Throughout the 11th to the 14th of August 2025, many of Sancta Maria College’s talented musicians set out to the Holy Trinity Cathedral and St Mary’s Church in Parnell, to compete in the annual KBB Music Festival. Our musicians have all spent countless hours preparing and it has paid off. Our bands and orchestras competed amongst 55 other schools, and all achieved amazingly – with our school sending five groups in total: our Symphonia, Festival Orchestra, Concert Band, Stage Band and Big Band.
Conducted by our new Head of Music, Ms Sonya Shone, our Symphonia Orchestra received an excellent bronze award. They performed: ‘Prayer of St Gregory’ (featuring violinist Ceron Zheng), ‘Barcarolle’, ‘Balletto, No. 1 from Ancient Aires and Dances’, and ‘Music from La La Land’ (featuring violinist Ceron Zheng).
Our Festival Orchestra, conducted by wonderful students Joanna Ma & Katherine Chiang, as a non-competitive band, received a participation award. Their performance included: ‘Eye Level’, ‘Hedwig’s Theme’, ‘Premiership Blues’, and ‘I’ve Got My Eye on You’.
Our Concert Band, conducted by the excellent Mr Hamish Arthur, received a silver award. They performed: ‘Byzantine Dances’, ‘Salvation Is Created’, ‘Pavanne’ (featuring Max Tay-Morrison on trumpet), and ‘Chorale and March’.
Our Stage Band, conducted by the amazing Maia Tay-Morrison, received a bronze award. Their performance included: ‘All The Things You Are’, ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ and ‘Listen Here’. Special mention to Aaron Chan for his help behind-the-scenes!
Finally, our Big Band, conducted by the brilliant Mr Lukas Fritsch, received a gold award and additionally, an award for Best Performance of a Ballad by a Jazz Band. They were invited to the prestigious KBB Gala Concert, where only the best bands and orchestras are invited. It was an incredible honour for our school. They performed: “Aguas de Marco” (featuring vocalists Audrey Basilio and Ariane Cordeiro), “Nostalgia in Times Square”, “Li’l Darlin’”, and “Banana Phone Bill”.
In addition, a special mention to Minky Kim (trombone), who was selected and invited to this year’s KBB Honours Concert.
2025 has been yet another outstanding year for our music department and our achievements reflect just that. It is certain that all our students have been left with memories that will last a lifetime.
A massive thank you to the music department, all the teachers, conductors and students behind-the-scenes, who have worked tirelessly to bring the gift of music to our students. Thank you to the parents for their unending support of music, but most importantly – thank you to all the marvellous performers who represented our school spectacularly at this year’s KBB Festival.
