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News
With thanks to Head of Music, Miss Mary Lin
The annual Large Ensemble Showcase provides opportunity for our auditioned Premier instrumental ensembles to perform their competitive repertoire to an audience prior to their regional and national events. The events of last year, with the many Covid restrictions around large gatherings, meant our large ensembles had scant opportunities to perform – other than to a video camera! – so the students were delighted to once again take to the stage for a live audience!
Students audition in the first week of Term 1, committing to early morning full ensemble rehearsals, and additional weekly rehearsal in sections, as well as attending weekend workshops once a term to prepare for competition. The final selection of pieces aims to ensure that we are highlighting the very best of all our current musicians, and to be sure that all musical parts can be covered one way or another - no easy feat!
With Year 13 MCs, Sam Everitt and Regina Tao keeping the evening rolling, this year’s concert opened with the GoodFellas Quartet, the fantastic four (Jason Wong and Alex Bian on percussion, and Charles Sang and Sunny Le on piano) who wowed the judges at the Chamber Contest in both Auckland District competition and the Northern Regional Finals, winning the Top Chamber Group. They will be travelling to Christchurch at the beginning of Term 3 to compete in the National Chamber Competition. The piece, ‘Music for Four’ by New Zealand composer, Jenny McLeod, has three movements -two cheerful outer movements with a slow and soulful middle movement - all inspired by native birds. The. The group has been coached by APO Principal Percussion, Eric Renick.
The Big Band, were next to perform, directed by Mr Paul Norman. The Premier Jazz Band has already won Gold at the National Jazz Festival in Tauranga in April this year, and has been working hard on new repertoires to impress the Auckland Secondary School Jazz Festival and KBB Music Festival in August. The vibrant ‘It Could Happen to You’ is followed by the melancholic, vocal rendition of ‘Only you’ sung by Melody Lui-Webster. ‘Recorda Me’ was a samba number, before the group finished with the funk number ‘Fowl Play’.
The Symphony Orchestra is directed by Miss Loata Mahe, Assistant Head of Music. This premier orchestra has had many weeks of sectional rehearsals with strings, wind, brass and percussion. They opened with ‘Laputa- Castle in the Sky’, music from the famous Japanese cartoon, before Johann Strauss’ ‘Egyptian March’ – with a section that requires the whole orchestra to join in and sing ! This ws followed by the Latin-flavoured ‘Danzas Cubanas,’ where the percussion and brass could really let loose! The orchestra completed their programme with the finale from Stravinsky’s famous ‘Firebird Suite’ with bassoon and horn solos performed by Year 13 musicians, Daniel Huang and Evan Metcalfe.
Catherine Chang, an outstanding musician who graduated from the College last year with NZQA Music Scholarship, UoA Music Scholarship and an APO Fellowship, was invited back to perform. She chose to perform Debussy’s highly challenging work, ‘The Isle of Joy.’
The big sound of the Concert Band, conducted by HOD Music, Miss Mary Lin, closed the concert. The group has already won Gold at the Matamata Music Festival in May, and will travel to Napier for the National Concert Band during the July holidays. The ensemble opened with ‘Flight,’ commissioned by the US Air Force Band for the National Air and Space Museum. ‘Endless Rainbows,’ a slow, cinematic number was followed by ‘New York,’ a lively piece commissioned by the British Youth Wind Orchestra – complete with a siren! Utilising the full percussion section, the evening concluded with the Yiddish ‘Wedding Dance’, a fun and highly energetic piece that left the audience uplifted as the concert came to an end.
What a fantastic evening of music! It was clear that the students enjoyed playing as much as the audience enjoyed listening! We wish all our music groups well as they head in to their ‘competition season!’
You can catch the College Orchestra, Concert Band and Jazz musicians at these upcoming events:
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