Bringing their “infectious joy for music-making” to Wellington’s Kāpiti Coast, the internationally renowned New Zealand Secondary Schools Choir present a wide range of music from classical choral to gospel, jazz, modern, and music from Aotearoa and the Pacific.

This is your chance to see their first full-length concert performance of 2025!

“The repertoire we sing in this choir is so diverse and fresh. It’s not choral music as you’d expect. The choir is one of the best sounding in Aotearoa, and we have so much fun performing the pieces. Anyone who sings in choirs or just for fun as a hobby should come and hear us perform”– 2023-24 NZSSC singer

Bring the whole family for an evening of choral excellence and entertainment!

Join the Aotearoa Academy Choir in their course 2 open rehearsal!

What’s in an open rehearsal?

This informal performance opportunity allows our choir’s friends and whānau to come and see the choir’s work in progress. Different repertoire requires different skills, and the Music Directors will often pause to explain what they’re trying to achieve, and what skills these singers have been working on!

You get to see both the hard work of the singers, and the organisation that brings them together come to life!

Programme

Victoria Kelly Stabat Mater (World Premiere NZSO Commission)
Rossini Stabat Mater

Rossini’s majestic Stabat Mater is based on the thirteenth-century liturgy describing the Virgin Mary’s suffering at the crucifixion of her son, Jesus. This text, written by a priest and influencing the perceived role of women throughout Western history, stands in dialogue with Kelly’s, a contemporary appraisal of Mary, motherhood, and women.

Joining us is acclaimed Italian conductor Valentina Peleggi, increasingly sought after as an inspired conductor of opera. Concerto.com declaimed that Peleggi “has Rossini in her blood […and displays] radiant leadership.”

A very special THANK YOU to these four donors who, like us, believe that these symphonic choral masterpieces need to be heard in Aotearoa:

Dame Adrienne Stewart
Dame Jenny Gibbs
Adam Foundation and
Ensemble

Programme

Victoria Kelly Stabat Mater (World Premiere NZSO Commission)
Rossini Stabat Mater

Rossini’s majestic Stabat Mater is based on the thirteenth-century liturgy describing the Virgin Mary’s suffering at the crucifixion of her son, Jesus. This text, written by a priest and influencing the perceived role of women throughout Western history, stands in dialogue with Kelly’s, a contemporary appraisal of Mary, motherhood, and women.

Joining us is acclaimed Italian conductor Valentina Peleggi, increasingly sought after as an inspired conductor of opera. Concerto.com declaimed that Peleggi “has Rossini in her blood […and displays] radiant leadership.”

The Aotearoa Academy Choir is beyond excited to perform with the Young Women’s Chorus of San Francisco in Wellington this June.

Join us at what will be a dynamic and roof-raising concert of young people and their passion for music.

About YWCP San Francisco
The Young Women’s Choral Projects of San Francisco transforms the lives of young women through exceptional artistry in choral performance, and brings the expressive power of their music to the community, the nation, and the world. Founded in 2012 by Dr. Susan McMane, and now led by Artistic Director Dr. Matthew Otto, YWCP includes six levels of choral experience for young women ages 4-18 from across the San Francisco Bay Area. Through YWCP, participants of diverse socio-ethnic backgrounds find their voices as singers, artists, and women in a nurturing environment that empowers them to achieve artistic and personal excellence. The Young Women’s Chorus of San Francisco is the premier ensemble of the Young Women’s Choral Projects. The Chorus comprises singers ages 12-18, and has been praised for its beauty of sound, stellar musicianship, and dynamic programming. Acclaimed in the American Record Guide for its “refined and beautifully controlled singing,” the Young Women’s Chorus has also won many competitive, national awards including the American Prize in Choral Performance, the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, the Dale Warland Singers Commission Award from Chorus America and American Composers Forum, and the ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award. Recent activities include a debut performance at Carnegie Hall in 2018; concert tours to South Africa (2019), France (2022), and Argentina (2023); the premiere of the opera Abraham in Flames in 2019; and performances with the London Philharmonia Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony. Performing repertoire from early music to contemporary selections, the Chorus annually performs a professional series of concerts in the Bay Area, and commissions new works by leading composers.

Supported by

The Aotearoa Academy Choir is beyond excited to perform with the Young Women’s Chorus of San Francisco in Wellington this June.

Join us at what will be a dynamic and roof-raising concert of young people and their passion for music.

About YWCP San Francisco
The Young Women’s Choral Projects of San Francisco transforms the lives of young women through exceptional artistry in choral performance, and brings the expressive power of their music to the community, the nation, and the world. Founded in 2012 by Dr. Susan McMane, and now led by Artistic Director Dr. Matthew Otto, YWCP includes six levels of choral experience for young women ages 4-18 from across the San Francisco Bay Area. Through YWCP, participants of diverse socio-ethnic backgrounds find their voices as singers, artists, and women in a nurturing environment that empowers them to achieve artistic and personal excellence. The Young Women’s Chorus of San Francisco is the premier ensemble of the Young Women’s Choral Projects. The Chorus comprises singers ages 12-18, and has been praised for its beauty of sound, stellar musicianship, and dynamic programming. Acclaimed in the American Record Guide for its “refined and beautifully controlled singing,” the Young Women’s Chorus has also won many competitive, national awards including the American Prize in Choral Performance, the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, the Dale Warland Singers Commission Award from Chorus America and American Composers Forum, and the ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award. Recent activities include a debut performance at Carnegie Hall in 2018; concert tours to South Africa (2019), France (2022), and Argentina (2023); the premiere of the opera Abraham in Flames in 2019; and performances with the London Philharmonia Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony. Performing repertoire from early music to contemporary selections, the Chorus annually performs a professional series of concerts in the Bay Area, and commissions new works by leading composers.

Join NZSSC in their second course of their cycle!

Our singers will be working hard across the week to reach new heights of choral excellence, culminating in an open rehearsal and showcase!

Low key and stress free, you can see our young singers in an informal performance opportunity, and gain insight to the workings of this national choral training organisation.

The open rehearsal will begin at 5pm, followed by a showcase of music at 5:30pm 

Free entry (Koha appreciated)