Auditions for Dio's 2023 major production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream are running on Wednesday, 30 November and Thursday, 1 December this year.

These auditions are for the cast and the dance ensemble. Those students cast from the 2022 version who want to audition for another role will need to complete another full audition. Audition material and the rehearsal schedule can be found in the Arts and Culture section of the school website. 

Please do not audition if you cannot commit to ALL rehearsal times.

We will send out an email in mid-November with instructions on signing up for an audition time, but please look at all the information so you can prepare.

If you have any questions, please contact ghewitt@wdsg.school.nz

Barbershop

Our Barbershop quartets and chorus all gave their best as they performed at the Young Singers in Harmony Nationals in Palmerston North. 

Our quartets Cream of the Shop and Sugar and Spice finished 9th and 15th, respectively. Our Espresso chorus, directed by Jane Martin, finished 5th. They had the delight of performing with The Waikato Rivertones and Sacred Heart Chorus in the Parade of Champions. Great work, barbershoppers!

Waikato ITM Band and Orchestra Festival

Once again, Dio had some outstanding results at the Waikato ITM Band and Orchestra Festival.

• Pixie Kickers guitar ensemble = Silver
• Jazz Band = Silver
• DiOrchestra = Gold and the award for best orchestra on the day!

Congratulations to our talented students, and thanks to all our itinerant music teachers, tutors, directors and Mrs Colvin for all their input to this Festival.

Whaanau Dinner 2022

To acknowledge the start of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, our Whaanau Dinner 2022 was held on Friday, September 9, in our school Gym with over 240 of our whaanau in attendance.

It was a beautiful evening hosted by our Amokura, Jorja Challis, alongside our Kapa haka Captain, Amiria Douglas, and MC'd by Tania Pakinga and Milan Nordstrom.

Our guest speaker for the evening was Donnamaree Ryder, who spoke about humble beginnings and the amazing App she has created called Tania.ai, which enables small to medium businesses to keep on top of their finances to improve and grow. There were four key takeaways that she shared with our aakonga to support them on their journey no matter what field they entered:

1. Continue to learn past high school 2. Believe in yourself 3. Know you have value in helping others 4. Draw on both Maaori and non-Maaori worlds to make the impossible possible!

Thank you to the following people for their support in making it an unforgettable evening: Mr and Mrs Curran; Matua Errin Nin and all staff; our wonderful guest speaker Mrs Donnamaree Ryder; all of the catering team for the amazing kai; and our fabulous property team. Last but not least, thank you to our Dio whaanau who make all of this possible through sharing your aakonga with our Kura.

Check out the event photos in the Photo Gallery section of this issue.

Vocal Music

By Shelby Bowater - Vocal Captain 2022 & Breanna Rickman - Year 12 Choir Member

At the end of August, Bel Suono Choir was honoured to compete in the Big Sing Finale amongst the top 24 choirs in New Zealand! We came away with the Bronze Award, which was an outstanding achievement. The choir had an early morning on 24 August to fly to Christchurch and prepare for the Sing South concert that night. The next morning signalled the official start of the Finale, and after an opening ceremony, performances commenced. Bel Suono performed their first recital in the afternoon, comprised of ‘Hej Igazítsad’ by Hungarian composer Lajos Bárdos. The New Zealand piece then followed this ‘There is Sweet Music Here’ composed by our very own accompanist Angela Smith. It was so amazing to be able to perform in such an amazing venue and also to listen to the other amazing choirs from all over the country.

We had an amazing experience at Finale, mingling with other choirs, making relationships and hearing amazing chorale music. Finale provided us with the opportunity to learn and digest many types of music and learn about what is and isn’t effective on stage. It’s provided us with the foundation to continue to develop our choir and our voices. At Finale, we were introduced to the top choirs of Aoeteroa, including the New Zealand Secondary Schools' Choir, which some members from Bel Suono are auditioning for now. Singing alongside these choirs provided us with an opportunity to learn and grow into a world of professionalism and confidence. We learnt a lot about repertoire and what we could take into Bel Suono for the coming years. We have made history being the first Waikato choir (hopefully not the last) that got into the finale, and this will be something each student can take with them wherever they may go in their musical journey. At the Finale, we sang our pieces like a team, bonding on and off stage. We had the opportunity to tour around Christchurch and learn about landmarks and tourist attractions, with a memorable tour with Shin (Shane). A highlight was the Riverside markets which we visited many times. The trip was memorable for everyone involved and was an amazing musical experience for bonding as a choir.

We would just like to finish by saying a huge thank you to everyone who made the trip possible. To Mrs Colvin, Ms Hewitt, Mrs Greenslade and Mrs Smith for being so amazing - we obviously wouldn’t have been able to get where we did without you. Also, a huge thank you to all the parents of our choristers who provide constant support. Lastly, congratulations to Mrs Colvin and our Bel Suono Choir for such hard work and determination to get an amazing result. Great job, everyone; let's do it again next year!