The annual St Catherine’s School Concerto Concert was held last night in The Jamie and Rebecca Gray Theatre. It was once again a privilege to attend this concert. The Jamie and Rebecca Gray Theatre is home to the performing arts at St Catherine’s School. It was wonderful for our musicians to perform in such a stunning performance space. 

The Concerto Concert is a much-celebrated event for showcasing our most outstanding musicians. Eight soloists performed on the evening accompanied by the Jorgensen Orchestra, Chamber Ensemble and Ms Kate Denmead as accompanist on piano.  

I enjoyed immensely the performance of violinist, Kathrina Ang who played Violin Concerto No.3 in G major, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Kathrina is the recipient of The Collin Mezin Violin Scholarship. This Scholarship provides Kathrina the opportunity to play a Collin-Mezin Violin. This exquisite instrument was gifted to our School in 2014 by Mrs Sue Hayes, in loving memory of her daughter Danielle, our St Catherine’s Music Captain in 1983. The Collin-Mezin Violin is of French origin, and it bears the label of CH. J. B. Collin-Mezin dated 1902 in Paris. 

Chloe (Coco) Butterfield and Christina Wu also cherished the opportunity to perform as soloists during the evening. Both girls are recipients of Shelmerdine Violin Scholarships that provide two magnificent Italian violins, a Praga and Postiglione, to two students for 12 months. The Praga was made by Eugenio Pragra in Genoa in 1901 and is renowned for its remarkable quality. The Postiglione was produced by the school of Vincenzo Postiglione in 1873 and is considered to be an absolute treasure. 

The Shelmerdine Scholarships are a direct result of the generous donation by Ms Lindy Shelmerdine (‘80) with the express purpose to place beautiful instruments into the hands of our advanced Music students to inspire them during their formative study years through playing outstanding instruments.  

During our Assembly on Monday, our Years 10 to 12 students enjoyed the performance by Jiayi (Amelia) Chen, playing the Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, 1st Movement and accompanied by the Jorgenson Orchestra. 

I congratulate our other soloists on the evening Isabelle Cao, Maeli Davenport, Tiffany Shen, and Yifei (Angela) Tang. 

I extend my congratulations to Mr Nick Grunden, Head of Music, and Mrs Lisa Cook, as Head of Strings, for their coordination of this magnificent concert. Congratulations to Lisa for also conducting the Jorgensen Orchestra and, herself, playing in the Chamber Ensemble. Both Nick and Lisa were ably supported by our Music Department, most notably, Mr Saska Ayris in his role as Coordinator, Music Operations and Mr James Brown’s expertise in productions. 

Together with many parents, I enjoyed the opportunity to sit quietly and simply enjoy the music at the Concerto Concert. With competing interests of time, our girls’ commitment to their music mastery is not without careful prioritising of other activities. I congratulate all the musicians and encourage their continued pursuit of Music throughout their journey at St Catherine’s. 

She is Strong

Our School community responded with much enthusiasm to our Annual Giving Day in support of the St Catherine’s She is Strong campaign that will, ultimately, equip our newly revitalised Sports Centre. 

In addition to our leading gifts for the Sports Centre, the Giving Day successfully raised $780,000. This is once again such a thrilling demonstration of support for every St Catherine’s girl, now and into the future. This support ensures our students’ sports participation and training is enabled with bespoke facilities and equipment. I look forward to opening the Sports Centre for student use in Week 3 of Term 2 when the construction will be completed.  

In addition to the sporting opportunities made available through the Strength and Conditioning Studio, the ELC and Barbreck Girls will have access to a new Tumbling Studio. The newly spritzed Sports Hall is almost unrecognisable with ceiling mounted basketball backboards, new floor and wall coverings and a bright interior finish.  

The return to the School Hall for our Senior School Assembly on Monday will also certainly be appreciated by our Year 12 Executive who have creatively adapted each School Assembly this term across numerous venues whilst the redevelopment has occurred. Having the Senior School together again will be something for all to enjoy next term. 

So, whether your daughter runs, rows, skis, swims, dives, tumbles, or plays a ball sport – the redevelopment of the Sports Centre at St Catherine’s has been made available through the support of the hundreds of people who gifted donations this week. Thank you for your tremendous assistance in providing wonderful spaces for our girls to train, play and learn.