This week saw Sancta Maria College taking a major part in the KBB Music Festival at the Holy Trinity/St Mary’s Churches in Parnell. First up was the Orchestra, who like their compatriots in the Concert Band and Jazz Band (who will perform on Friday) are in the competitive part of the Festival.
After the success of our production earlier in the year, it made sense to perform some pieces from The Sound of Music and we were very grateful to have three of the principal cast members from the musical rejoin us for the Festival. Michaela Ralph-Smith reprised her Maria, opening our set with The Sound of Music itself, followed by our Head Boy, Niel Kulkarni who once more became Captain Von Trapp with a rendition of Edelweiss. The medley was capped off with our very own Mother Superior, Anneliese Simpson who still had those high A flats handy for another show stopping rendition of Climb Every Mountain. Not content with that, the Orchestra moved back in to instrumental mode with a delicate version of Faure’s beautiful Pie Jesu and closed their set with a grand outing of Charpentier’s Te Deum – both of which featured Vincent Brzozowski on the trumpet.
This new, post-production Orchestra is a fine mix of young talent and experience, with all ages from Years 8 to 13 represented. We clearly had the youngest players on show, but as the saying goes, if you are old enough, you are good enough. Our older students have helped the younger ones settle in and are a credit to the school in the way that they help create a family atmosphere.
One further note from our day in Parnell was that the organisers at KBB have informed me that our Orchestra is now so large that we can no longer be termed a Chamber Orchestra and as of next year we will have to enter as a Symphony Orchestra! My, haven’t we grown?
All of our players deserve the highest praise for their hard work, fine performance and for the excellent manner in which they represented Sancta Maria College on a big stage. Well done, all!
Mr Stuart Gibbs
Head of Music
Sancta Maria College
