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Arts News

SMC —

Co-Head of Arts, Natalie Hutton, releases her EP to a sold-out crowd after performing at the Town Hall opening, whilst girls enjoy “have-a-go” Dance and Drama sessions offered by our student Arts Council.

More Great Speech & Drama results
Congratulations to the following girls who gained Distinction in their recent Trinity College London Speech and Drama Examinations. We also congratulate their teacher Elayne Buckler.

Grade Three
Eve Tayler
Jaslyn Young
Libby Mounce
Lily Griffiths

Grade Five
Emma Cawood
Sienna McEwan

Rockquest registrations 2019
If you are keen to register for Rockquest 2019, we encourage you to do so asap. The entry process is as follows:

* Students need to fill out an entry form online at www.sftb.nz

* Print, after entering online the student will be emailed forms for Ms Woods to sign

* Scan and email the signed forms back, or post them to Rockquest Promotions,(Entry Form), PO Box 568, Nelson, 7010.

ENTRIES are DUE by MAY 7th - but already the entries are filling up fast so please get organised as soon as you can. Heats will be held Saturday, May 18th.

Any questions please just pop into the Music office to see Ms Woods.

Nat Hutton live EP: We Can Only Laugh
Natalie Hutton and Jono Stewart have released three singles, one each month leading up to their EP release on the 1st of March. We Can Only Laugh includes five tracks; Nat wrote Oversized Ring, Crumbs and Hopscotch - the other two tracks were written together (music and lyrics). Will McGillivray (lead singer of Christchurch group NOMAD) produced and mixed the whole EP which was an awesome experience for Nat and Jono. They enjoyed working alongside someone young who performs in a similar genre and hope to work with Will again in the future.

“The name We Can only Laugh sums Jono and I up really,” says Nat. “He's my childhood best friend and always will be. We've experienced each other growing up from the age of only five so I can confirm that we've had our fair share of laughs together.” The name also comes from the idea that they take their music seriously, but try not to take themselves too seriously. “How can we? We are only seventeen and eighteen years old” Nat adds. The duo recently opened for Jed Parsons and played at the Town Hall opening but their greatest achievement this year has definitely been their sold-out EP release gig at Lyttelton Records last month. Says Nat, “We're so lucky to have so many people supporting us such as our parents, friends and in particular Sacha Vee from Sole Music Academy. This is only the beginning and I'm excited to see what the future brings.”

Arts Mentoring
Our student Arts Council has set up an Arts Mentoring programme this year where Year 12 or 13 girls offer guidance to Middle School girls interested in learning something new or improving their skills in any arts area. The aim of this programme is for our Year 7-10 girls to make connections with girls involved in the arts in the senior school and for them to provide support, advice or even work towards a project (i.e. a performance, an artwork etc.) This is a really great experience for our girls as part of our Tuakana-Teina (big sister-little sister) philosophy. At the moment the Council need mainly mentors for Music/Singing, Drama, Dance, and Visual Art and those who have skills in more than one area are gold!

If you are interested in being a mentor, please send Kaitlin Burden an email with:

- Your name and year group

- What area(s) of the arts you would like to mentor

- Why you want to be a mentor/why you think you would be a good mentor.

If you are in Year 7-10 and would like to find a mentor, you will need to fill out this survey to be paired up: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PBSJWLF

Have-a-go arts days
Another great initiative on offer from the Arts Council this year is “have-a-go” sessions open to all Year 7-13 girls of any ability. Annālida Jaeger and Brianna Odering, Head and Deputy of Dance, ran a session last week teaching a line-dancing choreography to the song 'I want crazy', and Cara Donaldson and Kaitlin Burden, Head of Drama and Co-Head of Arts, gathered girls in the Ngaio Marsh Theatre for Drama games the next day. These sessions are aimed at getting girls involved in the arts and having fun. Keep an eye on Student Notices!

Grimm Tales
Our senior production for this year will take place in the Charles Luney Auditorium July 1-3. Cast lists are now up on the Arts noticeboard outside the Ngaio Marsh Theatre.

Middle School Production 2019
Our Middle School Production for Year 7-10 girls will be in Term 4. More information to come!

Co-Curricular Arts Groups Timetable
Most of our school co-curricular groups are up and running with strong participation from all year levels. The timetable is now posted on the school website and is also to be found around the arts areas at school.

Twilight Concert
Our annual performing arts extravaganza will be held the last week of this term: Thursday, April 4th. This is an informal, enjoyable evening where our groups showcase the dance, drama and music pieces they have worked on this term. All our families are warmly invited to attend, time and location TBC.