Have you ever seen a big band play without charts?
On Sunday 9 August 2026, our Sancta Maria College Big Band competed in the finals of the ‘Auckland Jazz and Blues’ high school competition alongside Saint Kentigern College, Rangitoto College, and Auckland Grammar.
Fueled with absolute drive, each of us played straight from the heart. The MC for the night, Eddie, highlighted our passion and energy. Further noting that we were making Auckland Jazz and Blues history as the first big band to perform entirely without sheet music. To top off an unforgettable evening, we were also the only big band to take home a platinum award.
As the evening prolonged, long-standing organiser and renowned saxophone educator Steven Morton-Jones adjudicated the finals. He delivered an inspiring speech, emphasising that authentic jazz is not a concert band performing jazz repertoire, but rather the idea of shared commitment to elevate musicality and spontaneous improvisation up to a high standard.
Although we were close to winning ‘Most Outstanding Big Band’ that was eventually taken out by Saint Kentigern College (a huge congratulations to them), our big band director, Lukas Fritsch, brought tears of joy to our eyes. Reminding us that “the feeling of sharing our music with one another and giving it our all on stage is worth more than any award or medal.”
Rather than leaving in disappointment, we celebrated our hard work with laughter and praise.
Throughout the competition, roughly 68 jazz groups competed in this event over the course of several weekends. We take this opportunity to congratulate every single participant who took part. Most importantly, we would also like to give special recognition to our combos for their outstanding achievements, bringing home the following awards:
- Blue Brioche Buns: Silver
- Big Kahuna Burger: Gold
- Mama’s Ramen: Gold
Overall, we extend our sincere gratitude to everyone for their hard work and dedication throughout this event, and we congratulate all our performers on their well-deserved awards.
We carry this inspired momentum forward as we prepare for the upcoming KBB Music Festival the following week. We wish all our musicians the very best during this exciting, high-energy month of music!
Thank you to Ms. Shone and Mr. Mackenzie for their consistent support in sustaining our jazz programme, and special thanks to Lukas for their continuous guidance and providing us the opportunity to share the stage with us – it is an absolute honour to play alongside professional musicians of their caliber.
