Arts Faculty

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, he has 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. He has a passion for musical theatre and believes that involvement in the arts is of great value to all students.

Driven by a desire to create better performance opportunities for secondary age students, in 2013 he founded the Auckland Jazz Competition in association with the Auckland Jazz and Blues Club and Pete McGregor Music.

Michael has been a teacher at St Peter’s since 2010. He is passionate about the integration of Music Technology with traditional music making mediums in the classroom and the opportunities this creates for students.

As a percussionist and drummer, Michael has performed in a wide range of groups, from orchestras through to rock bands. Alongside his classroom teaching, he has been involved in the creation of co-curricular groups such as Petra Uke (ukulele ensemble), Impact (senior percussion ensemble), and has grown the Prep Rock Band programme to encourage opportunities for younger students. In the past ten years he has been more involved in Musical Theatre for Hamilton Operatic Society and various other local groups.

He has a Bachelor of Media Arts in Commercial Music with Honours from WINTEC and a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Teaching from The University of Waikato.

Jenna joined the St Peter’s Performing Arts team as Head of Dance in 2013. She started her teaching career in Wanganui as Teacher in Charge of Dance before heading overseas to the UK for three years to teach both Primary and Secondary. She has now been teaching dance for eight years. She is a passionate and energetic teacher who is continually driven by the talent and excitement that her students demonstrate.

Growing up in the Waikato, Jenna started studying dance at an early age. Her dancing experience has included Contemporary and Jazz both in New Zealand and abroad. Outside of St Peter’s Jenna is a keen sports enthusiast. She plays netball for a local Cambridge club and continues to actively involve herself in her high school passion of middle distance running.

Jenna is a graduate of Massey University with a Bachelor in Education – B.Ed (SecTchg) Physical Education and Health.

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. 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. Her most recent accomplishment is her appointment as the Waikato Regional Representative for the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand, which means St Peter’s will be hosting the Sheilah Winn Competition for Waikato in 2017.

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.

Marg is a longstanding member of the St Peter’s staff who has worked for the past eight years in the Music and Performing Arts Faculty (PFA) as Coordinator. She is extremely passionate about performing arts and does an incredible job of providing support for academic staff, itinerant teachers, students and families. In this role she works closely with Victoria and the other Faculty members to coordinate major performance events. Marg is the first port of call for many performing arts families and interested community members at St Peter’s.

Marg is an active member of the Cambridge Squash club and supports the local Cambridge Repertory.

St Peter’s is fortunate to have a highly trained and experienced group of musicians teaching in the itinerant music programme. One on one lessons are delivered each week by tutors specializing in a vast range of instruments - from classical voice to electric guitar to banjo, and more. Our tutors are known regionally, nationally, and in some cases internationally for their performance skills and teaching ability, with many of them holding national accolades and titles.