In Week 5, the Carmel College Orchestra and Jazz Band proudly represented our school at the KBB Music Festival, held at the beautiful Holy Trinity Cathedral. Held over 5 days, the KBBMF is the largest Secondary School music festival in the country and sees school ensembles from across Auckland (along with some from Wellington this year) performing in four categories.

The Carmel Orchestra performed a varied programme and earned a well-deserved Bronze Award—our second consecutive year achieving this honour! The adjudicators praised the orchestra’s ability to listen to each other, their sense of musical character and attention to detail. We are incredibly proud of every musician involved and deeply grateful to our Music Director, Bev Brockelbank, for her outstanding leadership and dedication to the group.

Following on from a successful performance at Whole School Assembly on the Wednesday morning, the Jazz Band participated as a non-competitive ensemble on Thursday afternoon, presenting a fun programme of 3 songs. Throughout the year, the band has made tremendous progress under the guidance of Music Director and Head of Department, Hayley Barker. They’ve explored a wide range of repertoire and stepped confidently out of their comfort zones. The adjudicators gave fantastic feedback, making this an inspiring and valuable experience for all the students involved.

Congratulations to all the performers!