Sancta Maria College achieves success at the KBB Music Festival Awards 2025
The KBB Music festival is the largest regional youth music event in New Zealand involving over 5,000 young musicians and in 2025 there were 156 groups competing. In the KBB Music festival young musicians from secondary schools across Auckland competed in various ensembles like orchestras, chamber strings groups, concert bands and jazz bands. Sancta Maria College competed in all of these categories, and all groups achieved results that we are all proud of.
The KBB music festival aims to foster a love of music in a variety of styles and genres and provides a platform for secondary students to develop their musical skills and teamwork, as well as aiming to help to develop New Zealand’s musical future.
Our Sancta Maria College students have been embracing these wonderful musical opportunities and have been experiencing lifelong memories performing in many musical ensembles of all genres and developing musical skills and teamwork.
Sancta Maria College KBB Music Festival Awards (11 – 16 August 2025)
- Sancta Maria College Big Band: KBB Music Festival Gold Award directed and conducted by Lukas Fritsch
- Sancta Maria College Concert Band: KBB Music Festival Silver Award directed and conducted by Hamish Arthur
- Sancta Maria College Symphonia Chamber Strings: KBB Music Festival Bronze Award directed and conducted by Sonya Shone
- Sancta Maria College Stage Band: KBB Music Festival Bronze Award directed and conducted by Maia Tay-Morrison
- Sancta Maria College Festival Orchestra: KBB Music Festival Participation Award, conducted by Martina Sanchez, Katherine Chiang and Joanna Ma.
- Sancta Maria College Big Band: KBB Music Festival Best Performance of a Ballad Award directed and conducted by Lukas Fritsch
We would also like to congratulate Year 13, Minky Kim who was also part of the KBB music festival Honours programme for Concert Band for 2025, playing the Trombone. To be a part of the Honours programme, a grade 7 level or above is required, so it is a great honour to be a part of this programme. This year, the Honours Concert Band performed Movement 4 from Symphony No. 5 (Dmitri Shostakovich) and Clown Act (Thomas Kahelin). Congratulations, Minky, we are very proud of you.
A further congratulations to all of the Sancta Maria College music groups who have competed in the KBB Music Festival this year. We are all proud of you and impressed with your dedication towards your musical ensembles and involvement in the KBB Music Festival this year.