Tēnā koutou katoa. 

Creativity and performance create a wonderful dialogue between artists and their audience, while shaping and reflecting our ever-changing society. This year both current and new faculty staff are excited to again create some wonderful experiences with akonga for our community.

There are a number of new faces in our team this year including, Printmaking teacher Jonathan Glover, Art teachers Stephanie Owens, Michael Collins and Alice Cheersmith, Art Historian Tess Cattermole, as well as Kahu Service in Music. Our specialist specialist Dance teacher Issy Randall is also now full-time. 

Teachers as performers

The Arts staff are active practitioners in their fields and the summer break saw staff performing at gigs large and small. New Regent Street was heaving at the opening of the Bread and Circus Festival where Matua Clay was one of the musicians bringing Split Enz classics to an appreciative audience. John Ussher has also been busy promoting and DJing at a number of outdoor events over summer including performing in the boiler room set at the Hidden Lakes Festival and promoting international act Palms Trax.

Art Department Highlights

Cashmere High School Visual Artists are always well represented in the Art Stars exhibition and near the end of Term 4 the Cashmere Art Department was chosen as the venue for filming an interview with Jack Gormley and Ella Ward for Breakfast television. It was an great opportunity to showcase the amazing work our students do. Artstart is a scheme that helps Canterbury Secondary School students build confidence by getting their work into a gallery. This is the seventh year Cashmere students have been involved. Congratulations to the successful applicants for 2023 exhibitions held later in the year: Willow Cook, Olive Entwisle, Jack Gormley, Tilly Harris, Maria Laurie, Skyler Morrison, Jaksyn Hocking, Laura Phillips and Holly Waldron.

Last year the Art Department’s much neglected Kiln was refurbished, Simon Beardsley has been working with Clay at the Risingholme community college to upskill himself in claywork and bring this knowledge to the classroom and says “I have always personally enjoyed making art with my hands and these classes have been a great opportunity to become a learner again. I find the tactile nature of clay really engages a wide range of students and I am excited about the possibilities with clay here in the Art Department. Under his guidance the range of innovative pinch pot monster sculptures Year 9 students have created have been amazing and we are are looking forward to being able to kiln-fire them.

Coming up in Art 2023

Top Art 2023

As this article went to press we had the fantastic news that two of our Art students have been selected for the touring Top Art Exhibition representing outstanding performance in Level 3 Art - congratulations to Skyler and Reilly

Drama Department Highlights

Dance Scholarships

Amongst all of the student success stories of 2022 were the successful auditions of Hayley, Zahra, and Juliette. These young performing artists not only received offers of places in tertiary Dance but also multiple scholarships as a result of their incredible talents and drive to succeed.

Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival

Our piece from Hamlet, featuring Diego Damoco, Sadie McLoughlin, and Polly Daniels not only received a national award, but also saw both Diego and Sadie selected for the National Secondary School’s Shakespeare Production, basically the top 26 actors in the country. Even more pleasing was that Diego was selected to travel to London to the Globe Theatre itself.

Theatre Sports and Theatre Fest

In 2022 our senior team took out the Court Theatre’s Secondary School Senior Theatre Sports competition for the second year in a row, and after a long fought battle, the Junior team placed a close second in the heats. Our first time National Theatre Fest entry (with a script written by Melissa Sheldon) resulted in an invite to perform at the South Island Finals.

Coming Up In Drama 2023

There is so much happening we would love for you to follow us on our various social media platforms, just search Cashmere Dance and Drama and you’ll find us, or try these links:

• Cashmere Dance and Drama Instagram - keep up with what’s happening day to day and see what opportunities are available in the community
• Cashmere Dance and Drama Facebook Page - For major events and audition opportunities.

Music Department Highlights

The Music Department embraces the key school value of opportunity. Despite the challenges of Covid the department ran over 40 ensembles from the Orchestra and Concestra, to our multiple Choirs, Jazz Combos, Big Bands, Rock Bands, Chamber Groups and Ensembles. Some major highlights for 2022 were The Flares(formally known as Portland) making it to the national final of RockQuest. Nicolae Didenco was part of the winning group for the National Chamber Music Competition, an extraordinary and very rare achievement. Orla Dunlop and Abigail Wheeler becoming part of the National Youth Orchestra.

The end of 2022 also marked the 50th annual October Music Competition. We were fortunate to have Raynor Martin, an ex-student and now professional musician with the NZ Army Band, to be our guest judge. As always it was a night showcasing the depth of musical talents at Cashmere. 

Coming Up In Music 2023

As always the music department will have lots of events this year, showcasing the musical talents of our students. Some highlights will include our Rock Night, Jazz Night, Best of Hollywood – A night of singing Celebrating music from film and our pre-tour concert for our 2023 trip to Australia. We are so excited to be able to get traveling again and share our music with the world. The students will exchange with other high schools, perform for local primary schools as well as stage public concerts in venues such as the Queen Street Mall, Darling Harbour, St. John’s Cathedral Brisbane and much more.

Music Tour 2014 to Sydney and Brisbane

Jesus Christ Superstar

Of course we can’t forget the outstanding major production Jesus Christ Superstar as a faculty-wide achievement from 2022. Students on and off stage rose to the enormous challenge of bringing this all-time classic to life. The efforts, talent and dedication of everyone involved elevated this show to be something much greater than your average High School production. The talent of our lead singers especially, to perform such demanding vocal repertoire with maturity and professionalism was fantastic. The work and talents of our Production Orchestra, Cast, Technical crew, Lighting and Sound, brought it all together and we couldn't have done it without them!!

Finally we would like to farewell Mr Paul Densem

Paul finished teaching music at Cashmere at the end of 2022. Current Head of Music Mr Grant Bartley has worked with Paul since 2004. Paul was an outstanding HoD and colleague, and we have all loved working with him over his many years at Cashmere. Paul's expertise, especially in sound and audio production as well as his wide and diverse knowledge has been a great asset to the department. Paul is a conscientious, thorough and dynamic teacher who has made a huge difference in the lives of so many students. The horrible saying “Those who can't, teach” was never the case with Paul. Paul worked for many years as a professional musician and his musicality was always carried through into the classroom. Paul didn't just talk the talk, but he walked the walk. In addition to leading and rehearsing many music groups Paul also played in many, supporting students alongside him. He also performed in productions and on Music Tours. Thank you Paul for everything you did for Cashmere High School.