SGHS singers preach to national choir
Students from Southland Girls’ High School are taking their singing skills national, again.
For the third year in the choir’s history, Southland Girls’ Femme choir will take a national stage, performing to an Auckland audience at Aotea Centre in August.
The group of 19 singing students and one former student on piano competed against choirs from five other Southland schools at the Big Sing competition on June 21.
Southland Girls’ High School head of performing arts and Femme musical director Sarah Rae said it was exciting to be chosen as one of 24 choirs from more than 260 choirs nationwide to head to Auckland.
Femme was one of just six from the South Island, which was ‘‘pretty mind-blowing’’, she said.
‘‘It’s an amazing accolade for the school.’’
Coming from Southland, Rae believed the students had something special to offer.
‘‘It’s really great, our girls have held their heads up,’’ she said. ‘‘They’re as passionate as anyone else.’’
They would be the ‘‘south of the south’’ at the competition, and the school had the community backing them, she said.
The calibre and talent at the national competition was ‘‘breathtaking’’ and for some of the students, it would be their first time experiencing it, Rae said.
She hoped the school would beat its highest ranking of bronze, and bag a silver placing.
The students had been putting in the hard yards with practices every week and would be stepping it up closer to competition time, Rae said.
Choirs from Verdon College, James Hargest College, Southland Boys’ High School, Northern Southland College and two from Southland Girls’ High School competed in the regional Big Sing competition last week.