Hitting all the right notes at Cadenza in Hastings

Altissime, our premier choir, under the direction of Maaike Christie-Beekman, has just returned from an unforgettable experience at Cadenza, the Big Sing Lower North Island competition held in Hastings. This prestigious event brought together 12 choirs from schools across the region, including five from Wellington, with each choir performing four songs across different categories.

In addition to the competition, the choirs had the privilege of participating in three workshops led by Dr Igelese Ete, Associate Dean of Pacific and Associate Professor at Massey University of Creative Arts, who also served as the adjudicator for the competition. These workshops were an amazing experience, where the choirs learned a Fijian and a Samoan song.

At the gala concert, every choir was recognised with either a gold, silver, or bronze plaque. Altissime was delighted and honoured to be awarded a gold plaque, a testament to their hard work and dedication. Additionally, Altissime was incredibly humbled to receive the Te Reo Māori Award from Charles Ropitini for their heartfelt performance of I te pō.

I te Pō is a waiata tangi written by Rob Ruha, and we are deeply grateful to him for gifting this beautiful song to us. The choir chose to perform this waiata to acknowledge the passing of Irene Katsugiannis, who taught piano here at Marsden. Marsden's Muisic Director, Marian Campbell arranged the song for three part harmony and piano. Throughout the rehearsal process, the choir reflected on the significance of the words and music and how to express this through voice and performance.

The gala concert concluded with the national anthem, and it was a proud moment for Marsden when six of our students took the stage to lead the audience in signing the anthem. This powerful display of inclusion and unity was made possible by the dedication of Jenny Gould, who runs the sign language club at Marsden, where students gather each week to learn and practise signing.

Congratulations to Altissime for their outstanding achievements at Cadenza, and for representing Marsden with such grace, talent, and heart.