The Music Department at X block has been alive with the sound of music! You can hear the thumping drums of heavy rock, the wailing horns of jazz, and the beautiful lyrics of our amazing vocalists.

One student in particular, Lucy Gray, a Year 13 School of Music specialist course student, released her single ‘Pretty’ in April, reaching all the way up to #19 on the top 40 charts in New Zealand. Her captivating voice and catchy tune have left us humming along to her tunes. She performed at both 12 Bar and the Dark Room in April. We can't wait to hear more from her this year! Her next single will be out on June 2nd. Follow her on Instagram lucy.graymusic and give her support!

We also have five bands entered for the annual SmokeFree RockQuest, which will be held on Saturday, 27th May, at the Aurora Centre (Burnside High School). From Year 9 &10 band Atomic Minds, Year 11 band Stupisayswhat, Year 11&12 band Malta, Year 12 band Animosity, to Year 13 band Stonechild, we have some talented musicians ready to rock the stage. Please come along and give them your support. An all-day ticket is only $10 for students and $15 for adults (door sales only).

The smokefree RockQuest line up includes:

11 am session

• Animosity – Ava Fry (guitar), Joel Sam (guitar), Ella Staub (drums)
• Atomic Minds – Ashton Johnson (guitar & vocal), Manaaki Johnson (drums), Luci Willmott-Dalton (bass)

2 pm session

• Stupisayswhat – Dominic Emmett (drums), Roddy MacPherson (piano & vocal)
• Malta – Dyme Gaul (guitar), Sid Hoggard-Wells (drums), Zaiya Lemanu (bass)

In addition to the bands, we have three acts in the solo/duo category who will be competing separately. They will be showcasing their talents on 10th June at the Ngaio Marsh Theatre at the University of Canterbury. Our entries are Year 13 School of Music student Ruby Kaya, Year 11 student Isla Ballantine, and Year 11 student Suki Kang.

Our students are not only performing at competitions but also at the Careers Expo. Year 13 School of Music students Lucy Gray, Sofia Houghton, Ruby Kaya, and Year 13 mainstream student Liya Jose were part of the school promotion team that performed at the Christchurch Arena for two days.

Finally, our talented jazz musicians were mentored by Maestro Glyn. The jazz combo performed at the Ōtautahi Jazz Jam was held at Boys' High School on Saturday, 20th May. They will be competing at the JazzQuest on June 19 – 23. We are excited to see what they have in store for the future!

Jazz Combo

• William Densem Year 9 (trombone)
• Sid Hoggard-Wells Year 12 (drums)
• Toby Isherwood Year 11 (tenor sax)
• Zaiya Lemanu Year 11 (bass)
• Roddy MacPherson Year 11 (piano)
• Lachie Platt Year 10 (guitar)

Date for your calendar – our upcoming music events

• SFRQ/SFTB Heats for groups – Saturday 27th May
• Big Sing Regionals – Thursday 8th June – Friday 9th June
• SFRQ/SFTB Final and soloists – Saturday 10th June
• Ara Jazz Quest – Monday 19th June – Friday 23rd June
• Mid-Winter Soirée at Ara – Tuesday 27th June 6pm- 8pm
• NCEA Performance Evening at Ara – Tuesday 25th July 6pm – 8pm
• JazzQuest Big Band – Saturday 29th July – Sunday 30th July
• Southern Jam – Tuesday 8th August – Sunday 13th August
• Big Sing Finale – Wednesday 23rd August – Sunday 27th August
• Groups and Singer Songwriter’s Night at Ara - Tuesday 5th September 6pm – 8pm
• Hagley On Show at Ara – Tuesday 12th September 6pm- 8pm
• Big Band Festival – Friday 20th October – Monday 23rd October

Tickets for our live music event, Mid-Winter Soirée, are available at the enrolment centre for just $5 p/p. It will also be available via live-stream world-wide.

For more information https://hagleymusicnz.com/