direction of Mr Paul Norman, opened the evening with jazz and blues bringing Year 12 student, Emily Young to the stage as vocalist. Emily is to be commended; filling in for a student who is unwell, she learned one of the songs in the hour prior to the concert!

Our emerging musical talent play for the College Sinfonia under the direction of former student and now teacher, Mr Oliver Gilmour. With their eyes firmly set on a place in our premier ensembles, the KBB Festival is their first taste of the competitive environment for a group still honing their skills. Their set finished with a homage to Michael Jackson – which they played with relish!

The Chamber Orchestra is a talented group of string players, directed by Mr Timothy Carpenter who delivered a polished performance with Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik lingering as a memorable piece.

The second half of the show brought our two largest ensembles to the stage, delivering some truly show stopping moments. The Symphony Orchestra, also under Mr Carpenter’s direction, is a group that has improved their performance technique hugely over the years and this year’s repertoire was particularly exciting including, Aaron Copeland’s ‘Fanfare for the Common Man,’ Lord of the Dance and Pirates of the Caribbean with Emily Young taking the solo spot on cello.

The Concert Band were last to perform opening with the rousing ‘Invercargill March’ followed by the equally invigorating, ‘Caravan.’ ‘Merry Go Round’ allowed each of the sections to be featured, standing to play their piece. The set finished with the demanding, River Dance.

Last night’s concert was a superb mix of instrumental talent that we hope will please the judges this week! Our musicians hope you will come along and support them. The KBB Festival is taking place at the Holy Trinity Cathedral and St Mary’s Church in Parnell over the course of this week.

Our ensembles are playing in the festival at the following times:

• Symphony Orchestra, Tuesday at 2.30pm, Holy Trinity
• Chamber Orchestra, Tuesday at 7pm, St Mary’s
• Stage Band, Thursday at 10am, St Mary’s
• Concert Band, Friday at 2.30pm, Holy Trinity

Entry is free to all events. We wish everyone involved the best of luck and hope to see you there!

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