Kia ora koutou from all of us in the Creative and Performing Arts Faculty!

It is truly a privilege to be a part of ‘The Creative and Performing Arts Faculty’ at Te Iringa o Kahukura, Cashmere High School. We are fortunate to have a staff who are not only passionate about the subjects they teach, but more importantly about the students that we are blessed with in our classes and groups.

As a staff we believe in providing opportunities for students to grow as both people and artists, whether their passion be for Art, Dance, Drama, Music, Technology, or a combination of them we will always put their needs and goals first.

We are proud to be a part of a school that recognises The Arts as a pillar of the school for the academic, cultural, and social benefits it provides. The support we have from the school is mirrored by our community, a fact that we know we must continue to earn.

We look forward to doing so again in 2024.

Shaun Edwards Brown | Head of Faculty (acting)

Welcoming a new year group to the kura during the Year 9 Powhiri. It is great to see so many of these students getting involved in the Creative and Performing Arts Faculty in 2024.

Music

There has been a huge uptake in music activities, classroom music and music lessons this year, in fact more students than ever before!!! Of course this has meant a very busy start to the year in the Music Department and with such a great music programme, talented staff and students, a highlight of each assembly is the musical item.

Cannonball Trio, one of our senior jazz combos (pictured), had a great first performance of the year at the Year 11 assembly.

After just two weeks of rehearsals the 2024 Stage Band belted out a smashing rendition of Feeling Good for the Year 9 assembly. Most impressively led by Erik Misnyovszki who is the first Year 9 in Cashmere history to take a spot as one of the Stage Band vocalists.

CHS Musicians are often selected nationally and 2024 is starting off as a great year… Huge congratulations to Tristan Dunlop and Emma Scurr who have got into the NZSO National Youth Orchestra for 2024 and Tristan Dunlop, Salva Ward, Emma Scurr, Ben Blakie and Vasilisa Matviets who have all gotten into the NZ Secondary Schools Symphony Orchestra for 2024!

Theannual Pop rocksconcert was the first public performance on the music calendar. Showcasing the best in contemporary music at Cashmere, this year 14 Bands & soloists performed to a delighted crowd in the PAC. Their amazing performances made all the more professional with the incredible talents of the Performing Arts Technical students behind the scenes work in sound and lighting.

Drama & Dance

The annual regional Sheilah Winn Shakespeare festival took place over the weekend of 6-7th April with all four of our groups producing great performances. These were structured into two 15 minute pieces and two five minute pieces. Continuing our outstanding record (8th year out 9), one of our 5 minute pieces was selected to represent Canterbury at Nationals! So this group will now head to Wellington over the King's Birthday weekend to represent us in the National Festival - Congratulations and good luck!

Y11 Acting Festival - After the inaugural event last year, we continue with our Year 11 NCEA classes participating in our Acting Festival. This will see students perform 10 minute scenes of contemporary theatre before a guest adjudicator as they vie for awards, as part of their assessment work for the year.

Competition Dance Troupe - Auditions were held this term in order to get a team together for the events in Term 2. Our troupe will compete in three competitions throughout Term 2 with the aim of qualifying for Nationals in Term 3. After a successful first year we are excited about what will be.

Oliver - Major Musical Production - This year’s main event on the Performing Arts Calendar is our production of Oliver. After auditions early in Term 1, rehearsals are well underway and Production Camp takes place in Term 2. We are immensely proud of the quality of the work we create with our students and know that this year’s production will be another great success. Tickets will go on sale early in Term 2 and we encourage you all to get them as soon as possible as we always sell out.

Visual Art

Folio Night is the main event of the year in Visual art with a chance to see all the incredible work created for NCEA folios. This is held in Term 4 once folios are completed so for a glimpse of things to come a mini Year 10 folio display takes place in Term 2 & 3

Our Alumni Art Collection continues to grow, with a new donation. First day (1956) pupil Ataneta Robinson has donated a work (pictured) which will be hung with the rest of the collection in the PAC over the holidays.

NCEA Top Art Exhibition

This is an exhibition of the Top NCEA folios from across the country and it is touring nationally right now. Once again CHS is represented and Willow Cook’s stunning portfolio was selected for this exhibition.

Talented photography student Max Groer was selected as a National Finalist for Summer stills! There were 330 entries from student photographers all across the motu so Max should feel very proud to have been selected, congratulations!

Art club - Provides an opportunity for Students to experiment and practise different techniques. Watercolour and pen experiments (pictured) were created during one of the art club sessions. You can sign up to the google classroom gakosje to keep up with what the offerings will be in Term 2.

Our wonderful Art Prefects held their first in school Art competition for the year which combined Sports & Art by creating a picture from your map in a Strava Art competition. The winners will be announced in term 2 but here is just one of the entries received so far.

Students are also encouraged to pursue opportunities and competitions outside the kura and there is a competitions board in B Bock corridor outside B2 for Visual Art and information on the school website.

The next opportunity for our Artists is Speak 4 the planet Art competition where CHS students have previously featured highly, the closing date for the visual art category this year is 7th June.

Each month an Artist of the month is rewarded for dedication to their creativity. Posted to the Art department & school social media and you can also view in the Awards and Accolades section of Arts Faculty on the school website https://www.cashmere.school.nz/faculties-1/art-subject-pages/awards-and-accolades

These are the AOTM for February and March 2024 with April to come early in Term 2

We value your continued support of the Arts, there are so many exciting Creative and performing Arts events to look forward to over the coming year - see you there!