Articulate speeches, stunning Shakespeare performances and a charming music concert have showcased St Margaret’s talent as our musicians gear up for regional competitions, dancers look forward to a ballet outing and we all don our everyday superstar for House Day!

SMC Speech Competition
The annual St Margaret’s College Myers' Cup speech competition took place in our auditorium May 24. Our speech topics for this year included such interesting topics as Mirror Mirror, Filtered or Unfiltered? and Eyes Wide Shut. Ten very talented students treated us to a range of speeches that were entertaining, inspiring, challenging and hilarious. This year, we were fortunate in having Sir Edmund Hillary Fellow, Ms Michelle Sharp, as our guest judge. Michelle was most impressed by all the finalists and chose the winners based on the speeches that had a strong argument, impressive presentation skills and audience engagement. Thank you to Ms Angee Robertson for her organisation and huge congratulations to the winners for 2018:

Lyn Kennedy Cup:
Maia Stanbury (Year 6)

Highly Commended:
Cleo Nicholas (Year 6)

Toomer Trophy:
Lucy Sawyer (Year 8)

Gosset Cup:
Mila Ballin (Year 10)

Myers' Cup:
Emma Taylor (Year 12)

A great show from the Yale Alley Cats
The Yale Alley Cats wowed us with their harmonies, dance moves and comedic antics last week in a performance here at school. These 13 young men from Yale University are touring New Zealand and we were fortunate to book them in Music Month to entertain our students. The show was enjoyed by wee ones from the Pre-School right up to seniors.

Combined Concert delights
The combined St Margaret’s-Christ’s College concert, held in the Christ’s College Hall this year, was very well attended. Choirs, orchestras, chamber music groups and bands from both schools performed beautifully, showcasing their skill and expertise. This annual concert is a great opportunity for our groups to perform in front of an audience before their regional music competitions, specifically The Big Sing and the Chamber Music Contest. We thank Music staff from both schools for their direction, support and dedication, with special thanks to Amanda Woods, Sarah Hickford and Rachel Wilford.

Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Nationals
Huge congratulations to our actors who travelled to Wellington for the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival National Competition last weekend. As You Like It, directed by Ruby Anderson and Emily Stewart who performed alongside actors Sophie McClean and Kaitlin Burden and dancers Polly Forbes, Poppy Cox, Annalida Jaegar, Olivia Wilson and Georgina Lange, won three awards:

• Best Comedy

• Best Student-Directed Ensemble (Emily Stewart and Ruby Anderson)

• Most convincing onstage connection (Ruby Anderson and Sophie McClean)

We thank teachers Jenny May and Rosemary McTaggart for mentoring, accompanying and supporting the girls.

The Big Sing
Our Chamber Choir will sing at the Choral Federation’s Big Sing regional heats this Thursday at The Piano. Director Rachel Wilford has been working very hard with the group who will present a piece in German by Brahms, a Maori a cappella song and one of Gershwin’s jazz pieces. Our senior combined chorale with Christ’s College will perform on Friday, directed by Rosemary Turnbull. Thursday and Friday evenings the gala concerts will be held at St Mary’s Pro Cathedral.

Royal New Zealand Ballet
Senior Dance students and members of our Middle School and Senior Dance companies will spend Friday evening at the Isaac Theatre Royal to see the NZ Royal Ballet Company’s Dancing With Mozart. This performance brings works by two of the greatest choreographers of the 20th and 21st centuries to New Zealand stages, Jiri Kylian and George Balanchine, together with an exciting new commission from NZ choreographer Corey Baker, created in Antarctica.

Rockquest
Natalie Hutton and Billie Leiataua will perform this weekend at the Rockquest Regional Heats at the Charles Luney Auditorium with their band Household. The girls will be joined by band members Liam Allan (Christ's College), Blair Wright (Shirley Boys High) and Minnie Robberds (Christchurch Girls High) and will perform an original song written by Natalie, Capo 264.

Middle School Cushion Cabaret
Monday June 11 our Middle School Arts Committee will present a Cushion Cabaret in the Ngaio Marsh Theatre at 6pm. Performers from our Middle School will entertain us for around an hour in this relaxed setting for a gold coin donation going towards EGG (Educating Girls Globally.) Come dressed as your favourite Hollywood everyday superstar; all welcome.

Chamber Music Contest
Thursday June 14 our Chamber Music groups will be performing at this annual secondary schools’ competition at The Piano. Brasilia Quartet (Jasmine Ward, Caitlin Rea, Katie Gluyas, Cadance Gan) will play at the 10am session, Mundo Corde (Sujean In, Julia Hughes, Alexandra Lay, Amy Chung, Meg Shatford) and the Beati Trio (Maddy Kerr, Imogen Maynard, Mia Cleugh) will play at the 6pm session. We wish our girls the best of luck and thank their tutors Jennie Goldstein, Roanna Funcke, Susan McKeich, as well as music staff Sarah Hickford and Amanda Woods.