The Marlborough Boys’ College choir Synergy, have brought home a silver award from the New Zealand Choral Federation’s Big Sing Cadenza finale in Timaru.

The result comes after the successful combined college production, School of Rock which saw MBC, Marlborough Girls’ College and Richmond View students earlier this month return to the college stage, not seen since 2019 due to the pandemic. 

The Cadenza finale for the South Island features the top 12 secondary school choirs as selected by a panel of three national adjudicators after having listened to and ranking over 275 choirs nationwide. 

Each choir is required to perform two recitals of a total of four songs over a two-day period. Songs are chosen from three categories, New Zealand or Pasifika composition, Choral Art Music and director’s choice with the fourth song being chosen from any of the three categories. 

After a very successful adjudication from the regional event back in June, Synergy was one of the 12 choirs selected to proceed to the Cadenza finale. The choir brought home a silver award from the Cadenza finale. 

Choir director Robin Randall says the result was an amazing achievement for the choir. “After winning two awards at the Big Sing regional event we were all super happy but then winning selection through to the Cadenza finale and to take away a Korimako (silver) award is just the icing on the cake. I could not be prouder of the boys in the choir. They have worked hard with a real willingness to improve and refine their choral skills to the point that is required at this level,” he says. 

Robin says it is now the hope of the choir members that singing in the school choir will be seen as a ‘cool thing to do’ and that there will be more and more boys wanting to join. “We would love to have over 20 boys singing in the choir as we move forward toward 2024 and begin preparing for the next Big Sing competition,” says Robin. 

Meanwhile, the Southern Jam Jazz Festival caught the attention of local bars and cafes in the town during August. The jazz band competition is for South Island secondary schools and featured bands from as far away as Invercargill, Dunedin, Queenstown and Christchurch as well as Marlborough Boys’ College. 

MBC had two bands in the competition, Funkasaurus Rex, a 10-piece funk band and the more intimate jazz duo Retrospective. Both bands proved they are up there with the best as they both received a silver award. 

Trumpet player Ariel Rofe was selected by the judging panel as a member of the trumpet team for the All Stars Band made up of the best instrumentalists from the various bands to form the gala concert festival band and Retrospective, made up of Matthew Hall keyboard and Logan Ready trombone and bass guitar were selected as the adjudicators choice!

Well done boys!