One thing you can guarantee each term at Cashmere High School is there will be something happening in the Creative and Performing Arts space. Whether its; live performances, community murals, or inter-school competitions our students and staff can always be relied on to find ways to help The Arts shine. Thank you to everyone who continues to support us in all we do and for the trust you place in us when it comes to your precious children. Here are just some of the highlights of last term and some of the events coming up.

Art Department Highlights

The Art Department continues to buzz with creativity and innovation. There are always exciting things happening, from art competitions organised by our prefects to the Art Club exploring new processes and creating pieces for our school production. Classes are humming with junior students eagerly learning new techniques, while Year 11 students are embracing the new Art Curriculum, producing exciting and imaginative pieces. As senior folio deadlines approach, our senior students are working hard, and their work is beginning to take impressive shape. Meanwhile, Art History students are delving deeper into their studies by creating paintings, sculptural pieces, and collages that inform and extend their thinking.

Alumni Collection

In June, we had the special privilege of welcoming back one of our alumni, Neta Robinson, who was among the school’s very first intake of students. Neta visited with her whānau and friends to speak about her painting Beneath the Surface, now the most recent addition to our Alumni Art Collection in the PAC.

Dave Turnbull Art Collection

We were excited to officially launch The Dave Turnbull Student Art Collection. This initiative is set to be an ongoing project, with 10 student artworks being purchased annually to create a future-focused collection. The goal is to build an extensive body of student work that will inspire young artists for years to come, showcasing the talent and creativity fostered within our school.

Artist of the Month

Throughout the year, we have proudly recognised several talented students as our Junior and Senior Artists of the Month, honouring their hard work and creativity. These students have produced stunning pieces, reflecting the high standard of artistic skill and dedication within our department.

Year 10 Folio Night and Year 11 Woodcut Exhibition.

Year 10 folio night is a wonderful celebration of our junior students’ achievements, providing them with a well-deserved moment to showcase the impressive work they’ve completed in their course. Additionally, our Year 11 students exhibited their thought-provoking woodcut artworks in the PAC, with each piece exploring the theme of Tūrangawaewae—a personal expression of their identity and connection to place.

Mural Project

Our Mural Project Team has been working diligently to bring a splash of colour and creativity to the B Block corridor, transforming the space into a vibrant reflection of student life and artistry.

Top Art Exhibition

A special congratulations goes to Willow Cook, a 2023 graduate who achieved an Outstanding Scholarship in Painting. Her impressive painting portfolio has been touring the country as part of the annual Top Art Exhibition, representing the exceptional standard of achievement in Level 3 Art. We are incredibly proud of Willow and excited for the continued success of our talented students.

Dance and Drama Department Highlights

Another term gone and another term full of excitement and successes in the Dance and Drama Department. Whether it's performing for whanau, getting out into the community to experience live theatre, or dancing up a storm in competitions, it's been a wonderful term full of smiles, energy, and student success. In our classes students continue to impress us with their desire to strive for their own personal excellence, and the care and empathy they show each other. As always there have been some highlights that we have to mention as well as some things to look out for this term.

Senior Theatre Sports

In September our Senior Theatre Sports team of Ben Evans, Millie Palmer, Niamh Cooper, Nate Limmer, and Jonty Higgs,competed in the National Secondary Schools Competition at The Court Theatre.  Having spent the year preparing for this event, under the tutoring of Ben the team were more than ready for the event. After two days of competition the team came out on top and were crowned champions, bringing the trophy back to where it belongs. We now look forward to the Junior Championships in late November. Fingers crossed for a clean sweep.

One Act Play Festival

As part of the Senior Drama Program, our Year 13 classes performed at our ‘One Act Play Festival’. This saw 6 student directors take on a play each, as well as a cast of fellow students in two nights of performances for their friends and whanau. This was not only the final assessment for the students involved but also had a competitive aspect with students viewing for the awards for ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Actor’.  It was such a joy to see how far this group of students have come as performers, dramatists, and as people. Congratulations to; Best Director - Denver Stirling, and Best Actors - Ben Evans and Oliver Sutherland.

Dance Success

Over the last term our amazing dancers continued to compete in, and in regional and national Dance competitions.  At the DanceNZMade competition we had soloists, duets and teams competing in a wide range of dance styles.  We received outstanding results at this event including 1st place awards for; Xinyue Zhao, Eva Loose, Connie Colquhoun in the solo section. Lucy and Lydia Chen who received 1st in the duets, and our junior team who were also 1st in their section. During the workshops with over 200 dancers there were 10 students in total that were selected for the national soloist competition and 5 of our dancers were those selected. These students were Millie Bradford-Woodland, Sophia Brown, Lucy Chen, Connie Colquhoun and Lily Dougherty.

Our Cashmere Hip Hop Crew also had major success at the NZCAF Hip Hop Unite regionals where we placed 1st!!  This is an awesome success considering this team only rehearsed for 5 weeks and pulled together the strongest routine at the competition. Choreographed by Oliver Sutherland, the team were amazing and set the example for others. Congratulations to all those involved.

Students Outside of School

Every year we take students out to see as much theatre and performance as possible in order to enrich their education and help connect them to pathways for their future in Performing Arts. This year it was a delight that so many of these performances featured past and present students of Cashmere High School. At the Court Theatre we saw Erik Misnyovszski make his professional debut in ‘Fun Home’. We also saw The Court Theatre Youth Company’s performance of ‘She Kills Monsters’ featuring current students; Sienna Gutsell, Beth Gibson, and Ben Evans, as well as former students; Alex Ketko and Amelie Devos. At the NASDA 3rd Year Showcase we had the pleasure of seeing Phoebe Finnie and Oscar Parkes as part of the wonderful cabaret, we look forward to seeing where they go next. Some of us also managed to get to Showbiz Christchurch’s Mamma Mia starring ex-student Sophie Harris, and featuring Amelie Devos. It's such a delight to see you all sharing your passion with the world.

Happening in Term 4

Term 4 will continue to offer opportunities for the community to join us for Dance and Drama performances that we would love to have you join us at:

• 2024 NCEA Dance Showcase - On Friday October 18th our NCEA Dance students performed in our annual Dance Showcase, sharing the highlights of their work from across the year.

• 2024 Junior Production ‘A Christmas Carol’ - This year we are bringing back the Junior Production for the first time in a number of years and what better way to do this than with ‘A Christmas Carol’ to start the seasonal joy. Tickets will soon be available with all ticket sales being donated to the Hoon Hay Food Bank. More info soon.

Music Department Highlights

Southern Jam

This year the Jazz Combo ‘Cannonball Collective’ and our ‘Funk Band’ Competed at the Southern Jam Competition in Blenheim. It was a busy few days with lots of public gigs, rehearsals and learning. An amazing workshop with the judges. The bands have made months worth of progress in the last 3 days. So proud of this group for how well they have played, their conduct all week and how well they have represented Cashmere High. Special congratulations to Emma Scurr and Tristan Dunlop who both made it into the ‘All Star Band’ at Southern Jam 2024. We got quite the hall of awards and the results were as follows:

• Gold award for Cannonball Collective

• Gold Award for Funk Band

• Best Pianist - Tristan Dunlop

• Best Drummer - Nicolae Didenco

• Best Soloist - Melissa Sheldon

• Best Composition - Tristan Dunlop

• Runner up Best Combo - Cannonball Collective

So proud of these amazing musicians and all their progress and mahi they have put in.

A big thank you to Mr Zilber and Matua Clay for all their help getting the groups prepared and getting them to the big stage.

Choral Celebration

During Term 3 we had our big Choral Celebration for the year. It went extremely well with all the groups performing at their best. We were also very lucky to have ‘Resolutions’ from Rangi Ruru Girls' School and the Christchurch Youth Choir Join us. It was so brilliant to be able to share wonderful music and celebrate such talented singers.

A huge thank you to our amazing Voice teacher, conductor and vocal coach Helen Charlton who works with all of our groups, but also conducts Resolutions. Thanks to Jared Corbett from CYC and all the music staff, tech crew and music prefects who helped to make the concert a success.

The final item was particularly fun as we all came together to sing "We are the World" a nice message given some of the turmoil in the world at the moment.

Fairwell to Jo Ellis

It was with great sadness that Jo Ellis was farewelled after passing away early October. Jo was very much a part of the Cashmere community and especially the music department. An alumni of Cashmere, Jo also worked here from 1999 to 2008. Jo tutored many barbershop quartets and choruses and her skill and enthusiasm led Cashmere to becoming regional, national and even international champions.

She tutored ‘Back Chat’ to be the world number one barbershop quartet in 2001. She also tutored ‘Zesty’ to be National champions several times and they also placed 6th in the World. Her children Mike and Roz were heavily involved in Music at Cashmere, performing in many groups and taking leads in our Major Productions.

Jo’s energy and passion for singing brought so much joy to so many people. She touched the lives of many students and staff at Cashmere and beyond. We would like to pass on our sincere condolences to her family especially husband Tom and children Mike and Roz. Her great sense of humour, talents and zest for life will always bring back fond memories for us at Cashmere.

Spring Soiree

Spring Soiree marked the final big Music event for Term 3, with all of our big Music Ensembles and Chamber Groups performing. Orchestra, Concert Band, Concestra, Brass Ensemble, Trombone Choir, Clarinet Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble and the Dimished 4th Chamber Group performed with polish. Amidst a week of NCEA Solo Performance assessments it was a huge week for the students and staff.

Lunchtime Concerts

With the improvement of the weather the Music Quad was able to start up our lunchtime concert series. Spearheaded by Mr. Service, The Student Council and the PAC Tech Class, Bands, Jazz Combos and ensembles entertained lunchtime audiences all Term 3.

Matua Clay

At the end of Term 3 Matua Clay was away on a national tour with the hit show “Be Like Billy”. It’s a wonderful celebration of Maori Showbands through the lens of the legendary Billy T James. Acclaimed by those who saw it, it was so fantastic to have one of our staff take part in this extraordinary show.

“A show like Be Like Billy deserves to be seen around the country, for a long time. With this show, Rutene Spooner (and director Holly Chapell-Eason) have created a show that deserves to be more than the latest in a long line of complex shows that interrogate the place of Māori performers in culture. It deserves to be part of the canon of New Zealand theatre.” – Dramatic Pause Review

October Music Competition

This year marks the 52nd Annual October Music Competition Final. With Heats occurring in the last week of Term 3. The finals night was held on October 17th, in the PAC. A huge array of talent was demonstrated through the heats and the very best have been whittled down to compete in the Final.