College Musicians play with NZSSSO

The New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Symphony Orchestra (NZSSSO) has convened annually since 1960, selecting the top students in each instrumental category from around the country.  Many of New Zealand’s top professional musicians have taken part in the group which provides a stepping stone to the exceptional National Youth Orchestra.

This year, four of our College students were selected to join the orchestra to perform in the 2018 concert at St Margaret’s College, Christchurch during the April holidays. Head of Music, Mr Ross Gerritsen was absolutely delighted to see his music students, Nicholas Scott (trombone), Evan Metcalfe (French horn), Ericia Chang (violin) and Joshua Pan (violin) perform at this level and represent Saint Kentigern admirably.  They join the list of past students who were also selected whilst at College: Thomas Scott (trumpet), Emily Young (cello), Ethan Blight (principal clarinet) and John Moon (double bass).

The repertoire prepared by the orchestra this year pushed the abilities of the musicians to their limit, requiring significant input from NZSO, CSO and local Christchurch section tutors.  The programme for the concert included the testing Finlandia (Sibelius), Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor (Prokofiev) and Symphony No. 2 (Rachmaninoff).

We congratulate these students for their selection and performance and look forward to hearing them as part of their College music ensembles as our musicians prepare for the KBB Festival later this term.