Music at Hagley continues to thrive. We are very proud of our Music students and their accomplishments this year! See what we've been up to...

Sophie Campbell-Owen

Year 13 School of Music student, Sophie Campbell-Owen, had a lifetime opportunity composing for three Shakespeare plays: Macbeth, Julius Caesar and The Comedy of Errors from 24th September to 2nd October during school holidays. Earlier this year Sophie had won the SGCNZ/Morrison Music Trust Shakespeare Composition Competition, and this resulted in her being selected as the student composer for the National Shakespeare Schools Production. They had successful public performances of the three plays.

Janee Armstrong

Year 13 School of Music student, Janee Armstrong’s, original song has been selected to be in the top 40 of New Zealand Song Writing competition ‘Play It Strange’. She had an opportunity to record and mix her original song at the Orange Studio, the professional studio in Christchurch, as a part of the prize. She said she had an incredible time recording at the exceptional professional recording studio and is happy about her final mix which can be heard on the Play It Strange 2016 album (Track 23).

Junior Jazz Band

The Junior Jazz Band has participated in the Big Band Festival this year. It was the festival’s 10th year anniversary, and there were many gigs and workshops to attend. The Junior Jazz Band had three public performances and attended one workshop by Rodger Fox.

Youth Big Band Workshop

Our exceptionally talented young musicians, Year 12 School of Music Student, Leo Suggate (guitar), and Year 12 student, Finn Brownlie (drums), attended the NZ Youth Big Band Workshop at the Big Band Festival during Labour Weekend. The workshop was led by the formidable talent of Dr Rodger Fox who has a wealth of knowledge about big band music. The Youth Big Band consists of 20 gifted secondary school students from the South Island. They rehearsed two tunes and performed to their whānau and friends. You can watch it here.