Creative Arts
Creative Arts (CA) help students explore drama, music, and visual arts, fostering a lifelong interest in these fields. These subjects encourage participation in cultural activities, deepen understanding of the arts, and introduce students to a range of career possibilities. They also promote respect and appreciation for people from diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and abilities.
Drama, music, and visual arts provide opportunities for personal expression, enjoyment, creativity, imagination, emotional response, and aesthetic appreciation. They enable students and individuals of all ages to create shared meanings and connect with others through artistic experiences.
Music Mandatory
Visual Arts Mandatory
Drama Mandatory
Music Mandatory
Visual Arts Mandatory
Elective study:
- Drama
- Music
- Photography & Digital Media
- Visual Arts
Elective study:
- Accelerated Music 2 (Preliminary)
- Drama
- Photography & Digital Media
- Visual Arts
Elective study:
Elective study:
CA Life at Ruse - Music Ensembles
- Advanced Strings
- Chamber Orchestra (invitation only)
- Choir
- Intermediate Percussion Ensemble
- Junior Percussion Ensemble 1/2
- Pipes and Drums Band
- Saxophone Ensemble
- School Musical
- Senior Percussion Ensemble
- Senior Vocal Ensemble
- Stage Band
- String Orchestra
- Symphonic Band
- Wind Orchestra
- Year 7 Concert Band
Annual CA Events
Band and Ensemble Concert
Classical Concert
End of Year Concert
HSC Recital Night
MAD (Music, Art and Drama Night)
Each year we showcase the works of our gifted and talented artists in a MAD Night. It is a wonderful night of creativity, innovation, possibility and opportunity for our students to celebrate their transformations as creative learners with the rest of the school.
School Musical
A whole school effort led by the CAPA Faculty, James Ruse produces a musical in April of every year and it is always a joyous time for all involved! Rehearsals begin in Term IV for our principals and then the chorus are brought in at the beginning of Term I. Teachers work in teams of two to mentor students through the Elements of Production and student leaders’ step into the roles of Student Director, Student Musical Director and Student Stage Manager to encourage ownership, agency and voice in an integral whole school event. It is a tradition we are very proud of and one that keeps evolving each time we do it!
Past Musicals include: Urinetown, Big Fish, The Addams Family, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Wizard of Oz and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 2023.
Year 11 Drama Production
The Year 11 Production is part of our Preliminary Course and engages the students in making, performing and critically studying! Each year, we choose a new play, short story or sometimes create our own work to showcase the rich gifts and talents of our Year 11 directors, actors and designers.
2025 HSC CA Results
1 ARTEXPRESS HSC Visual Art Nomination
- Adela Zhang
1 OnSTAGE HSC Drama Nomination
- Adela Zhang
14 ENCORE Performance HSC Music Nominations
- Yuanao Chang
- James Fan
- Alfred Foonlok Fok
- William He
- Grace Hill
- Flora Li
- Jieyu Li
- Ziyuan Lu
- Annabelle Ou
- Stephanie Wang
- Jiatian Wen
- Aurelien Xu
- Kaining Xu
- Yifan Zhang
2024 HSC CAPA Results
1 ARTEXPRESS HSC Visual Arts Nomination
- Anna Jin
2 ENCORE Composition HSC Music Nominations
- Yiming Qu
- Cathy Zhang
1 ENCORE Musicology HSC Music Nomination
- Yiming Qu
18 ENCORE Performance HSC Music Nominations
- Nikil Andepalli
- George Chen
- Julia Chia
- Bryan Deng
- Yutong Duan
- Dylan Guo
- William He
- Ziyuan Lu
- Aaron Mendes-Shineberg
- Joanne Park
- Soren Park
- Alric Hantang Qin
- Max Tiranatvitayakul
- Stanley Wu
- Kaining Xu
- James Xue
- Cathy Zhang
- Shu Rui Zhang
2024 Music Competition Results
Sydney Eisteddfod
1st Place: String Ensemble
2nd Place:Chamber Orchestra
3rd Place: Year 9 Percussion Ensemble
Highly Commended: Advanced Strings in the Premium String Section
Australian Schools Band and Orchestra Festival (ASBOF)
Gold Award
- Chamber Orchestra
- String Ensemble
- Stage Band
- Year 7 Concert Band
Silver Award
- Wind Orchestra
- Symphonic Band