Over her many years at Dio, Sina has been involved in many arts programs – it’s hard to keep track of her many achievements.
She is a stunning singer, having won both junior and senior Arias, been a member of every Dio choir and has been in our elite St Cecilia Singers choir for three years. She took the lead role in Sound of Music as Mother Abbess, she is a fabulous contemporary singer and joins the rock band program to add her vocal shine.
And of course, she was the only Dio chorister chosen for the national choir NZSSC – one of her proudest achievements.
She is a great instrumentalist too, playing euphonium in Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band and chamber groups.
Read more about Lotosina below.
Q. What are your favourite aspects of the arts and why?
A. One of my favourite aspects of the arts is the opportunities that come with being involved in the arts. For example, being in choir I’m able to compete in The Big Sing competition and travel to different parts of New Zealand, for The Big Sing Finale, or also with concert band and orchestra, we compete in the KBB Music Festival, which allows me to hear and see other schools play music for an entire day.
I also love that the arts have a wide range of possibilities and options for me to do, and it caters for everyone and anyone’s desires. For example, I’m able to learn the euphonium and be in groups for that, while also learning different styles of singing, as I do both classical and contemporary, I’m able to be in the choir but I am also able to sing with a rock band. My favourite thing to do when it comes to the arts though is definitely singing. I now sing a lot of classical music but also love singing contemporary. I have always loved to sing, and I started with contemporary, it is one of my beginning styles, and I have always loved it from day one, but although I don’t do it as often as I would like to, I still prefer it to anything else. Another aspect of the arts that I enjoy is how supportive everyone is of anything and everything that you do. Not just teachers and tutors but also my fellow peers. They push me to do the best that I can do, and they cheer for me when I succeed. I am forever grateful for all these people in my life.
Q. What are some past arts achievements you are proud of?
A. The main arts achievements I am most proud of are being successful in receiving a place in the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir, which happened for me at the end of 2022. Another great achievement was winning the Junior High School Aria in Year 10, and winning the Senior Aria the next year.
Another achievement that I’m proud of is leading our Pasifika Group. Our Pasifika Group had always been really small and didn’t ever really perform in anything. Still, we have been really getting involved in the school culture, and we now perform in the night of dance, in culture night, and we can also sometimes perform during language weeks, which is so special.
Q. Could you please share some details about your experience so far with NZSSC? What is your favourite thing about being part of the choir?
A. My experiences so far with NZSSC have been nothing but incredible. Being with a group of people who are just as passionate as you are about singing is truly an amazing experience. Last year during every school holidays, our choir would meet together for one week in a different city in New Zealand, and during these weeks we would mostly rehearse together, and would then perform concerts for the public. It’s always a great turnout and always a wholesome experience. My favourite thing about being in the choir is the different experiences and opportunities I’ve had with being a part of a national choir. We’ve performed ANZAC concerts, and we’ve performed at the Waitangi grounds during Waitangi. We have even more exciting performances to come, so I’m also looking forward to that.
Q. What are you most looking forward to about NZSSC?
A. The main thing that I am looking forward to about NZSSC is our international tour that’s coming up in the July holidays, where we’ll be travelling together for about 3 weeks in Asia, performing in a choral festival, and being involved in other exciting performances. Not only am I excited for the international tour, but I’m also excited for our choir to perform at The Big Sing Finale this year in Wellington, where we get to perform our repertoire for the top school choirs in New Zealand, and hopefully influence others to audition for the choir later this year. I am beyond excited to see how well NZSSC can do overseas with other cultures, and how we can also show off the unique culture of New Zealand to others from around the world.
Q. Are you involved in any arts groups at school and what do you enjoy about them?
A. Yes, for school I’m in the St Cecilia Singers, I am also in the symphony orchestra, as well as the Dio-Dilworth Concert Band and I am also the leader of the Pasifika Dance Group. Also earlier this year I was in the cast for The Sound of Music senior production. I love being very involved in the arts at Dio. The culture and people at Dio are so welcoming and loving and it becomes very easy to want to come back and be a part of these groups. Being in St C was what pushed me to audition for NZSSC and it’s amazing to be able to do both now. I have been playing the euphonium now for 7 years and started through the music programme in Year 5 at Dio, which has allowed me to be in these various music groups. Another thing that I was involved in this year was the senior production of The Sound of Music. I had the pleasure of playing the character Mother Abbess, and it was an absolute joy to be a part of something like this, as I had never done a proper musical before. But I’m so glad that I did it.
Q. Finally, what are your hopes for your arts journey in the future? Any advice for girls trying to start their arts journey?
A. I hope that I can continue to learn and grow as a musician because there is still so much for me to learn, and I hope I can continue to be as involved as I can be in the arts that I can. I would also love to maybe study music at university and hopefully make a career out of it, most likely in singing. I would also like to start singing more contemporary music again, as I said before, I don’t sing it as often as I would like to, and it is something that I love to do, so hopefully I get to sing more contemporary music. Any advice for girls is that if you have the slightest interest, or even just a quick thought about it, just do it. I started singing and euphonium at a young age, and I have never regretted it before. I still enjoy both and I’m now at a level where I can go and do different groups and join different choirs. I always had the option to quit but never felt the need. So I encourage all the young girls, that if you do have an interest, please go and see it through because it just might be that it could be the beginning of an incredibly fulfilling and transformative journey that enriches not only your life but also the lives of those around you.
