Wednesday 11 November, 2020
2020 Diocesan Arts Award Winners
2020 Arts Awards Celebration – Friday 30th October at 6.00pm in Diocesan Arts Theatre

The 2020 Arts Awards Celebration were held Friday 30 October in the new Diocesan Arts Theatre

Despite the disruptions and uncertainties, 2020 has produced some remarkable successes in the arts. Some competitions have been lucky enough to run, others cancelled, but what we wanted to celebrate was the remarkable journey taken, against the odds, to participate, explore and achieve at an incredibly high level. The dedication students have shown in all areas of the creative arts has resulted in success at regional, national and international levels. All the awards acknowledge work beyond the academic curriculum and we also acknowledge the tremendous contribution of dedicated staff who coach groups and encourage individuals to achieve at the very highest level.

Presentation of Certificates

Speech & Drama – Grade 8 with Distinction
Amy Choi
Stella Murray
Sarah Wong

Visual Arts – In Fine Arts
Dianne Ma
Summer Wilson
Elena Wood

Film Making & Digital Design
Anastasia Sun

Chinese Dance – Choreography and Costume
Dianne Wang

Handbells – Mentoring Junior handbell Ensemble
Abby Holden
Emily Huo

Debating
Dio Junior Premier Team, Level 1 – won Auckland Schools Debating Competition Junior Open
Lauren Chee
Sarah-Rose Crofskey
Jessica Lee
Victoria Wright

Dio Advanced Premier Team, Level 1 – Octo finals in Auckland Regionals
Deborah Huang
Jessica Woo
Elena Wood

Future Problem Solving – Team qualified to attend the National Finals
Eleanor Christiansen
Alex Wackrow
Pascale Vincent
Cassie Wood

Literature – Poetry/Prose
For publication in ReDraft, a writing competition run by the School of Young Writers nationwide
Amy Choi
Natasha Mori
Allegra Wilson – National Schools Poetry Awards Finalist 2020

Spoken Word
Arielle Friedlander
Arielle was invited to fill the role of calibration poet the 2020 Spoken Word finals.

Kiwanis Speech Competition
Olivia Pearce
Awarded 3rd Prize in Kiwanis interschool speech competition.

Contemporary Music and Songwriting
Year 11 Rock Band ‘Kamokaze’ won the ‘ZM Best Song Award’ in the 2020 Smokefree Rockquest Regional Final.
Emma Parton
Lucia Partigliani
Riya Raniga

Who Loves Who Competition – National Selection for 2020 Album
Imogen Foley
Alex Graney
Holly Graney
Riya Raniga

Auctioneering Regionals of NZ Real Estate Auctioneering School Championships – Highly Commended
Pippa Morris
Phebe Mason
Rosie Leishman
Kiara Salvaratnam
Meg Zame
Faith Tupuhi

Arts Council

Arts Prefect 2020 Anna Casey
Deputies – Lucy Bartlett & Jessica Woo

Isabella Grafton Howe
Emily Huo
Esther Oh
Jessica Marshall
Olivia Blanchard
Emily Clelland
Summer Edwards
Rosie Leishman
Kiara Selvaratnam
Sophia Souloglou
Chielin Xu
Deborah Huang
Elena Wood
Dianne Ma
Summer Wilson
Melissa Uren
Helen Kim

Instrumental Music – Symphony Orchestra/Chamber Orchestra & Clyde St Jazz Band

This year these girls all made the commitment to rehearsals and some weekend intensives in order to achieve at the highest level at the KBB Festival competition – which didn’t happen. Clyde Street Jazz band only started this year directed by Jillian Christoff

Those girls in both Symphony and Chamber Orchestra
Anna Casey
Jasmine Ha
Kate Wellington
Sarah Young
Erica Hu
Sunny Zhang
Esther Oh
Joo Kim
Jessica Woo
Kaitlyn Mallon
Matilda Hol
Elise Ji
Helen Kim
Zoe Zhu
Eva Wu
Eleanor Christiansen

Symphony Orchestra & Clyde Street Jazz Band
Priscilla Huang
Brielle Wallberg
Sara MacGillivray
Anastasia Sun
Ella Riley
Jessica Marshall
Emma Parton
Victoria Wright

Symphony Orchestra or Clyde Street Jazz Band
Deborah Huang
Kristen Hansen
Janet Ha
Grace Lin
Bonnie Liu
Charlotte Paterson
Holly Meyers
Teresa Gu
Rachel Liu
Jocelyn Cheung
Olivia Pearce
Natasha Levene
Chantelle May
Grace Field

2020 Senior Production ‘Little Shop of Horrors’

Rehearsing throughout Term 1 and only one week out from opening night,the production was cancelled. This was pretty devastating for all those involved and we want to acknowledge their commitment.

Cast
Lucy Bartlett – main female lead
Hannah Flacks – lead
Kiara Selvaratnam – lead
Jasmine Soakai – lead
Hazel Francis
Pippa Morris
Melissa Uren
Rosie Leishman
Olivia Pearce
Halle Gravatt
Emma Parton
Holly Graney
Amelia Griffins
Mia Reid

Emily Clelland – Backstage

Choral Music – St Cecilia Singers
Rina Nair
Summer Edwards
Anna Casey
Lucy Bartlett
Phoebe Chow
Hannah Flacks
Hazel Francis
Chielin Xu
Rosie Leishman
Holly Meyers
Phebe Mason
Emily Paramore
Kiara Selvaratnam
Sophia Souloglou
Keltie Kewan Young
Alexandra Young
Hattie Johnston
Sarah Wong
Lauren Komie

Poetry & Songwriting
Sabreen Islam

Sabreen’s poetry publication peaked at number 4 in Oceanian Poetry on Amazon
Waiting on results from Redraft Writing Competition – announced in November.
2x Songs up on Spotify

Representative at Regional Level

In MUSIC
NZCT Chamber Music Competition – the district and regionals of this competition went ahead online and of our 5 groups entered, 4 were awarded at Regionals -with 3 going on to compete at Nationals.

Everyone Herz –won the Adjudicators Award at Auckland Regionals
Jessica Marshall
Ella Riley
Anastasia Sun

In DRAMA
The Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand – Regionals
Auckland Central Regional Festival was also online this year and 2 Diocesan groups won both the 5-minute and 15-minute categories at Regionals, Measure for Measure and Othello, which progressed to National Finals.
Phebe Mason, Mel Uren and Rosie Leishman are the winners of the five minute scene for the second year in a row. Their presentation of Measure for Measure was also awarded Best Use of Music.

Regional Awards at Shakespeare Festival
Rosie Leishman
Phebe Mason
Melissa Uren

In DANCE
Hip Hop
NZCAF Regionals saw the Senior Hip Hop Crew (Year 12-13 students), Junior Hip Hop Team (Years 7-8), and a newly formed Hip Hop Trio (Years 8-11), competing at the NZCAF Regionals. All three teams qualified for NZCAF Nationals in Wellington, but unfortunately were unable to attend due to Covid restrictions.
Senior Hip Hop Crew – 1st in the Mega Crew Category
Girls Scouts (Trio troupe) – 2nd in the Mini Crew Category

We would like to acknowledge Maddie Turner for her excellent contribution to the choreography throughout this year, assisting in securing a win for the team.

Maddie Turner
Emma Badger
Jessy Berman
Rosie Boisen
Imogen Bowkett
Maddison Coldham
Dayna Cornwell
Sienna Gray
Charlotte Kittle
Gemma Seymour
Olivia Blanchard
Tanushree Sharma
Asia Tempero
Adriana Cato- Symonds
Ruby Ngan Kee
Emily Paramore
Ondine Payne
Maisie Wagstaff
Sophie Winstanley
Natasha Levene

Hip Hop Mini Crew ‘Girl Scouts’ – 2nd at Regional Level
Jaymie Baxter Wilson
Natasha Levene
Anna Renshaw

Representatives at National Level

Shakespeare Costume Design Award – 3rd Place
Designed for the character of Titania, Aimee’s costume was made up by a professional from Toi Whaakari, then is displayed at the Globe Theatre in London.
Aimee Schnuriger (Year 10)

Shakespeare Aotearoa
A one-off residential event for young actors, supported by the Ministry of Youth Development, Phebe & Lily worked with industry professionals exploring contemporary issues through Shakesperean characters
Phebe Mason
Lily Loveridge

Drama – Actors Programme – a highly competitive training programme directly connected to the stage and screen industries.
Anisha de Silva
Luca Andrews

National Awards at Shakespeare Festival
Othello, student-directed by Year 13 Anisha de Silva, picked up two awards:

• Outstanding Presentation from a Tragedy Award – Othello
• Outstanding Music/Song Award – Willow Song from Othello
Anisha de Silva
Hazel Francis
Phebe Mason

NZSSC – 2 year programme saw our Dio singers who were selected to represent NZ in the Secondary Schools Choir having their European Tour cancelled days before they were due to leave.
Chielin Xu
Hannah Flacks
Hazel Francis
Charli Collard

NZSSO/NZSWB – both girls were selected to represent NZ in the Secondary School Orchestra and Symphonic wind Band – again their programmes were all cancelled.
Helen Kim
Jessica Marshall

International Music Diplomas and Dance Awards
ATCL & LTCL Diploma (Associate of Trinity College, London) Music

All of the following girls were lucky enough to sit their Diplomas before we were plunged into lockdown:
Matilda Hol – violin & viola
Esther Oh – violin
Emma Qiu – piano
Zoe Zhu – piano

Dance – all the following girls have all been lucky enough to squeeze in competitions before lockdown or audition for international dance companies online.

Ondine Payne – Ballroom
Ondine Payne and her partner competed internationally last December at the Las Vegas Holiday Classic Dance Competition where they also performed as part of the Limelight Studio Formation team.
They ranked as the top NZ Adult couple placing 3rd in their Adult Latin Event.

Alex Bailey – Ballet
In February Alex was accepted onto a 4 week Professional Division Summer Intensive programme with the Alberta Ballet School in Canada. Unfortunately due to Covid -19 travel restrictions Alex was unable to take up this opportunity. But she has now been accepted into their full-time dance programme and Canada and is about to depart. Alex will continue her academic studies whilst getting first-class dance training at the Alberta Ballet School.

Olivia Blanchard – Ballet/ Contemporary Dance
February 2020, she auditioned with the Artistic Director of the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary, London and was offered a full-time position on the Bachelor of Arts (Hons) programme. She was also offered a full-time place and merit scholarship Joffrey School of Ballet in New York specialising in Jazz and Contemporary.

Jessy Berman– Jazz and Contemporary
In January Jessy competed at Evolution Dance Competition national finals on the Gold Coast. This competition is the culmination for the finalists chosen at the regional competitions held throughout Australia and New Zealand. Jessy achieved top-five placings in her solos in contemporary, lyrical and jazz. And she has been offered a place at the prestigious Brent Street Academy 2021 Performing Arts programme in Sydney in 2021.

Imogen Bowkett – Contemporary Dance
Again at the Evolution Dance finals Imogen placed in every category. She also received the Judges’ Choice Award and then went on to win a scholarship at ED5International, Australia’s premiere full-time performing arts academy in Sydney which she was unfortunately unable to take up due to Covid.

Chamber Music – NZCT Chamber Music Competition
2 days before the country went into lockdown for a second time, three Diocesan groups performed at National Finals in Wellington in August. We were the best represented school at the finals, making up an impressive quarter of all groups through to Nationals across New Zealand.

Of the 10 Dio musicians selected for national awards, we were the only all-female group awarded Gold at the finals.

Aquarelles – National Silver Award winners and Regional KBB Special Award
Matilda Hol
Helen Kim
Eva Wu

Diocetesan – National Silver Award winners and Regional Highly Commended
Esther Oh
Joo Kim
Anna Casey
Jessica Woo
Kaitlyn Mallon
Matilda Hol
Elise Ji
Eva Wu

Trio Glivenko – National Gold Award, Highly Commended Award and outright winners of Regionals
Emma Qiu
Esther Oh
Joo Kim

Cups

Cups are presented to girls with an exemplary level of commitment, ability and participation.

Diocesan Dance Cup for excellence in Choreography and Performance – Jessy Berman
2020 Dance Captain, sadly there was no Night of Dance for her to lead this year.

Mannion Speech & Drama Cup – Stella Murray
About to sit her ATCL Diploma (after many cancellations) she has produced & directed an amazing Birthday Concert for the Y13 and for those who don’t recognise her, has been the Dio O face of cuisine!

Diocesan Instrumental Cup for long-term loyalty and leadership – Anna Casey
Concert Master and Leader of Symphony Orchestra, 7 Gold Awards at KBB between Chamber and Symphony and member of both for 5 years, been a member of 6 chamber groups since Year 9.

Jennifer Macdonald Cup for Contribution to Debating – Deborah Huang

Arts Council Award Star Award for 2020 – Summer Edwards

Jean Gallagher Cup for Commitment to Instrumental Music – Emma Qiu
Emma won our Concerto Cup for a second consecutive year, has won many 1st prizes at regional competitions, and has twice been National finalist at the chamber music NZ competition.

Terri Crouch Award for Most Promising Vocalist in Year 12 – Sophia Souloglou,
Sophia has been a member of St C singers for 4 years, taken lead roles in school productions, has placed every year at our Aria competition and this year came 2nd

McCabe Cup for Excellence in School Music – Hannah Flacks
Hannah won Aria competition this year having been runner-up several times, sung in St C since Y9, has taken lead roles in many drama and musical theatre productions and she has represented NZ in the national secondary students choir.

Hazel Kinder Cup for the Most Committed Choristers in 2020 – Chielin Xu & Hazel Francis
Both girls have both been members of St C for 5 years, have placed at Aria competition, taken lead roles in productions and both represent NZ in the national secondary students choir.

Sandy O’Brien Cup for Excellence in Drama Performance – Anisha de Silva
Anisha has won the NZ Theatre Federation Best Actor award at Nationals in 2018 and 2019 and unfortunately Covid stopped her attempting the hat trick!. This year, she was selected for the prestigious Actors Program intensive course where she proved her ability at a professional level. Anisha is an outstanding Shakespearean actor and has represented Auckland Central at National level in 2018 and 2019. This year she was awarded Best Director at regionals for Othello which also picked up two awards. She was chosen for Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand Schools Theatre company.

Averill Award for Services to the Performing Arts – Zoe Zhu & Pippa Morris
Service underpins all that we do here at Diocesan. The arts need people who show a level of commitment and perseverance that goes beyond just being involved. We honour two very deserving recipients who have given their energy, time and talent very generously as performers and mentors across multi-disciplines – in dance, music, drama, auctioneering, choreography, musical productions, leadership roles and exceptional cake making.

The Rosey Eady Cup for a special individual who makes a difference – Sabreen Islam
We believe this recipient is set to make a difference in the world of poetry and song writing.
Sabreen is a poet, songwriter and aspiring author who before she was 16 had been writing books on online platforms that garnered hundreds of thousands of readers. Her debut collection of poetry, Spring Clean, is the first of a trilogy she plans to publish. She is a staunch feminist, LGBTQ+ ally, and believes that everyone deserves the safety and right to own their voice and tell their story. Sabreen is currently working on her debut EP and novel, with which she aims to turn her dreams of being a writer into a reality.

Imogen Wells Award – Hazel Francis
This bronze was sculpted by Imogen’s father and is presented to a student showing all-round excellence in the arts. This year the award goes to a girl who over the years has represented Diocesan in all our year level choirs and St C for 5 years, in orchestras as a violinist in both symphony and chamber (with some 7 Gold awards to her name) In theatre productions, both in drama and musical theatre, winning at regional and national level and has being selected to represent NZ in the National Secondary Schools Choir

The David Gordon Cup for Excellence and Commitment – Anna Casey
Anna has been an exceptional Arts Prefect and Leader of Symphony Orchestra during this fragmented year, growing into both roles. She has played a big part in making 2020 move forward in a very positive way – leading with warmth and generosity, always smiling and upbeat, always there for everyone. She led her arts council during lockdown with maturity, encouraging everyone to get involved and displaying a real positive ‘can do’ attitude. Over the 13 years Anna has been at Dio she has been in every production, every year level choir, every orchestra, been to nationals in Drama for the Shakespeare Festival, been in the Junior waterpolo team (Director of Sport had big plans for her) been to countless Big Sing Finales with St Cecilia Singers, won 8 Golds across symphony and chamber orchestra and this year topped her wish list by making it to Nationals for the NZCT Chamber Music competition in Wellington. Anna is also an an exceedingly high achiever academically – a gilded scholar, recipient of a Board Scholarship in Y12 are amongst some of her many achievements. In the 8 years I have known her, she has never let me down, her loyalty and reliability will be a hard act to follow.

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