The April school holidays saw 97 students from around New Zealand arrive in Christchurch to take part in this wonderful orchestra.

The New Zealand Secondary Students' Symphony Orchestra (NZSSSO) has once again met in Ōtautahi in the holidays. Students were involved in a full week of rehearsals, before performing two concerts, under conductor Vincent Hardaker.

The Te Puna Wai o Waipapa - Hagley College link here is the number of our staff involved in making this orchestra happen. The Forte group of Itinerant Music teachers are based at our kura and provide high-quality music lessons to students all over Ōtautahi and greater Waitaha. A number of these teachers were involved in tutoring the orchestra, namely: Grace Stainthorpe, Philippa Lodge, Susan Jung, Antonio Dimitrov, Glyn MacDonald, and Jonathon Tressler.

Additionally, Georgina Rees-Stevenson was both the systems administrator and a tutor; Robyn Peterson was the financial administrator; Kerrin Brizzell the assistant coordinator; and Nicky Fogden-Smith was the Director of the NZSSSO. 

Thank you to all of these wonderful staff for their commitment in bringing a large classical orchestra experience to a group of highly skilled students. 

The full Radio New Zealand interview and article are here.

The Gala concert can be viewed here.