Music Competitions

Auckland Jazz Competition

10 co-curricular jazz bands and combos took part in the Auckland Jazz Competition at the Birkenhead RSA during the first three weekends of Term 3. Results are as follows:

Big Band – Most Outstanding Big Band Award

Big Band – Gold Award, selected in Top 4 bands for Finals

Jazz Orchestra – Gold Award

Jazz Band – Silver Award

North Sea Combo – Gold Award, selected in Top 4 combos for Finals

Stockholm Combo – Gold Award

Montreux Combo – Silver Award

Newport Combo – Silver Award

Leverkusen Combo – Silver Award

Copenhagen Combo – Silver Award

Manawatu Combo – Bronze Award

KBB Music Festival

8 co-curricular instrumental ensembles took part in the week-long KBB Music Festival in Week 5 – with 11 students selected for the Honours Programme Chamber Orchestra and Concert Band. Results are as follows:

Chamber Orchestra – Gold Award, selection for Gala performance

Big Band – Silver Award

Symphony Orchestra – Silver Award

Concert Band – Silver Award

String Orchestra – Bronze Award

Jazz Orchestra – Bronze Award

Jazz Band – Bronze Award

Wind Orchestra – Highly Commended

KBB Honours Chamber Orchestra

Jack Hong – Violin 2

Yixuan Liu – Violin 2

Lucas Wang – Violin 2

Tianyi Lu – Viola

Agnes Wong – Viola

Claire Oltmanns – Cello

KBB Honours Concert Band

Lucas Wang – Flute 1

Catherine Liu – Soprano Clarinet

Enoch Mun – Clarinet 2

Lila Chiu – Bass Clarinet

Josh Curham – Euphonium

Big Sing Choral Festival

Our four choirs took part in the Auckland Regional Big Sing on towards the end of Term 2, with The Fundamentals and Serenata progressing to the next phase of the competition this term. Results are as follows:

Auckland Regionals

Serenata – Highly Commended

The Fundamentals – Highly Commended, Excellent Performance of a Choral Art Music Composition

The Minuettes – Commended

Cambiata – Participation

Upper North Island Cadenza – Rotorua

The Fundamentals – Korimako Silver Award

National Finale – Dunedin

Serenata – (this trip has not happened at the time of writing)

Songwriting Success

Isabella Bedoya-Lopez – Play It Strange Peace Song Competition – Finalist

Isabella Bedoya-Lopez – Play It Strange Junior Songwriting Competition – 2nd Place

James Todd – Play It Strange National Songwriting Competition – Finalist

Music Events

Concertos & Cookies

On Wednesday 18 June, 177 students performed to a full auditorium at our annual Concertos & Cookies concert. The Food Technology department prepared and packaged over 500 cookies, which were distributed to the audience as they arrived for an evening of orchestral and band music. The event featured a varied programme presented by the Concert Band, Wind Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, String Orchestra, and two Chamber Groups. We were delighted to welcome supporters from Knightsbridge Village, along with families, friends, alumni, and staff members.

A Choral Confection

A Choral Confection took place on 7 August, with 136 singers delivering a highly engaging evening of music. The event welcomed a record audience of 400 guests, who enjoyed an assortment of green-themed confectioneries on arrival. Performances included a minty fresh programme by the four Rangitoto College choirs—The Minuettes, Serenata, Cambiata, and The Fundamentals. The choral brackets were complemented by two sublime solo performances from selected students and a heartfelt piece from the Year 9 Vocal class, all precluded by a 30-minute bracket of pre-show entertainment by vocalists across all year levels. As always, this diverse showcase proved popular with attendees of all ages and served as a distinguished finale to our 2025 concert series.

A small selection of photos is included in this publication.

To see more photos from events and competitions, please visit the photo albums on our fabulous Facebook page Performing Arts at Rangitoto College. This is a lovely way to look back on many years of events, and great to share with relatives overseas.

https://www.facebook.com/performingartsrangitotocollege

To see videos from many of our events, please visit our YouTube Channel Rangitoto College Music.

https://www.youtube.com/c/RangitotoCollegeMusic

We have recently launched Rangitoto Performing Arts on Instagram. This is a student-led site, and we’d love to have more followers from the school student community.