Performing Arts Staff

Stephen has been a staple of the New Zealand jazz scene since his return to NZ in 2000 after spending a few years performing and studying music in Europe and the USA.

As an alto and soprano saxophone specialist, hehas performed and recorded regularly with many of Auckland's leading jazz musicians. Stephen has performed at many national festivals and has been part of the headline acts several times at the annual Tauranga Jazz and Blues Festival.

A passionate educator, Stephen has managed music programmes and conducted a large range of ensembles at prestigious Auckland schools before joining the team at St Peter's.

He has a passion for musical theatre. Underpinning his educational philosophy is the belief that involvement in the arts is of great value to every student.

Michael is the Head of the Performing Arts academic programmes at St Peter’s. With strengths as a multi-instrumentalist and specialising in percussion and music technologies, Michael believes that now is an excellent time and opportunity to prepare students with a future focus in Music.

He has had extensive band experience in musical theatre, and enjoys the variety and challenge of this diverse genre.

Leading groups such as our senior and junior percussion ensembles, as well as Petra Musica (orchestra) allows him the opportunity to take students in new directions, using both traditional and emerging technologies.

Renate’s varied theatre background sees her deliver a full and passionate programme to drama students with an emphasis on both onstage and backstage/technical components. With extensive drama and theatre networks throughout New Zealand, St Peter’s students gain full benefit from Renate’s enthusiastic teaching and knowledge.

Renate has many accomplishments to her name. After completing the I.B Diploma in Switzerland, Renate O’Sullivan returned to New Zealand to complete her Bachelor of Arts (Theatre Major) and then a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Teaching at the University of Waikato. When studying at Waikato University she was a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholar for Theatre and also President of the university’s theatre club, Upstage. In 2006 she won a Waikato Blues Award for Services to the Creative and Performing Arts.

Renate has a passion for creative writing – particularly playwriting, and has had several pieces of her work published. Renate won a considerable grant to have her multi-media play The Ticket performed by Hillary Scholars at the University of Waikato, which she also designed, produced and directed. Renate has performed and worked with various theatre groups in the Waikato including performing at the Summer Garden’s festival as Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and working as David Sidwell’s Second Assistant for Hamilton Operatic productions of Avenue Q and Mamma Mia and in 2017 was appointed the Waikato Regional Representative for the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand.

Since joining St Peter’s in 2014, Renate has been involved in all of the Senior Productions, from roles ranging from; Assistant to the Director, Costume Designer and/or liaison, Stage Manager, Cue Caller and Creative Producer. Renate has also worked with the Hamilton Operatic Society on several of their productions, and thrives in the creative environment.

“My parents instilled a love of theatre in me at a young age, and over the years my enthusiasm for the Performing Arts has continued to grow. I hope to do the same with the students I work with, in providing them with a platform where they can creatively express aspects of who they are”.

Sinead has a lifelong love of the Performing Arts. She took up dance at the age of 5, has a degree in music and trained as a Creative Arts Specialist at the University of Cambridge.

As an undergraduate, she was an active member of the University of Edinburgh Theatre Society (Bedlam Theatre). She also worked on diverse projects such as St Bernard's Dementia Project and the Drake Music Project.

Since moving to New Zealand, Sinead has taught Music, Montessori (pre-school) and was Programme Leader with Sistema Waikato - using orchestral music-making as a vehicle for creating social change, enhancing social aspiration and building life skills in young children from vulnerable communities.

Georgia grew up in Tauranga dancing throughout her childhood before moving to Sydney, Australia to complete her schooling at the prestigious McDonald College of Performing Arts. From Sydney, she made the move to Melbourne to attain her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the Victorian College of the Arts. Following this, Georgia made the move back to New Zealand to study a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Teaching through the University of Waikato and teach junior curriculum dance at Tauranga Girls College, where she confirmed her passion for teaching.

Whilst studying, Georgia has been involved in the Musical Theatre industry, choreographing multiple shows including Little Mermaid Jr, Spring Awakening, 13, and Legally Blonde, for which she received a Zony Award nomination for Best Choreography. She also took onstage roles in The Wizard of Oz, Fiddler on the Roof and Wicked, which won Best Musical in the 2020 Zony Awards. Georgia has taught a range of dance styles in a number of dance schools in the Bay of Plenty. Coupled with her training and experience, she is passionate about passing this knowledge onto the students through curriculum dance and facilitating their growth to wherever the discipline of dance may take them.

Marg is a longstanding member of the St Peter’s staff who has worked for the past fourteen years in the Performing Arts Faculty as Coordinator. She is extremely passionate about performing arts and provides faculty support for academic staff, itinerant teachers, cultural tutors, students and families. In this role she works closely with the Director of Performing Arts and Head of Faculty Performing Arts. Her main role is the co-ordination of the many major performance events that appear on the school calendar. She manages two administrators who oversee the Performing Arts Specialist Tuition programme of 28 tutors and more than 40 cultural/enrichment groups . Marg and her team are the first port of call for many performing arts families and interested community members at St Peter’s.

Marg’s focus in her role as Performing Arts coordinator is to support St Peter’s students and staff in whatever they are passionate about.

Christy joined the Performing Arts team as Administrator in February 2020 and has quickly been bought up to speed up in all of the many exciting things that take part in the Performing Arts department at St Peter’s. The main focus in her role is to co-ordinate and administer the Itinerant Music and Speech & Drama programme across 25 tutors and over 500 lessons a week. The culmination of these lessons are two big celebration days – Speech & Drama Cup and the longest standing competition at St Peter’s the Bevan Cup. Christy is the smiling face in the Auditorium office and is passionate about supporting students, parents and staff alike in all of their interactions with the Performing Arts Department.

Ash is a St Peters Alumni and was heavily involved in the performing arts during his time as a St Peter’s student. On completion of his Bachelor of Media Arts from the Waikato Institute of Technology with excellence in music production, he has worked on numerous studio projects as a sound engineer for contemporary bands as well as composing for film and video games. An award winning sound designer for his work in Musical Theatre, Ash’s goal is to enhance student’s performances with the use of lighting and sound and to realize their creative vision into a final product of industry standard.

Ash leads an Audio Visual Club, where students take part in backstage technical roles in school events, learning skills in operating theatre technology and developing professionalism in a real world theatre environment.

Sam is a well-known and established vocal and piano teacher in the Waikato.

He is an award-winning musical director, published composer, accompanist for Musical Theatre NZ, and a strong proponent of the Estill voice model. He has over 20 years’ experience teaching all styles of singing.

Jason's involvement in music education has stretched over twenty-five years, having gained a Bachelor of Musical Arts, and a Diploma in Teaching from the Christchurch College of Education. As a guitarist and singer, he has a diverse range of performance credits including, musical theatre, orchestral shows, jazz performances, cruise ship performance work and a vast array of live work for private and corporate functions.

Helen is an experienced teacher and has successfully established Northland's largest speech and drama academy. She trained in Estill Voice techniques and is a graduate of Trinity college London: Teaching Speech and Drama. She trained in radio and TV presenting in Sydney and is a former councillor of the National Speech Communication Association. Helen teaches both Speech NZ and Trinity.