Join the NZ Youth Choir in their first concert performance of 2025!
In the beautiful Whangārei, we’re excited to bring you our signature mix of choral works – from choral canon to contemporary, waiata to pese, you’ll be humming your way home with new favourite pieces stuck in your head!
Note: If you would like to support us without purchasing a ticket, continue to ‘GET TICKETS’, scroll past tickets, and enter your donation amount under ‘DONATIONS’.
Help support New Zealand’s finest young singers and indulge in a rich and innovative Christmas experience!
We begin in the deep winter with Velja Tormis’ striking Autumn Landscapes and Philip Stopfords Lully, Lulla, Lullay, unfurling into the awakening spring through Paul Mealor’s Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal and Reena Esmail’s The Unexpected Early Hour. The programme bursts into the festive summer season with classics including by Eric Whitacre, Dobrinka Tabakova, and Felix Mendelssohn. This concert also centres local composers, including Igelese Ete, Anthony Ritchie, and Reuben Rameka.
We are thrilled to be touring Asia and Europe in 2025, including representing New Zealand at the European Choir Games in Denmark and Choir of the World competition in Wales. All proceeds will go towards establishing an equity-based hardship fund to ensure that no singer is left behind due to financial strain!
This event is hosted by the Lower North Island section of the New Zealand Youth Choir.
Two magical evenings at Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre featuring the power and passion of kapa haka and the lyrical beauty of choral music. Each concert, held in conjunction with and supported by Te Matatini, will begin with a spellbinding performance from one of Auckland’s, and indeed Aotearoa’s, most celebrated kapa haka rōpū. Anyone wanting to see the very best of this wonderful art form should secure their tickets now!
Concert Two on Thursday 18 July opens with Ngā Tūmanako, much-fêted overall winner at the Te Matatini festival in 2019. The group was established to continue and fulfil the aspirations of its past community leaders at Hoani Waititi Marae. Its current leaders are graduates of the marae’s Kōhanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa Māori – a full-immersion educational pathway established to ensure the survival of Māori language and culture.
The second half features a performance by the New Zealand Youth Choir, conducted by David Squire. Founded in 1979 and now counting many renowned singers, conductors and other musicians among its alumni, NZYC needs no introduction in this country or in many other parts of the world. Expect superb singing and a varied, highly entertaining programme!
Booking fees apply, for more information click here
Mānawatia a Matariki!
No fewer than eight choirs, five composers, three lyricists, and a kapa haka rōpū will all feature in Matariki He Kāhui Reo (Matariki, a constellation of voices), the ground-breaking choral work that is Aotearoa New Zealand’s signature offering at the World Choir Games 2024.
Devised by creative team John Rosser, Robert Wiremu and Ataahua Papa, the work celebrates the nine identified whetū (stars) of the Matariki cluster.
A group of the country’s most eminent choral composers – David Hamilton, Anthony Ritchie, Chris Artley, Rosa Elliott and Reuben Rameka – has set to music texts by Tuirina Wehi, Ataahua Papa and Māori star lore expert Rangi Mātāmua, who advised the creative team throughout the writing process.
The world première at Holy Trinity Cathedral will be an immersive experience for the audience, with the choirs (each embodying a single whetū) arranged right around the glass-walled cathedral to suggest a separated but connected cluster. Matariki herself will move in among her ‘star children’ as they perform.
In line with the importance of this event in the choral history of Aotearoa, the choirs chosen to sing in Matariki He Kāhui Reo are among the finest in the country: Voices Of New Zealand Chamber Choir, Viva Voce, New Zealand Youth Choir, The Graduate Choir New Zealand, Auckland Chamber Choir, Choralation and Fortissimo.
The work will be sung entirely in te reo Māori, with narration and screen translations in English.
Booking fees apply, for more information click here
See Matariki He Kāhui Reo – Concert Two here
In a landmark moment for choral music in Aotearoa New Zealand, Grammy Award winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre takes the stage in Wellington for on Open Rehearsal with the New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir.
Eric Whitacre's works are programmed worldwide and his ground-breaking Virtual Choirs have united singers from more than 145 countries over the last decade. A graduate of Juilliard School of Music, Eric completed his second term as Artist in Residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 2020 having served five years as Composer in Residence at the University of Cambridge. In 2021, Eric was named a Yamaha Artist.
In this 1-hour long rehearsal, Eric will work with and conduct NZSSC on a selection of his own works that the choir will be performing that night at the gala concert.
The 5 pieces the choir is planning to work on are:
- Animal Crackers (Vol 1)
- Animal Crackers (Vol 2)
- Seal Lullaby
- Lux Aurumque
- Little Birds
- Our choir and staff are fully vaccinated
- There may be restricted audience numbers depending on the colour level of the Protection Framework
- Audience will be kindly asked to wear masks, which we will have available
If you have any specific questions around our commitment to keep our choir and audience safe, feel free to email choirs@choirsnz.co.nz
Bring your friends and family to see the Aotearoa NZ Academy Choir!
In their iconic blue design, the choir is set to show you the strength of our Academy singers!
The Academy choir replaced the national choirs ‘reserves’ programme, and gives singers an opportunity to train just like our friends in the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir and the New Zealand Youth Choir.
Don’t let the word ‘academy’ fool you – these singers have got what it takes to dazzle and impress!
Come along to our FREE concert at Westlake Girls High School for an afternoon of choral delights!
Experience an unforgettable musical union as two national treasures unite on stage!
Witness the magic unfold at the much-anticipated joint concert featuring the prestigious New Zealand Youth Choir and esteemed Gondwana Chorale, Australia’s national youth choir.
These two choirs of national significance are coming together to showcase their unique artistry and cultural richness in separate performances before combining to perform together.
This will be Auckland’s first chance to see the 2023 NZ Youth Choir, and both choirs can’t wait to sing for you.
Opening the concert will be a performance from the brand new Aotearoa NZ Academy Choir, an ensemble of 80 singers with the aim to grow alongside the other national choirs towards choral excellence.
Tickets available now
About Gondwana Chorale – Australia’s national youth choir
Australia’s national youth choir, Gondwana Chorale, was established in 2008. Its members come from throughout Australia and range in age from 17 – 26. They perform music that is close to their hearts: new Australian works which capture the mystery and grandeur of our land and display the cultural diversity of the Australian people. The work of the choir is a powerful expression of the determination of young Australians to work together to create extraordinary musical ensembles.
The sound of Gondwana Chorale is vibrant and energetic, indicative of their intensive rehearsal process and the joy of being together. The choir has performed nationally in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Tasmania. International tours have included New Zealand (2011) and UK and France (2013). In 2015 the choir formed the Gondwana Centenary Chorale with young singers from and Turkey, France and New Zealand to commemorate the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign, giving the world premiere of James Ledger’s War Music with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
In 2017 Gondwana Chorale toured the USA for the first time, collaborating and performing with host choirs USC Chamber Singers, Redlands Chapel Singers, Stanford Chamber Chorale, Temple University Concert Choir and Boston City Singers. In 2019, the choir toured to England, presenting a recital in the Chapel of Trinity College Cambridge and to the Baltic States, collaborating with E Stuudio in Estonia, Koris Maska in Riga and Choras Ažuoliukas in Vilnius. In 2022, the choir appeared at Festival of Voices in Hobart to present a program of Australian works.
The choir is conducted by Paul Holley OAM, Artistic Director of Voices of Birralee (Queensland) and Carl Crossin OAM, Head Vocal, Choral and Conducting Studies at the Elder Conservatorium of Music (South Australia).
About Aotearoa NZ Academy Choir
Founded in 2017 as an extension of Choirs Aotearoa’s ‘Reserves’ initiative, the Aotearoa New Zealand Academy Choir traces its roots to the fostering of exceptional vocal talents narrowly missed by the NZ Secondary Students’ Choir or NZ Youth Choir. From its inception, the Reserves program united these singers, cultivating their vocal prowess and musicianship through dedicated training, and enriching their artistic journey with a diverse repertoire. In 2021 they sang alongside our other national choirs on a triumphant public presentation of Carmina Burana.
Drawing members from all corners of Aotearoa, this new ensemble offers participants opportunities for vocal and musical development. The singers are guided by accomplished conductors, vocal coaches, and specialists, the Academy Choir’s members also gain access to an array of online learning resources. The culmination of their journey is a year-end concert, showcasing the culmination of rigorous training, expertise, and artistry that aligns them with their fellow national choirs.
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Bring your friends and family to see the Aotearoa NZ Academy Choir!
In their iconic blue design, the choir is set to show you the strength of our Academy singers!
The Academy choir replaced the national choirs ‘reserves’ programme, and gives singers an opportunity to train just like our friends in the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir and the New Zealand Youth Choir.
Don’t let the word ‘academy’ fool you – these singers have got what it takes to dazzle and impress!
Our concert at the Cardboard Cathedral is not to be missed!
Tickets and time coming soon!
Our final engagement and performance of 2024!
This is your last chance to see the incredible Aotearoa NZ Academy Choir, right in the heart of the capital city!
Our bright young singers are ready to show you what they’ve got!
