The King's School annual reports 2010

DramaIn October 2010, The King’s School produced Tom Stoppard’s classicspoof on the “whodunit” genre entitled The Real Inspector Hound.Directed by John Haigh and performed in the round, the play intriguedaudiences through its blurring of the boundaries between actor,audience and critic.One of the most powerful evenings of dramatic performance isundertaken by Year 12 students in the presentation of their HSC dramapieces. These evenings have become enormously popular to theextent that the facilities can barely contain the crowds who come towatch. The standard of drama is such that it represents one of thefastest growing disciplines within the School, which is a tribute to thestaff who promote the subject and to the quality of performance theyelicit from their students. Several students were nominated for Onstage,which signifies that their drama was considered to be among the bestin the State.MusicMusic at The King’s School continues to go from strength to strength. Thepursuit of musical excellence starts in the Preparatory School which hasa talented choir, a wonderful stage band and several other musicalgroups. The Prep School choir, Chamber choir and various musicalensembles have achieved several honours in many eisteddfodsthroughout the year.In the Senior School, there have been some extraordinary musicalperformances by the Senior choir, which now numbers over 100students, to the extent that a secondary choir of auditioned voices hasbeen formed called Schola Cantorum. As well as the Senior choir, thefollowing groups have been active throughout the year:Symphonic concert bandPiano trioWind ensembleOrchestraIntermediate stage bandGuitar ensemblesSenior stage bandFlute ensemblesSometimes, our musicians have performed in venues away from theSchool such as the Marching Band entertaining the crowds at theAnzac Day Parade. At other times, we have performed within theSchool such as at the Higher School Certificate performance night.Austin Lee (flute) and Andrew Kim (piano) were nominated for Encore,which is the group of Year 12 students judged to be the most giftedHSC students in the State.Special mention must also be made of Eric and Roger Kong, whoare two of the most gifted pianists the School has ever seen, and ofHarley Maulana who completed a conducting course in Auckland andwent to the United States to participate in the Interlochen Festival bothas a conductor and a bassoonist.This year’s musical was the Pirates of Penzance which was performedin Futter Hall. Directed by John Haigh, with Christine Dean as MusicalDirector, Barry Walmsley as Conductor and produced by Michael Terzo,“Pirates” was a huge success and performed to sellout crowds for overthree weeks. The professionalism of the production, the energy, colourand attention to detail was such that those attending were enchanted.Several Kingsmen in Years 7-10 also assisted with the Tara AnglicanGirls’ School production of Beauty and the Beast. The close associationThe King’s School has with Tara, in the performing arts, is deeplyappreciated.DebatingDebating remains strong at the School, with oratory skills being extensivelydeveloped within the Preparatory School and further developed in theSenior School.In Term 1 at the Senior School, students participate in the ISDA DebatingCompetition. Those participating did so with enthusiasm, dedication andskill. Oratory skills are developed through the careful intercession of staffand by a variety of Old Boys who come back to coach our debaters.The Senior team was made up of Julian Borrey, Thomas Mackey andHenry Vindin.Mid way through the year, the GPS Debating Competition commencesand once again, The King’s School proved competitive. The Year 7Ateam achieved 1st place in the GPS competition. Heath Sloane alsoachieved 1st place in the semi-final round of the United Nations YouthAssociation public speaking competition.In addition to the above, The King’s School participates in the HistoryDebating Competitions where it has excelled. We also contribute to theLawrence Campbell Oratory Competition where Pravin Siriwardena (Year12) represented the School with distinction.19