An Australian school band touring New Zealand made a stop in east Auckland to showcase their considerable talents.
The group of instrumental music students from Wynnum State High School in Brisbane visited Sancta Maria College in Flat Bush on June 17.
They were first treated to a top-class performance by Sancta Maria’s award-winning Big Band, which performed songs including Such Sweet Thunder by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, Haitian Fight Song by Charles Mingus, Ellington’s Mood Indigo, and Listen Here by Eddie Harris.
The Sancta Maria choir then took to the auditorium stage to perform songs including Cantar! by Jay Althouse, Ave Maria by David N. Childs, and Found/Tonight by Lin Manuel Miranda, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
The school’s auditorium then filled to capacity with Sancta Maria College pupils who delighted in the subsequent performance from the Australian instrumental music students led by teacher John Cosic.
They delivered a swinging, up-tempo set that drew raucous applause from the audience, which was clearly impressed by the abilities of the Australian students.
As well as stopping by east Auckland to perform during their tour, the Australia students have visited Hobbiton and Rotorua to perform with the Rotorua Symphonic Band.
They performed for pupils at an intermediate school on Auckland’s North Shore and rehearsed a song with the West City Youth Band.
The students also performed at the WestCity Waitakere shopping centre, visited the Auckland Botanic Gardens, and watched a performance from the Manukau Symphony Orchestra.
