'Night of the Stars' shines brightly in 2023
On Thursday 19 October, the Girls’ College Visual and Performing Arts department hosted its Night of the Stars - a celebration of the Visual and Performing Arts Gala Evening at the Bryanston Country Club. This event hosted in association with the Girls’ College Parent Teacher Association (PTA) was a fundraiser for the Girls’ Schools Performing Arts Centre - a space that the students and staff will benefit from in the future. This spectacular evening was filled with laughter, joy, and celebration. Lucky audience members won various spot prizes, including tickets to Mamma Mia and the Sound of Music, which will serve as fundraiser events in 2024 for the Performing Arts Centre - watch this space!

Category and overall winners in visual art, music and drama with Head of School, Dr James at the Gala Evening.
Leading up to the Gala Evening, our Performing Arts departments hosted three successful performance evenings where the top 3 candidates in music and dramatic arts performed over a series of three nights and were adjudicated by a panel of external judges who are experts in their respective fields. The category winners in each pillar were invited to perform at the Gala Evening.
In the Junior Music competition, our young musicians performed from a wide range of genres which included classical and contemporary piano, voice and a variety of strings and woodwind pieces. The adjudicators were highly impressed by the level of performance at which our junior musicians performed. It is exciting to provide a platform for our young musicians to further develop their performance techniques in front of their peers and parents in a formal setting.
Congratulations to the following junior musicians:
PIANO
Catherine Kidson
Skye Rautenbach
Zihan Lin
Lyre Perumal
Georgia Knight
Sofia Paixäo
Category Winner: Skye Rautenbach
INSTRUMENTAL
Zazi Manzana
Eryn Appalsamy
Iminathi Sambudla
Ngcali Metu
Kihembo Byamugisha
Category Winner: Eryn Appalsamy
CONTEMPORARY VOICE
Eva Rodrigues
Angelina Strydom
Tlotlisang Mabokela
Mia Nupen
Category Winner: Mia Nupen
On Wednesday evening, the Dramatic Arts department hosted its Dramatic Arts competition in the Studio Theatre.
We had two special guest performers in Grades 8 & 9 sharing the stage with our senior performers. Congratulations to Mihle Luthuli (Grade 9) and Olerato Molete (Grade 8)
Bravo to our performers who performed in the following categories:
SOUTH AFRICAN COMEDY
Maite Hamese
Atreya Naidu
Sinqobile Sithole
Category Winner: Sinqobile Sithole
COMEDY
Cayla Dhaeyere
Naomi Hlambelo
Taliyah Thomas
Category Winner: Naomi Hlambelo
SPOKEN WORD
Christine Masters
Loatile Masondo
Reitumetse Mukwena
Category Winner: Reitumetse Mukwena
DRAMATIC MONOLOGUES
Kutlwano Msiza
Afezekile Ngcaba
Phetogo Ramosolo
Category Winner and Overall Winner: Phetogo Ramosolo
Our senior musicians ended our concluded our series of performances in the chapel on Thursday evening.
Congratulations to the following:
WINDS
Boitumelo Phaho
Karabo Morolo
Katherine Leschner
Category Winner: Katherine Leschner
PIANO
Murielle Bogne
Keara Naidoo
Kerisha Dorasamy
Category Winner & Overall Winner: Keara Naidoo
CONTEMPORARY VOICE
Atreya Naidu
Khangiwe Cele
Lethabo Kekana
Category Winner: Khangiwe Cele
CLASSICAL VOICE
Gomolemo Kgosi
Robyn Phipps
Manaka Mwamuka
Category Winner: Gomolemo Kgosi
STRINGS
Category Winner: Zoë Earlam
At the Gala evening, our visual artist exhibited their paintings and drawings which were adjudicated on the evening. The results are as follows:
Best senior painter: Caitlyn Bosman
Best senior drawer: Stacy Roodt
Best junior painter: Jessica Schuurmans-Stekhoven
Best junior drawer: Paige Bradford
Best overall: Jessica Schuurmans-Stekhoven
The Visual and Performing Arts at the Girls’ College allows our students to participate in several exciting activities on offer. This space fosters individuality and our extensive programme encourages students to engage their curiosity in constructive and creative ways. Within this space, our students are encouraged to grow and expand on their individual creativity.
Our goal as a department is to create an environment where self-confidence and self-awareness are cultivated. Where creativity, resourcefulness and resilience are encouraged. The Visual and Performing Arts is a space where our students find the courage to grapple with topical global themes and other important issues while creating wonderful artworks, music, and theatre. With Collaboration, creativity and critical thinking being some of the highly sought-after skills needed in the 21st century, our programme allows our students to collaborate with each other and across disciplines. Our goal is to nurture and develop the innate creative skills of our talented students and to develop students who are empathetic and authentic.
Our Night of the Stars Gala Evening was a successful evening, and thanks go to our PTA members (Mrs Olympia Benfield, Mrs Teresa Knight and Mrs Sam Nupen), Girls’ College staff and peripatetic music teachers and parents for their continued support of the Visual and Performing Arts Department.












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To view more pictures from the evening, click here.
#InspiringExcellence #MakingAWorldOfDifference #HappyFulfilment #Legacy #PurposeInspired #PassionDriven #OneAndAll