The Otago Regional round of the contest was held at the University of Otago’s Marama Hall.

Since its inception in 1965, the annual NZCT Chamber Music Contest has provided a platform for thousands of Kiwi secondary school students to perform. The Contest, the largest and longest-running Chamber Music event of its kind, acts as a springboard for the musicians and composers of tomorrow, encouraging participants at all stages of their musical development, to perform together and enjoy the thrill of making music.

The Otago Regional round of the contest was held at the University of Otago’s Marama Hall, last Friday evening, 10th June 2022. Despite COVID restrictions making rehearsing together impossible until recently, significantly impacting the number of overall entries, we were excited to have Emmanuel Keane, our resident star-pianist, enter with his group, ‘Just Cheese’.

Under the direction of Mr Paul Claman, our Brass Itinerant Tutor, ‘Just Cheese’ members are:

• King's High School - Emmanuel Keane (Piano)
• Kavanagh College - Serenity Hook (Trumpet)
• Bayfield High School - Benjamin Pickering (Trombone)
• Queen's High School - Chloe Gray (Page Tuner)

Just Cheese was awarded both ‘Highly Commended’ (runner-up) as well as the KBB Award for Best Brass Performance.

The next stage of the competition is the South Island finals. Groups moving through to that stage are announced in the coming week. Fingers crossed.