Success at the SCS Eisteddfod
St Ursula’s students have been achieving great success at the Sydney Catholic Schools Eisteddfod which commenced in Week 4 this term. It runs until Week 8, and features events across dance, drama, instrumental, vocal and ensembles.
First Place – Classical Chamber Ensemble
Congratulations to the students in the String Ensemble who were awarded first place in the Classical Chamber Ensemble, Open Grade 3 plus. The group played a beautiful rendition of “Sinofina in D Major” and took out the top prize against some very tough competition. The students rehearse every Friday morning before school with our external string tutor Alena Melicher and demonstrate a strong passion and commitment to their instruments and the group. The group included Marion Choi, Emerence Chien, Rachel Dang, Abigayl Faheem, Jean Law, Marisa Lew, Natalie Suseno and Valerie Tan.
First Place – Rock Band
Congratulations to the members of the St Ursula’s College Rock Group, who were awarded first place in the Stage 6 – Advanced, Rock Band category. The group consisted of students from Years 9 to 11, including Jacinta Drumond on vocals and guitar, Bethany Lui on lead vocals, Nadia Winata on guitar, Sienna Reddy on bass, Samantha Osorio on drums. The band played “Still Into You” by Paramore and were up against a very tough group. The feedback they received referred to their beautiful harmonies, great energy and tight tempo.
First Place – Drama
Congratulations to Year 10 Drama students Emily Moubarak, Lavinia Cacouratos, Sofia Awad and Brianna Serrao, who took out first place in the Drama Ensembles, Scripted Performance Small Group Developing category. The students performed The Witches from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Well done to these students on their amazing performance!
Second Place – Rock Band
Congratulations to the members of the Year 10 St Ursula’s Rock Group who were awarded second place in the Stage 4-5 – Advanced, Rock Band Category with their rendition of “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush. The group consisted of Lavinia Cacouratos, Emily Moubarak, Brianna Serrao, Zara Bottaro, Paige Corbo and Verity Chambers.
Third Place – Choir
Congratulations to the Ursula’s Voices choir which was awarded third place in the Stage 4-6 Open, Small Vocal Ensemble category. The choir consisted of students from Years 7 to 11 and they performed an amazing rendition of “Pure Imagination” from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and “Towards Infinity” by Paul Jarman. Led by music teacher Stephanie Josifovski, the choir rehearses at lunchtime and entry is based on auditions.
Encouragement Award – Dance
Congratulations to the Hip Hop troupe which was awarded an Encouragement Award in the Dance Ensembles, Hip Hop/Funk category. It was choreographed and led by Year 12 student, Arianna Markas. The students involved attended early morning rehearsals and worked hard to create a dynamic performance.
Additionally, College dancers entered the Jazz category, performing “Firestarter“, and the Lyrical/Contemporary category, performing “Survivor”. Whilst they were unsuccessful in placing in these categories, the students danced exceptionally well in a very competitive field. The students attended early morning rehearsals with an external dance teacher and demonstrated leadership in working collectively to refine and clean the choreography in the lead-up to the competition.
Solos
Congratulations to the following St Ursula’s students on their outstanding performances and achievements in the Solo categories at the SCS Eisteddfod. These students attended the Eisteddfod on the weekend and demonstrated a high level of skill, passion and ability in their relevant categories.
Congratulations to Lavinia Cacouratos, Year 10, who came first with her performance of The Receptionist. Lavinia was competing in the Open – Scripted Performance Monologue Stage 4-5 category.
Congratulations to Angelina Castelli, Year 11, who came second in the Stages 4-6 Classical Vocal section at the Eisteddfod. Angelina sang “Habanera” from the opera Carmen by the French composer Georges Bizet.
Congratulations to Olivia Barsoum, Year 11, who came third in the Advanced – Musical Theatre, Stage 6 category. Olivia performed “They Said I Was A Dreamer”.
Congratulations to Arianna Markas, Year 12, on receiving a Highly Commended award – Dance Solo, in the Hip Hop / Funk Advanced Stage 5-6 category.
Congratulations to Marion Choi, Year 7, on receiving an Encouragement award for String Solo, Stage 2-6, Open, Grade 5 and above, playing “Czardas” on violin. Marion also earned third place in the Piano Solo, Stage 2-6, Advanced, Grade 6. This is a significant achievement as Marion was up against much older students in a very competitive category.
Congratulations to Zoe Deng, Year 11, who received first place in the Piano Solo, Stage 2-6, Advanced, Grade 8 and above category. Zoe demonstrated her outstanding skills by playing “The Cat and The Mouse”, which is an incredibly complex piece of music. Well done!
