NOTICES
2025 calendar
EXAM INFORMATION
2025 TRINITY COLLEGE DATES
10 May - Trinity College Theory Exams
25 June - approx date for Trinity College Piano Exams in Rotorua
8-9 October - approx date for Trinity College Piano Exams in Rotorua
10 November - Trinity College Theory Exams
2025 ABRSM DATES AND FEES
The booking period for Practical Grades: October to December, Session 1 is from 24 June to 8 July 2025. Refer to ABRSM website for updates.
OPPORTUNITIES TO COMPOSE
There are many composition competitions and opportunities for you to have your original pieces performed. It's hugely satisfying to hear other people perform your piece(s), to have your music recorded and have a meaningful, real context for your learning in composition.
Below you'll find competitions and events that I'm aware of, and I'll try to keep this post up to date as new opportunities unfold.
HOOK, LINE AND SING-A-LONG
Young composers create a May Music Month song every year. The winning song is distributed to schools throughout NZ for singing in school programmes.
NOTEFLIGHT COMPOSITION COMPETITIONS
Noteflight host various international composition competitions for students from time to time. Keep tabs on their website for upcoming opportunities.
NZCF / SOUNZ CHORAL COMPOSITION COMPETITION AND SOUNZ-NZCF TE REO MĀORI CHORAL COMPOSITION Award
The NZCF/SOUNZ Choral Composition Competition awards a prize for the best choral piece composed by a New Zealand secondary school student.
The SOUNZ-NZCF Te Reo Māori Choral Composition Award aims to encourage young composers to write choral settings of texts in Te Reo Māori.
Find out more about the two awards>
NZCT CHAMBER MUSIC CONTEST
Write a piece of chamber music.
Open to Year 9 -13 students.
The competition has a junior and senior section.
Entries due: 2 April
Scores due: 5pm, 2 June
NZSO TODD YOUNG COMPOSER AWARDS
A unique opportunity for young New Zealand composers to have their compositions workshopped and performed by the NZSO, as well as recorded by RNZ Concert.
PLAY IT STRANGE
Play it Strange provide creative opportunities for student song-writers by facilitating recording, performance and celebration of songs through a range of competitions and other events.
Different deadlines for different competitions.
SMOKEFREE ROCKQUEST
Form a band or write and perform your own song.
STUDENT PERFORMANCES
policies and procedures
Lesson notes
Student lesson notes and homework are written on a shared google doc.
INFORMATION FOR SCHOOLS
Over the years, I have created material to help NCEA L3 Music students prepare for the Harmonic and Tonal Conventions external. Information regarding school purchase of this material in 2025 is below:
AS 91421 Learning Programme
There are a few changes in the format of the AS91421 Learning Programme for 2025.
These updates are designed to streamline the programme and for me to be able to continue to offer the programme to schools who have come to rely on it.
What’s New?
- New Hosting Platform: The programme is now hosted on learn.kathrynlaudermusic.com, and is no longer on musicelearning.com.
- Simplified Course Structure: Instead of the seven separate courses that were part of the programme, each course now appears as a chapters within a single, longer course.
- Teacher monitoring functionality removed. The primary focus is on delivering content for students to work through and the teacher monitoring functionality has been removed. You will still receive a teacher login with your school order and have access to the course.
School orders for the AS91421 Learning Programme will open and close at these times in 2025:
1-3 April; 5-7 May; 4-6 August; 3-5 November
During these times, the school order form will show up on this page.
If you are a teacher and would like me to send you an email reminder just before I open up the Learning Programme for school orders, please enter your details here:
Harmonisation and Analysis PDF workbook
Click here to place a school order for the PDF workbook: For NCEA L3 students studying Harmonic and Tonal Conventions.