From the Arts

Kapa Haka Noho

On the 23 to 24 January, our kapa haka roopuu held the annual start of year noho to establish whanaungatanga early in the year between old and new students of Dio. We started the noho with some games and group work, cooling off in the pool and working with our kapa haka tutors about what this busy year will look like for us, and it has given us some things to look forward to.

- Annika Te Anga - Kaitaataki Waahine (Kapa Haka Captain).

Choir Camp

Hi, I’m Jorja-Rose, the Head Chorister for 2024, and my main focus this year is to celebrate our Bel Suono and Cantiamo choir by inspiring growth in our Dio singers and sharing my passion for singing.

Bel Suono 2024 started with a hiss and a roar at our annual Choir camp earlier in the year from the 24 January to the 25 January. The girls enjoyed two days and stayed overnight on the beautiful Dio grounds, singing the new choral pieces we will perform for the Big Sing Regionals in Tauranga. We are excited to announce our new choral pieces for the year with a range in different genres, from our jazzy piece “You’d be so nice to come home to”, written by Cole Porter and arranged by Jay Althouse, to the stunning lyrical piece “Sure on this Shining Night” composed by Morten Lauridsen and James Agee. The third and fourth pieces we learnt were “Laudate Dominum” by Egil Hovland and the traditional Samoan song “Sina Oe/Manu o le Davao,” arranged by Elisha Fa’i-So’oialo. Our special guest, Elisha Fa’i-So’oialo, the Head of Rotorua Boys' High Choir ‘Raukura’ and composer of our fourth musical item, taught us how to pronounce the traditional Samoan words and the movements for this gorgeous song. Thank you to Elisha for all her guidance and support during our workshop. We made so much progress with her help. We celebrated the hard work we put into learning the songs with a concert showcasing our fantastic repertoire. Overall, our Bel Suono choir camp for 2024 was a big success. Thank you to all the teachers who helped us learn these fantastic songs!

Our Bel Suono Instagram account is @Bella_Bel_Suono.

Jorja-Rose, Head Chorister 2024

Clubs Day

Clubs Day, which took place on the 9 February, was a massive success for all our co-curricular activities within arts and sports! Our arts and sports captains decorated booths to showcase a bit about their clubs, teams, groups, or activities, and at lunchtime, everyone could come through and see them. This was great as they could ask questions in person and sign up for whichever interested them. It was also an excellent way for students, especially the Year 9s, to better understand what activities are on offer at Dio, what the expectations are within them, and most importantly, the fun they could have! It felt like the school was more involved than ever in the co-curricular life, which made Clubs Day a huge success!

Teresa Oertly

NOISE editor

See the highlight video here! https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3EQT8yy-3J/

Performing Arts USA Tour

We have an exciting overseas trip happening next year to the USA! This is for performing arts students taking NCEA Music, Drama or Dance in 2025. There is an information evening for parents and students about the trip next weekend, Sunday, 25 February, at 5.15 pm, in the Lecture Theatre. Come along to learn all the details about the trip and ask all your burning questions. A representative from Tour Time (the company we are using to arrange and run the trip) will be at the information evening. We are encouraging everyone interested (even if you don’t know if it’s the trip for you) to come along and listen to the presentation.

We look forward to seeing you there! If you have any questions before the evening, please get in touch with Ms Armitage or email arts@wdsg.school.nz, who will pass it on.

Vocal Music Highlights

Hi Everyone! My name is Elodie, and I am the Vocal Captain for 2024. My goal for the year is to make Dio’s vocal groups an environment where students feel comfortable and can make mistakes along the learning journey.

It has been an extremely promising beginning to 2024 for our school vocal groups, full of great learning opportunities, enlightening workshops and talented newcomers. Bel Suono and Barbershop groups will work toward their respective regional competitions, whilst the Cantiamo choir will prepare for opportunities to serve the Waikato Dio school community and the wider community through worship.

A note to the students involved: beginning this learning process will require hard work and diligence. Be assured that everyone is truly in the same boat, and please feel welcome to ask for extra help from seniors and/or mentor teachers. I encourage everyone to take up the opportunities presented throughout the year to see the incredible progress our vocal groups will make.

Barbershop

The Barbershop Chorus is up and running! The first rehearsal for the year was held last Tuesday and will be from 3.30 - 4.40 every Tuesday ( in school term ) for the remainder of the school year. Sections are not finalised yet, so feel free to come along to an after-school rehearsal and give it a go! Email jmartin@wdsg.school.nz for more information.

Trinity Certificates

Congratulations to the following students who have achieved certificates from the Trinity College of London.

Addison Kenyon - awarded Grade 4 Musical Theatre, Level 2 Certificate in Graded Examination in Musical Theatre (solo) with Distinction.

Mikayla Thorrold - awarded Grade 4 Musical Theatre, Level 2 Certificate in Graded Examination in Musical Theatre (solo) with Distinction.

Maja Baker-Seoighe - awarded Grade 5 Singing, Level 2 Certificate in Graded Examination in Music Performance with Distinction.

Upcoming events

Tonight, the Hamilton Arts Festival Toi Ora ki Kirikiriroa kicks off with many exciting events at the Hamilton Gardens and the Meteor Theatre. A few events involve current and former Dio students and staff, so come along and see what it's about.

Saturday, 24 February, is the Trust Waikato Symphony Orchestra's Sunset Symphony - an event running for ten years that sees the Rhododendron Lawn at the Gardens come to life with music, food trucks, and fireworks. Picnic and family-friendly - it's a koha/donation to enter.

On Thursday, 29 February, Hamilton City Brass joined forces with an epic local choir to perform the NZ premiere of Christopher Tin’s To Shiver The Sky - conducted by our Director of Music, Maria Colvin. Hamilton City Brass will be joined by a Festival Chorus of 70 singers (including four Dio students), a chamber choir, a children’s choir, and two outstanding soloists. Tickets cost $35 and are available from the Hamilton Arts Festival website.

Dio Old Girl and past Arts Laureate Isabella Reid is having a fundraising concert for her upcoming European tour with the New Zealand Youth Choir. 23 March 2024 at 7:00 pm at the Gallagher Concert Chamber at the University of Waikato, and she would love some Dio support

Get your tickets here.

Instrumental Music 

Hi, my name is Joy, and I’m the Instrumental Music Captain for 2024.

DiOrchestra

Orchestra 2024 has just begun! The orchestra (DiOrchestra) is directed and conducted by Mrs Colvin. This year, we are playing some fun and exciting new pieces, including Phantom of the Opera and The Beatles Melody. The orchestra has weekly practices after school on Wednesdays from 2:30 to 4:00 pm. If you have missed the orchestra signup but play an instrument and want to join us, feel free to come to the Chapel on Wednesday after school at 2.30 pm and talk to us!

Jazz Band

Jazz Band has been practising hard for the National Youth Jazz Band festival in March. Their repertoire includes Autumn Leaves, Nilesology, Film Noir Soir, and Don’t Know Why. They practice on Thursday from 1.10 pm - 2:20 pm.

Pixie Kickers

Pixie Kickers is Dio’s very own guitar ensemble! They are learning a new song written by Andrew Hewat (teacher in charge, ITM tutor) and practise on Tuesdays from 2:00 pm-3:00 pm. This group is open to guitar players of all levels.

Youth Orchestra Waikato

Youth Orchestra Waikato, also known as YOW, draws upon young musicians from throughout the Waikato aged 13 plus, and they get together on Friday evenings to rehearse. We want to acknowledge the following Dio students who have successfully auditioned to be a part of this group: Diny Zhou (co-Concertmaster), Gabriella Schuitemaker, Kezia Schuitemaker, Claudia Noble, Joy Liao, Ziwen Guo, Linda Nielsen, Jacqueline Li, Sarah Wang, Jess Foster and Charlotte Colvin.

New Zealand Youth Symphonic Winds (NZYSW)

NZYSW is a 47-piece ensemble comprising secondary school-aged wind, brass and percussion players selected from around New Zealand. Congratulations to Jacqueline Li (Year 12) and Jess Foster (Year 10), who were selected to go to Wellington over the summer holidays to participate in the NZYSW intensive.

Library

Hi, I'm Alexis, the Library Captain for 2024. My goal for this year is to make the library a more fun and inclusive space where everyone is welcome. I am a passionate reader, hoping to inspire more girls at Dio to start reading.

The library is where students can come during school hours and before and after school to study, read or relax. It is a quiet space where they can do homework and study without interruptions. The library has festive or seasonal book displays throughout the year, and clubs and competitions will run soon.

Our first big library event was the Blind Date with a Book on Valentine's Day. Our team of hard-working student librarians and Mrs Kosijer, our teacher-librarian, put this together. Everyone created five books ‘teasers’ and picked out their favourite books. The books were then wrapped and displayed for students to pick out on Valentine's Day. They choose a book by reading only the teasers without seeing the cover. It was a big success, and most students enjoyed unwrapping a book they hadn’t read before. The students who took a Blind Date Book and wrote a review about it will then go in the draw to win a Valentine's Prize. This is one of my favourite events of the year, and more interesting events will come. 

Noise Magazine

My name is Teresa Oertly, and I am so pleased to be the editor for the student-run magazine The Noise! this year.

This once-a-term magazine is an amazing opportunity to get student art, writing, recipes, and more out into the community here at Dio - but also in a low-stress environment. This is because it is a co-curricular where students can manage themselves, of course, with help from Mrs Brown (teacher in charge) if needed.

The Noise magazine committee ran their first meeting last week, where we all got to talk about the year to come, share our ideas, and learn more about the theme for this year - through the centuries!

I look forward to working with everyone this year, and I am super excited to make the magazine come to life with all your amazing ideas and submissions!

Just a reminder, there is still time to sign up for the committee or submit a piece as a one-time situation. Please email me at noise@wdsg.school.nz  to get the classroom code or to share your submission(s). I’d be more than happy to hear from you.