The decorations were absolutely splendid and the whole thing was a success. It was evident that a lot of effort put into the Gala and it paid off.
Rishita Rasela (Kupe)
On August 3rd, the annual Macleans Gala Concert was held at the Due Drop Events Centre. The event is a celebration of the different performance groups around the school.
Unlike Eisteddfod, the Gala Concert is a paid event and hosted off-site in a much larger venue. Many acts are condensed into a two-hour show, though the event ran overtime by almost an hour this year. The event was MC-ed by teacher Mr Davidson.
The acts that performed in the first half of the Gala Concert included the Cabaret, Showquest, a cello and piano duet by Jenifer Kim (Rutherford) and Gisele Lau (Te Kanawa), Macapella and their quartet consisting of Abigail Yeung (tenor, Rutherford), Jolie Chang (lead, Snell), Catherine Luo (bass, Rutherford), and Kardia Lee (baritone, Upham), the Kupe Small House Choir, and the Macleans College Chorale.
Gala was REALLY fun. It was definitely something I was looking forward to and I hope to be doing it again for all the years I will have at Macleans. Overall, from all the outfit changes to the performance hours, I will forever hold those moments close to my heart!!
Gladness Saumani (Kupe)
The Sheilah Winn team also performed their rendition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The Macapella chorus sang Consider Yourself, On My Own, and Don’t Rain On My Parade. The quartet sang Mr Sandman.
The Chorale sang Five Hebrew Love Songs by Hila Plitmann and arranged by Eric Whitacre. Featured soloists from the choir included Anisa Prajitno (Batten), Chelsea Wang (Hillary), and Lisé Becker (Hillary).
My favourite part of Gala was when [the Chorale] all made a dance circle backstage listening to the Symphony Orchestra play Phantom of the Opera.
Gordon Situ (Rutherford)
In the second half, the Macleans Symphony Orchestra and Concert Band performed, directed by teacher Dr Miles. The Chamber Orchestra also performed but was directed by student Wayne Gao (Snell).
To finish off the night, the finale was a combined performance by the Symphony Orchestra and the Chorale with the songs You Raise Me Up and You’ll Never Walk Alone (with Climb Every Mountain). Soloists for the songs included Lexie Buchanan (Upham), Adrian Chan (Te Kanawa), and Faithfulness Saumani (Kupe).
To have been able to be a part of one of the best performance this year — even if only in a technical capability — has been a thoroughly delightful experience. As was the screaming and chaos that ensued during the brief Pico Park gaming session occurring right next to the teachers’ dressing room during the dinner break. Although I must say, the minimal sleep after was not.
Andrew Chen, technical crew
The students spent the whole day prior to the performance in the evening rehearsing and conducting soundchecks with the on-site tech crew.
Congratulations to another successful concert by the Macleans performing arts department. Special thanks to Dr Miles for his hard work in organising the event.
August 5th, 2023
Written by Clarissa Oblefias
Photography by the father of student Hope Zhang
