Auckland Jazz Competition
On 27 July 2025, Sancta Maria College students from the Music Department participated in the annual Auckland Jazz and Blues Competition being held at Birkenhead RSA and we came away with the following awards:

• Sancta Maria College Big Band, Directed and Conducted by Lukas: Gold Award 
• Sancta Maria College Stage Band, Conducted and Directed by Maia Siver Award
• All Jazz combos also received a Silver Award 

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Warm up concerts
Sancta Maria College Music Department had two Symphonic and Vocal Concerts which featured and celebrated many of our music groups. This was preparation for their upcoming competitions which lead up to the KBB Music Festival and Kids Sing.   

For the Symphonic and Vocal concerts, our groups performed firstly for Sancta Maria Primary School students in our school auditorium, where our senior music students introduced various instruments to them in a live concert. 

In the evening for our Symphonic and Vocal Showcase we performed a concert for the school community and parents which included the Sancta Maria College Concert band, Kids Sing Festival Choir, Festival Orchestra, the Big Sing Choir and the Symphonia Chamber Strings Group.  

We would like to give a special thanks to the following music team leaders and directors in our wonderful music department who have supported our music groups. 

• Our string itinerant teachers for their support of Symphonia and Festival Orchestra:  Sandy Niu (Violin & Viola), Irina Getman (Cello), Alberto Santarelli (Double Bass)  
• Our woodwind & brass itinerant teachers for their support of Concert Band:  Agnes Harmath-Parkin (Flute), Lukas Fritsch (Clarinet & Saxophone), Jon Cook (Trumpet), Hamish Arthur (Low Brass)  
• Our singing itinerant Diana Rhodes for her support with the Big Sing Choir. Our Head of Music for her support with the Big Sing Choir and Kids Sing Festival Choir (Sonya Shone)  
• Our ensemble’s student leaders:  Kish Bassi, Aaron Chan, Christian Cozo,  Katherine Chiang, Ariane Cordeiro, Gianna Cordeiro, Jacob Fischer, Alex Goddard, Joanna Ma, Danielle Orange, Martina Sanchez, Aaron Santoso, Ceron Zheng, Tomaz Zheng 

Congratulations to our Sancta Maria College SUSO Finalist and Punk Band Chopstix!
Sancta Maria College band Chopstix are finalists in the Stand Up Stand Out Competition (SUSO), in the Songwriting category for 2025, which is a fantastic result.

SUSO was founded over 30 years ago and, originating from the Ōtara community, the competition provides a platform for young entertainers to develop their careers and has showcased numerous artists who have gone on to achieve significant success in the music industry.  This year 1,500+ students from 46 schools battled through fierce heats and semis of SUSO. Now the top acts go head-to-head in five finale categories: solo vocal, group vocal, solo instrumental, band, songwriting, and dance.

We would like to congratulate Chopstix for joining the top acts in the finals of SUSO for 2025, performing at the Great Hall, at the Auckland Town Hall on Saturday 20 September 2025 with the Showcase Finals starting at 3.00pm!  We wish Chopstix all the best for the Finals.

Members of Chopstix include: Kaizer Wong: Lead Guitar and Lead Vocals, Tristan Gray: Rhythm Guitar and Vocals, Alejandro Hernandez:  Bass Guitar, Jakob Yang: Drums. Congratulations Chopstix!

Kids Sing
Kids Sing is a choral festival for Primary and Intermediate schools held in nine regional centres and involving around 4,500 children nationwide. This year on the 4th of August 2025, our school’s Festival Choir led by Ariane Cordeiro and Gianna Cordeiro proudly took part in New Zealand Choral Federation, Kids Sing and performed at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, in Parnell. 

The event brought together choirs from many schools, giving children the chance to perform on stage, share their music, and experience the joy of singing as a group. 

Our school Festival Choir sang three songs: Tēnei Te Whānau – our special school waiata, the competition song: The Beat of a Different Drum by Sarah Quartel, and From the Start by Laufey which was also accompanied by Liam Wu on the Piano and our school jazz combo which also featured a saxophone solo by Ariane Cordeiro. 

The experience was exciting and inspiring, and we had so much fun. For many of our singers, it was their first time performing in a large festival in front of a large crowd, and they shone with confidence. 

 It was also a wonderful opportunity to hear other schools perform, making the day feel like a true celebration of choral singing and community. Our Festival Choir represented the school with pride, and we can’t wait to keep singing and sharing our voices in the future. 

APO Mentoring
In term 2 our Music Department musicians enjoyed going to the Discovery Concert at the Auckland Town Hall to see the Auckland Philharmonia perform a 1.5-hour concert. This was narrated by the full orchestra which brought our music curriculum to life! This concert this year explored how various composition techniques and devices are used to create a musical piece. The programme included Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto with soloist David Zhu, selections of Bizet’s Carmen Suite No. 1, a new work by our Young Composer-in-Residence Grace Wellik and the full performance of Compose Yourself! by James Stephenson. This was part of our Learn and Participate APO programme which also included In Schools Mentoring for our Festival Orchestra and Symphonia Chamber Strings group.