Well what a time Term 3 was, such a packed term for the Arts Faculty and this term will be even more so...

With the 50th Year of October Music Finals, the Dance showcase and Art Folio handins in the first week of Term 4 alone!

So now for a round up of Term 3. In Visual Arts our students past & present represented us well at the Annual Art Stars Exhibition. Congratulations to current students Jack Gormley and Jessica Cournane who’s work sold immediately and photography student Joseph Davidson-Labout who captured the hussle and bustle of the opening event in these great images.

Our wonderful Art Prefects assisted the very busy Art club throughout the Term, working on the set for the major Production, Jesus Christ Superstar as well as producing Mural designs for the Cracroft residents association with the final design coming to fruition later this term in Cracroft Park. 

Year 10 artwork was showcased in folio exhibitions, a very small selection of which are shown below. Watch out for information later in the term for the senior Folio night.

A special evening was held to open the exhibition of a School Alumni Artwork collection in Term 3. 

Alumni Opening made possible by our generous benefactor Mr John Blunt these wonderful artworks are now on display & can be enjoyed by all visitors to the PAC as well as being an incredible resource for our students.
Current student, Skyler Morrison, created this fantastic portrait of Mr Blunt which the school has gifted to him as thanks. 

A Student Art collection is now also in progress and will be added to annually with some works being hung in the Admin block in the coming term.

Website Update: under faculties on the schools website

The Creative and Perfoming Arts now has a Hall of Fame where you can access the incredible stories of our Creatives’ jouneys after they leave Cashmere High School, this will continuing to grow as a resource www.cashmere.school.nz/creative-performing-arts/hall-of-fame You may have seen our Artist of the Month appearing on facebook and Instagram, these can also be accessed through the website www.cashmere.school.nz/art-subject-pages/awards-and-accolades

Soon to be joined by Performer of the Month and Musician of the month.

Knitting Club

Runs every Tuesday lunchtime in B4 and although we have regular attendees anyone can drop in, this is a great way to share and learn any skills using yarn. This year crochet is a big favourite, check out some of these projects. 

Some may not know that outside of my role with Cashmere High School, I continue to work as a practising artist and have worked on a number of collaborative projects. I began one such work with Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Christchurch Art Gallery back in 2020 for the Big Draw, (The world’s largest drawing festival) http://www.thebigdraw.org

Made from recycled materials, The tree of life project involved visitors to the gallery contributing elements of the tree, drawn in wool to make up the components of a single work. Sadly restrictions to public programming due to covid meant that the work was not fully completed, so I am thrilled that CHS knitting club are now in the process of completing the project. 

In Drama & Dance, Congratulations must go to Senior Dance students; Hayley Gibson, Juliette Gray, and Zahra Omar who have all been accepted to International Dance Schools for 2023! It is rare for any New Zealand students to make it into these schools, so to have three in one year is outstanding. Well done to all three and to all of our Dance Department and to all those that helped them on their journey.

Nice work Ben Evans and Oscar Parkes who joined other young Christchurch performers to star in Monty Python’s musical Spamalot, Ben Evans pictured is also the first Actor of the month.

Well done to Sadie McLoughlin, Diego Damoco, Polly Daniels and not forgetting Mr Ussher, The Cashmere team who represented us with amazing talent and humility at the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Nationals. Continue reading for an update from Mr Edwards-Brown to find out how we got on...

The Music department certainly keep us on our toes well tapping them definitely! I do hope you were able to attend some of the events in term 3. Although the Winter soiree was postponed till August it was worth the wait and the many talented musicians involved were on top form. 

In the last newsletter I congratulated students for successes in the NZSO National Youth Orchestra and one of those students Orla Dunlop went on to attend the week long Adam spring school www.nzsq.org.nz/adam-summer-school a chamber music school for strings and piano players under the age of 25 (open to applicants within NZ and internationally). With places so limited this is incredible recognition of young talent, well done Orla! 

In another outstanding achievement, Nicolae Didenco who with his percussion Ensemble WATPIC - Why Aren’t They’re Any Percussionists in Christchurch, not only won first place in New Zealand for the digital submission part of the National Chamber Music Competition this year, went on to compete in the live national final in Auckland & won first place in the NZCT Chamber Music Contest for 2022 – Congratulations!

Stage band took part in an inaugural event held at Christchurch Boys High School, The Ōtautahi Jazz Jam Spectacular, is an event which gives Jazz groups from Christchurch Schools a chance to perform. 

This followed incredible performances earlier in the term from Funk band at Jazzquest

and the Flares who made it to the National Semi Finals of Rockquest – Amazing, well done 

With October Music Finals in week 1 of Term 4 & Big Band Festival events over Labour Weekend this is surely a sign of many more opportunities to enjoy the performances of our talented musicians. 

Remember to check Facebook / Instagram and the Co curricular, Creative and Performing Arts section of the school website for updates.

Hot off the Press... October Music Finals Prize Winners

• Solo Winner - FE Dennis Cup - Orla Dunlop
• Solo Runner-up - JD Murdoch Cup - Vincent Aydon
• Best Solo Piano or Violin Performance - Mary Dew Cup - Orla Dunlop
• Best Solo "Four" Strings Performance - Doig / MacCallum Trophy - Orla Dunlop
• Best Solo Woodwind Performance - Mauchline & Ryburn Cup - Maddie Carter
• Best Percussion Performance - Music Department Trophy - Nicolae Didenco
• Best Solo Brass Performance - Senior Brass Cup - Clara Dujakovic
• Solo Singing Female Winner - Kent Cup - Amelie Devos
• Solo Singing Male Winner - Dinah Wright Cup - Ben Evans
• Small Group Singing Winner - Board of Trustees Trophy - Thomas and Milly - Thomas Brooks, Amelia Parkin-Bratt
• Group Winner - GS Pollock Shield - Milhaud Men - John Doyle-Sims, Orla Dunlop, Lucy Watt
• Contemporary Artists Winner - Ben Campbell Award - JJ and the Rest - Cara Reid, Sadie McLaughlin, Jake Milne, Inaki Belton, Jacob Hickman

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!

Della Rees
Arts Coordinator

Drama and Dance Department Newsletter - Term 4

Jesus Christ Superstar

It's been a few weeks now, but I have to be honest, a lot of us are still coming down from the high of such an incredible production. Every time we start the process of putting together a production we try to aim as high as possible and I really felt like we reached higher than we ever have before.

There were so many highlights and great performances that it would be impossible to mention them all, however I would like to take the time to acknowledge all of the work from those people that are often unseen by the audience. Firstly Mr Bartley and his Orchestra, made up of people as young as 14 did an incredible job of bringing the score to life. The tech team, run by Mr Wilkinson, who worked tirelessly to ensure every aspect of the props, sound, lights, and that amazing cross worked perfectly. Of course there were so many other unseen people whose work elevated the Production, from the Costumes, to the Set, to the Props, to the Production Team, and everyone else involved, none of this would have been possible without them all putting in so much time and effort. On behalf of all the students involved, a huge thank you to all of you.

The cast itself did an incredible job, led throughout by the trio of Isacc, Diego and Sadie, whose performances of Jesus, Judas and Mary were superb. There were great moments of strength and menace each night brought to us by Darcy, Amelie and their team of priests. The Apostles, including stand out moments from Georgie and Ava brought life and celebration back to the show, backed up by the ensemble who brought more energy each and every night. Ben (who I thought might actually explode each night) brought fire and passion to his role as Pilate, and then of course Juliette, as Herod and the Slay sisters tore up the stage with their dancing.

Thanks to everyone involved, roll on the 2024 production of…

Theatre Sports

Term 3 also saw our Senior Theatre Sports team compete in the South Island Finals through the Court Theatre, New Zealand’s only full-time professional Theatre Company. Going in as reigning champions it took a ‘wildcard’ entry to make the finals after a disappointing result in the semi-finals that even the judges acknowledged they got wrong. However once there, the team of Isaac Macdonald, Polly Daniels, Fynn Skelton,and Toby Hull asserted their dominance and swept all before them aside to retain their title. We look forward to the Junior Finals this term, as the Fynn Skelton coached team look to make it a SOuth Island clean sweep.

National Secondary School Shakespeare Production

Following their success at the National Sheliah Winn Shakespeare finals in Wellington in June, Diego Damoco and Sadie McLoughlin were selected as part of the 30 strong group to be a part of the National Secondary School Shakespeare Production. Their selection out of approximately 700 young actors from around the country is testament to not only their talent and hard work but also the guidance of John Ussher, who continues to achieve highly in this event. Sadie and Diego attended a week-long course to see if they would be selected to be a part of the 15 students invited to perform on the stage of The Globe Theatre in London next year. We are thrilled that Diego was successful, well done!

NCEA Dance Showcase

At the time of writing this we are preparing for the, now annual, NCEA Dance Showcase, in which we share some of the work created by our Senior Dance Classes, led by our Dance Teacher, Issy Randall. Again we are excited by the incredible talent and work that the students have created and we can’t wait for you all to see it. However at the time of reading this the event has already happened, so…Thank you so much for your support in attending our NCEA Dance Showcase, we hope that you enjoyed and were impressed by the talent of these young performers and look forward to your ongoing support.

Mr Shaun Edwards-Brown
Head of Drama & Dance