Saints Unplugged

The first of ur Saints Unplugged evenings will be happening next week. Junior Unplugged is on Tuesday 27 May and Senior on Thursday 29 May. Our wonderful Hospitality Department will provide their usual amazing array of food. Please come and enjoy both evenings of outstanding music performances and potentially walk away with a prize in our raffles. Gold coin donation on entry – see you there.

Performance uniforms

The Music Department has streamlined our performance uniforms. The fuss with the vests and bowties was creating excessive work for staff, so we’ve made each ensemble look the same. To do this, students will retain their performance blacks, but with the addition of a college music tie. This tie has been designed along similar lines to the current college ties used by staff and for sport. Ties can be purchased at the Saints Shop for $21 and will be required for performances at the Cairns Eisteddfod onwards. Thank you in advance for your support of this.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Takeshi Holland who has been selected to participate in the Australian Honours Ensemble Program (AHEP) at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Brisbane in October. Nearly 700 students from around the state auditioned for a place in AHEP, so this is an outstanding achievement. Well done, Takeshi.

Takeshi is also one of our Music Extension students who gave his last internal assessment performance on cello at the Cathedral on 13 May. He travels weekly to St Monica’s College to take classes alongside their students. Congratulations.

Cairns Regional Council meeting

Four of our students were invited to sing the National Anthem at the Cairns Regional Council meeting at Council Chambers on 14 May. Kaleb Howard, Lewis Stowers, Anthony Taifalos and Zachary Pitts performed for a full house. They were the first young men to have done this in the chambers – well done gents.

Choir Camp

The Saints Choir is in camp from this afternoon for the weekend. Ms Jodie Spooner-Ryan from Meridian College, Sydney will be working with the combined choirs in preparation for their eisteddfod performances. This camp is in lieu of many weeks of Wednesday sport and after-school rehearsals. The intensive should ensure we are ready for stellar eisteddfod performances.

Eisteddfod

The schedule is out for the Cairns Junior Eisteddfod. Please note that the times below are the time for the session to commence and not our performance time. Because we don’t know how many competitors are in each section, we have no idea what time the students will be performing or finished with the session. Students will be allowed their phones to contact parents not at the performances for pick up. Our ensembles will perform at the following sessions:

Monday 23 June

Afternoon session 1:30pm – Saints Saxes, Saints Percussion Ensemble

Evening session 7pm - CSC Wind Ensemble, CSC Concert Band, Saints Big Band

Tuesday 24 June

Afternoon session 1:30pm – Saints Choir

Evening session 7pm - Saints Choir

As is our custom, the Eisteddfod Extravaganza Concert is to be held in Lennon Hall on Thursday 12 June. All groups performing in the eisteddfod will be presenting their pieces at this concert. It starts at 7pm with a gold coin donation as entry.

Parent presentation

On Friday 20 June our parents have the special opportunity to attend a session with Dr Anita Collins. Anita has a unique skill in translating complex research findings into everyday language for the teacher, parent and student. Her influence was pivotal in the Music Education: A Sound Investment report, advocating for long-term improvement in Australian music education. She was directly responsible for a well-known TED Ed short film titled How Playing an Instrument Benefits your Brain and a TEDx talk What If Every Child Had Access to Music Education from Birth? as well as the TV documentary series called Don’t Stop the Music. You can read more about her work here.

Dr Collins is a warm and vibrant speaker who is engaging and entertaining. We are so very lucky to have this session with her. Please come along and join us for an interesting evening from 5–6pm in Lennon Hall. There will be lucky door prizes.

2025

Our program is busy and vibrant with many opportunities for performances. We entertain at assemblies, perform in productions and at music nights as well as provide liturgical music for the College. There are plenty of performance opportunities for our students.

Information for events and performances can be found on the Arts Department Facebook page. There is information in the newsletter and parent slips are sent out. Below is a calendar of events planned so far. This will be added to during the year, so please reread it each edition to check that you are abreast of all that his happening and make sure you put these dates in your diary.

Term 2

Date	Event	Where	Group
Week 5 23-25 May	Choir Camp	St Monica’s College	Saints Choir
Week 6 Tues 27 May	Saints Unplugged Junior	L105	Assorted soloists
Thurs 29 May	Saints Unplugged Senior	L105	Assorted soloists
31 May–1 June	QREP - FNQ	Saints Music Block	Jazz and contemporary musicians
Week 7 Fri 6 June	Champagnat Mass	Lennon Hall	Cantors and Mass musicians
Week 8 Thurs 12 June	Eisteddfod Extravaganza	Lennon Hall	Eisteddfod groups
Week 9 Fri 20 June	Parents In Touch Dr Anita Collins	Lennon Hall	All diocesan music parents
Week 10 16–17 June	Cairns & District Junior Eisteddfod	CPAC	CSC Wind Ensemble Saints Percussion Ensemble Saints Choir CSC String Ensemble Saints Big Band

Term 3

Date	Event	Where	Group
Week 1 Thurs 17 July	Academic Assembly	Lennon Hall	TBA
	Cairns Show Performance	Cairns Show	Saints Big Band
Week 3 Thurs 31 July	NAIDOC Assembly	Lennon Hall	TBA
Week 5 Thurs 14 Aug	Assumption Mass	St Monica’s Cathedral	Cantors
Week 5 14-17 Aug	QCMF	Villanova College Brisbane	Saints Big Band, Saints Percussion Ensemble, Saints Choir, Saints Rock Band
Week 7 Tues 26 Aug	Cerise & Blue Open Evening	Saints	All ensembles
Week 8 Thurs 4 Sept	Father’s Day Assembly	Lennon Hall	TBA
Fri 5 Sept	Primary IM Workshops	Lennon Hall and Music Block	CSC Concert Band + primary schools
Week 9 Wed 10 Sept	Ensemble photos	Lennon Hall	All ensembles, musical cast, orchestra and crew
Thurs 11 Sept	Saints Unplugged Senior	L105	Assorted soloists

Term 4

Date	Event	Where	Group
Week 1 7-8 Oct	Recording ensembles with CQU	Saints Music Block	All combined ensembles
Week 3 Thurs 23 Oct	Valedictory Mass & Assembly	Lennon Hall	Cantors, Mass musicians, senior music class
Week 4 Thurs 30 Oct	Tom Thumb Incursion	St Joseph’s Hall	Year 7 plus 8, 9, 10 and 11 Music classes
Week 6 Tues 13 Nov	Saints Unplugged Junior	L105	Assorted soloists
Week 7 Friday 21 Nov	Annual Awards Evening	Lennon Hall	Saints Percussion Ensemble Saints Choir Saints Big Band
Week 8 Fri 28 Nov	Advent Liturgy	Lennon Hall	Cantors and Mass musicians

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