BRUCE MASON CENTRE: Upcoming Show

One Night You Won't Want to Miss!

Those who value the achievements of our talented young North Harbour performers are in for a real treat on August 14th, when the North Harbour Club Charitable Trust presents "My Way", a two hour variety concert at the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna.

The show will feature ten award-winning home grown star performers. The musical director is the highly talented Mark Dennison (Showstoppers, TV2 Celebrity Christmas, Stars In Their Eyes, TV3 Telethon ‘09) who has assembled a 20 piece orchestra including some well known local musicians, including Neville Grenfell, Pat Kuhtze, Lewis McCallum, Chet O’Connell and JP Muir. MC for the evening will be Shane Cortese, who will be backed by his brilliant band.
Virtually all of the performers have won North Harbour Club AIMES Awards in the Arts and Music categories. Over $1million worth of grants have been made through these annual AIMES Awards since their inception in 1995 (visit: www.northharbourclub.co.nz).
"North Harbour Club Charitable Trust founding president, the late Ross Finlayson, who passed away in 2009, was a massive supporter of our local music and arts community," explains Shane Cortese. "Ross had a dream that one day the AIMES Arts and Music winners would return to the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna (the venue for the AIMES Awards) and perform in a gala concert. This dream is now a reality. It is sad that Ross is not going to be here to enjoy it as it is going to be something very special, but it is tremendous to honour him in this way."

Performers will include rock groups The Earlybirds and The Checks, singers Sarah McCallum, Matthew Flinn and Verity Burgess (who also dances), dancer Anna-Louise Dillon-Herzog, violinists Amalia Hall and Richard Chen, actress Sophie Henderson and pianist Justin Bird.

Many are returning from overseas especially for the night. They will be performing both solo and combined pieces. 13-year-old Takapuna Grammar School pianist Max Tang, whose debut at last year’s AIMES Awards Dinner received a standing ovation, will also be making a special appearance.
"This is a one-night-only concert you won\'t want to miss, that really is a celebration of our local talent," adds Shane Cortese. "Tickets are very well priced for a such an extensive line-up and all proceeds will be going straight back to the North Harbour Club Charitable Trust so they can go on rewarding the excellence achieved by our young people of the North Harbour region."

ANNUAL AIMES AWARDS

The annual North Harbour Club AIMES Awards reward excellence achieved by the young people of the North Harbour region.

The North Harbour Club and Charitable Trust has, as part of its Mission Statement, the desire to provide scholarship grants each year to deserving young people of the North Harbour region. Since 1995 the club has awarded over $1 million in AIMES Awards.
These Awards are presented to young people of the North Harbour region, aged between 13 and 25, who have achieved excellence in the categories of the Arts; IT, Innovation & Science; Music; Education; Sport and Service to the Community (Hence - AIMES).
In 2005, an ‘emerging’ category was also introduced, which is now called the North Harbour Club Emerging Talent Awards.
The North Harbour Club AIMES Awards are presented annually. Applications are open for the 2010 Awards. Applicants for the AIMES Awards must, among other things, impress a panel of judges nominated by the Trustees of the North Harbour Club.
An average of 100 applications are received each year. Many of the applications are considered ‘absolutely outstanding’ by the judges, so narrowing the final field down is a challenging, but rewarding, task. The talent level is a credit to the region, and the North Harbour Club recognises that the region as a whole has the responsibility to develop this potential to its fullest.
These awards are announced and presented to the winners at two functions held during October each year. A cocktail function preceding the main AIMES Awards is held to announce the AIMES Emerging Talent Award winners. The AIMES Awards are made at the Club’s annual black-tie AIMES Awards Dinner which is the club’s gala event of the year
held traditionally at the Bruce Mason Centre
in Takapuna.