How did you hear about NZSSC?

As a singer at Burnside High School, I was well aware of the NZSSC and Jean Cumming (teacher) was consistently having students audition and be accepted into the choir throughout her teaching career.

How did a boy from Burnside High become a baritone in the incredible Kings Singers?

It’s been a wonderful journey, starting out when I was a boy chorister at ChristChurch Cathedral, a place I spent the next fifteen years honing my ensemble skills. Having been in the Specialist Music Programme throughout my time at Burnside High, the follow-on with my six years in the national choirs (NZSSC and the NZ Youth Choir) was a natural continuation of that top level education. After school I completed a Mus.B (Hons) at The University of Canterbury, majoring in Voice and minoring in French. Then, I spent a year at the NZ Graduate School of Education to gain a diploma in teaching before spending just over three years teaching at my old stomping group, Burnside High School, running the choral department. It was very much a case of coming full circle.

Give us a snapshot of a day in the life of a member of The King’s Singers?

There is always some form of travel, be it a plane, train or automobile. If possible we’ll check into the hotel beforehand to drop off our luggage before heading to the venue to rehearse for up to two hours on any given concert day. Then we have dinner before the show. The concert is a two hour performance, usually with an interval, and then we come out to sign and meet people afterwards. If we don’t have any post-show commitments, then it’s back to the hotel for as much sleep as the schedule allows. In Asia, especially, the signing can be nearly as long as the concert itself! Depending on the travel we sometimes have to drive for up to two hours after the concert to get to an airport hotel ahead of an early morning flight the next day. Living out of a suitcase is perhaps not the most glamorous part of the job but the opportunity to, literally, see the world doing something we love is a dream come true.

Where’s ‘home’?

We’re on the road 200 days a year. My home is in a village called Kennington, just south of Oxford. It’s a sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of touring life.

What are the highlights from your time in NZSSC?

There are many highlights: definitely the tour to Brisbane in 2002 and working with the esteemed (conductor) Anton Armstrong. I’ll never forget his talk on authenticity with Afro-American music and then his workshop with us of his piece, ‘Keep Your Lamps’.

Have you kept in touch with your old choir friends?

I have indeed. Facebook’s good for that. Most recently, I was in Doha performing with The King’s Singers and Alexi O’Brien came to the show so that was wonderful catching up with her!

Apart from the friendships, what else did you gain from NZSSC?

NZSSC, and Elise Bradley (Director from late 2000) in particular, have a special place in my heart. Under her guidance I developed my love for conducting, and was encouraged to be a choral conductor. I spent the rest of my time in New Zealand, before moving to the UK in 2010, conducting choirs, namely the Burnside High School Male Voice Chorus and The Christchurch Boys’ Choir.

NZSSC built on the foundation that I had gained from being a Cathedral chorister, teaching me about a vast amount of repertoire from many more languages than I’d encountered before. The introduction of Kapa Haka was particularly special and it provided the launch-pad for singing in the National Youth Choir. I simply wouldn’t have had the opportunity to join the touring choir in 2004 had I not been in the NZSSC.

Do you have any advice for other young singers just starting out in NZSSC?

It’s so important to remember why we perform. It’s for the love of music. So, whether you want to have a go at making a career out of it, or keep it as a hobby, never forget what made you get into music in the first instance. In the challenging and competitive world of professional music, particularly outside of NZ, it sometimes feels more like a job than a vocation and we can fall out of love with it quickly. Identify what your version of ‘making it’ is and work harder than anyone else to make that happen. I’ll never forget what the late Christopher Doig said to me when I was studying at University: ‘I was never the best singer on the circuit, but I made a career out of turning up on time, being prepared, was always reliable, and easy to work with.’ If I can add to that, I would say that one is only as good as their last gig and you never know who’s listening! Practise as you would perform and, above all, have fun and enjoy the experiences and relationships you make. They can last a lifetime.

“The kids realise NZSSC is a life-changing experience, and we create an environment for them that’s so welcoming and friendly. I’m very proud of that! It’s not just music, it’s the experience and the camaraderie. The students literally grow up when they’re in our choir, especially those in the choir for two cycles/four years.”

On tour in Canada 2016

Anna is the person who ensures auditions, rehearsals, concerts and other events run smoothly, and she manages all aspects of our international tours. The recent merger into Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand has taken some of the pressure off Anna and she’s enjoying the support that comes with being in a team, rather than working from home. “I can discuss issues with colleagues who have similar experiences and challenges. I also have more access to music connections across the country and around the world. I feel part of something much bigger, which is fantastic”.

 

Anna, what goes on tour stays on tour but can you share some of the interesting times you’ve had overseas with the choir?

 I’ve been on five international tours and there were definitely times on all of them when my skills were tested. I’ve seen quite a few international hospitals!

Probably the most intense was our 2018 tour to Asia. We got stranded in Shanghai for five days due to a typhoon.

On what was meant to be the last tour day, all our phones started pinging with notifications from Cathay Pacific, simply saying our flight was cancelled, ‘sorry for the inconvenience’! It was pandemonium, including tears from many of the students.  It was the hardest I’ve ever had to work, I woke up at 4am every morning to get to the airport, liaise with worried parents back in New Zealand and deal with the airlines.

Happy staff heading to Hong Kong and Shanghai 2018 (before the typhoon….)

Thankfully we had our wonderful translator Liqin with us and I was supported by Pania Tyson-Nathan from Maori Tourism and of course the fabulous tour team, especially Gavin Hurley. We managed to get the students home in batches over a number of days, prioritising those who needed to return first. By the last day, there were just seven students left and with the pressure finally off, we had a lot of fun exploring Shanghai together.  We saw a lot more of the amazing city than we had planned, and I actually felt incredibly fortunate for that!

 

 How did you become involved with NZSSC?

 It was early in 2009, my youngest child was soon to start kindergarten and I saw the job advertised. Everything felt right—I come from a family of singers (my sister was in Youth Choir), and I had previously worked as the Business Manager for Taki Rua Productions. It was there I learnt many of the skills essential to my role at NZSSC. I’d also been hugely involved with fundraising for the Ngaio School Fair and realised that experience was also invaluable to the choir.

I was interviewed for the job by Errol Pike, Chair of the NZSSC Board. My husband was waiting in the car outside because he knew how nervous I was! Luckily Errol was lovely.

I began working from home 20 hours a week, which was never enough and I now work 25 hours from the Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand office in Ghuznee St. Music Director Andrew Withington had also just joined NZSSC so we learned together on the job.

 

2010 was when NZSSC attended the International Choral Kathaumixw in Powell River for the second time (the first was with music director Elise Bradley) …

 Being my first tour, I had sleepless nights worrying about how we were going to fund that trip, but everything came together and Errol was a great support. Because my children were only primary-school age then, the tour was my first time being submerged in the world of teenagers. I couldn’t believe how big they all were! They were great young people though, and British Columbia was beautiful. We received the People’s Choice Award at the festival, we were a massive hit. The waiata Kua Rongo was a stand-out, leaving both singers and audiences in tears with the passion of our performances.

Closing Ceremony of the 2010 Kathaumixw

As always, there were some incredibly talented students in the choir, including Benson Wilson who is now a professional opera singer.

Barring a few technical malfunctions causing our director some stress, the tour went smoothly. Oh… apart from on the last day when one of the students got lost (no cellphones back then). Thankfully he  turned up as we were about to leave for the airport, totally unaware of the distress he had caused!

 

We know you do so much more than go on tour, but tell us about the 2012 trip to South Africa. NZSSC was meant to go to Greece?

 Our tour to the International Society of Musical Education conference in Greece was all planned when the global financial crisis hit Greece hard and we could no longer get insurance to attend. We changed all the bookings and went to a festival in South Africa instead.

Culturally this tour was unbeatable, an amazing experience. We were all blown away by our African experiences, including a very moving visit to an orphanage and staying at a “free roaming” safari park where the animals roamed around our cabins and drank from the pool!

Opera singer Clinton Fung was part of that choir and it was Carole Randall’s  and Rachel Alexander’s first tour.

South Africa tour, 2012

 

And a change of plans again in 2014?

Yes, it was beginning to feel like a pattern! In 2014, we went to Singapore and Malaysia but only because our trip to Brazil had to be abandoned. With everything booked, Aerolíneas Argentinas announced they were no longer flying from Auckland. They issued a full refund but we couldn’t find alternative, affordable travel.

Instead we attended a festival in Singapore as guest choir then drove up through Malaysia, stopping in Malacca in the south, Kuala Lumpur and on to Penang. The Malaysian Minister of Arts and Culture attended our concert in Kuala Lumpur and some of our students were interviewed on national television.

We visited many beautiful places but the mid-July heat really affected our students and the itinerary was very full. There were lessons learnt on this tour, and we have improved procedures and processes as a result. For the 2018 tour to Asia, I did my own ‘reccy’ ahead of time which was incredibly useful in planning the tour and meeting concert partners. But you still can’t plan for typhoons!

 

In 2016, it was back to Powell River as guest choir …

 Another incredible experience, the whole town of Powell River really gets behind the International Choral Kathaumixw. Because we were Guest Choir, not competing, we got to sing with conductors from across the globe and all the other choirs. Here we were introduced to the Wah Yan College Kowloon Boys Choir (winners of the Kathaumixw Choir of the World), which later lead to our 2018 tour to Hong Kong and China.

With NZSSC members Jack Page and Emma McClean in Canada 2016

 

What’s next?

In 2020, we’re off to Europe for the first time ever! We’ve been invited to Dresden as one of five international choirs at a children’s choir festival. We were planning to stop in Hong Kong on the way, to perform a new commission from David Hamilton with the Wah Yan Boys Choir again. But continuing our pattern of disrupted tours …. we have had to make the hard decision to cancel that part of the tour due to the political demonstrations there. The tour is earlier this cycle, in the April holidays rather than July, so that we can attend the World Choral Symposium in Auckland, which will be very exciting and a great honour for the NZSSC.

But before then, we’ve got concerts in Napier and Palmerston North to look forward to. Don’t forget to book your tickets: NZSSC in Napier and Palmerston North!

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s so much to talk about with Shona across the arts, sport and family that her decade as NZSSC accompanist almost feels like a blip in her exceptional career—one that’s seen her awarded many accolades including the Queens Service Medal and the National Excellence in Teaching Award.

During nearly 40 years’ involvement with Tawa College, 21 as head of the music department, Shona has also directed her own award-winning choirs. We asked Shona about her love of music and her time with NZSSC …

Shona, what did you enjoy most in your ten years as NZSSC accompanist?

I loved that the choir brought students together from all over New Zealand, from both large and tiny schools.  I was particularly proud when students took what they had learned in NZSSC back to help their own choirs, Katie MacFarlane (choir director and Choirs Aotearoa board member) did that for her school in Timaru.

I always enjoyed the cultural diversity and that we had so many boys wanting to sing! That doesn’t happen everywhere and was commented on when we toured to Australia in 1998.

It was humbling to get the chance to travel to see other cultures and other choirs. What a privilege!  Sometimes at festivals, where many languages were spoken, music might be the only commonality—our common language. The image above is of me at the Bosendorfer Grand Piano in Victoria Hall when we were on tour in Singapore.

In 2000, NZSSC was part of a massed choir in Canada, directed by Robert Sund

I remember the trip to Canada in 2000 with great excitement. The massed choir performance directed by Robert Sund was incredible. In Calgary, we sang with the Calgary Youth Choir during ‘stampede week’ when everyone dressed up as cowboys.

NZSSC music team during ‘stampede week’ on the Canadian tour

Do you keep in touch with past students?

 Absolutely, I love staying in touch through Facebook and watching the progression of past-students and how they still use their music.

NZSSC in Brisbane, 1998

Opera singer Amelia Berry and Emily Mwila are two I follow closely and am still in touch with. I remember baritone Johnathan Lemalu very fondly from NZSSC. He stayed with us as a 6^th former and had a great sense of humour. It’s amazing to think that Rowan Johnson, who now directs award-winning choirs at Westlake High School, was once such a shy boy!

Your own music taste is quite eclectic …

 I really love Elton John.  I’m going to my fifth Elton John concert in Australia in January. James Galway said that Elton is ‘the Schubert of our times’!

I’ve been Involved with baroque, avant-garde and rock. When Charlotte was a baby, I musically directed SaulTalk, a home-grown rock musical that was initially performed at the Mana Arts Festival and then toured nationwide. We did 36 performances in all.

I’m passionate about breaking down stereotypes of who can sing and the hierarchies that exist around music genres. It’s the same in music education, kids shouldn’t specialise too early – they need as wide an experience as possible.

Shona, where do you think your love of music came from?

Some of my earliest memories are of dancing and singing along with Chinese street parades. I was born in Honan Province in China; my parents were missionaries who worked in a famine relief camp there. We moved back to New Zealand when I was seven. My father was a minister, and a fine violinist and choir enthusiast. I was often called on to play for him and for the congregations and choirs. The church played a huge part in my musical beginnings and this is where my love of accompanying and conducting began.

In my fourth form year, we moved to Tawa in Wellington and I went to Mana College where I was taught by David Sell (later a professor at Canterbury University and music reviewer for The Press). He directed huge choirs and had a big impact on me.

On leaving school I went to Teachers College and throughout the 70s, while raising my children, I undertook a Bachelor of Music in Performance  (Pipe Organ) under Maxwell Fernie and completed my LRSM and LTCL in piano. I continued to learn piano, taking lessons with Judith Clarke.

You and your husband Bruce Murray have also raised four high-achieving children …

Music and sport is in the blood, Bruce is also a singer and was a former NZ cricketer. My granddaughter Amelia Kerr, is already a world-record-scoring cricket player!

My daughter Charlotte Murray was in NZSSC and is now a music teacher and choir director. She directs two choruses at Tawa College, Maiden Tawa and Acafellas and this year has made history alongside  four other women qualifying as judges for  the Men’s International Barbershop Harmony Society in the USA.  She’s also directed the Musical Island Boys (gold medal-winners, International Barbershop Quartet, Las Vegas 2014) and still directs Vocal FX (ranked in the top 10 choruses in the world).

My husband Bruce was also involved with NZSSC. He was the first Chair of the Board in 1997.

You’ve directed both young and old singers …

 I took over from Guy Jansen directing an older group called the Summerset Singers. I bring students in from Tawa College to sing with us. It’s great to bring young and old together.

Music has also taken me into prison. When I was a teenager, my father was the chaplain at the Arohata Borstal and I would accompany him on visits and play the piano. That’s how I made friends with Juliet Hulme, who the film Heavenly Creatures was based on. She’d come to lunch at our house and I taught her how to knit a dress!

Who influenced you most in your career as a music educator?

 Everything goes back to Guy Jansen and his role as National Officer for Music for the  Department of Education.

Music and the other performing arts were hugely valued in our Teachers College training back then, that’s where I had singing lessons, and all schools had music advisers.

In the early days of NZSSC, I had the privilege of being the accompanist for Professor Rodney Eichenberger, who Guy regularly brought out to New Zealand. We learned so much from him about the power of gesture in conducting a choir.  His video ‘What they see, is what you get’ also impacted choral directors throughout NZ.

Roy Tankersley had a lot to do with the success of Tawa College. He was Head of Department for music when I started teaching there part-time in 1977. Roy was also the director of the Wellington Bach Choir when I was the accompanist and assistant director. I loved working with him. His daughter Jayne Tankersley was in NZSSC with my daughter Charlotte, under the direction of Roger Stevenson.

I took over as Head of Department at Tawa College in 1984 and developed several successful choirs over the years.  We took the chamber choir Twilight Tones to San Francisco in 2006. This chamber choir included Year 12 student Isaac Stone, now the director of his own chamber choir, The Blue Notes.  Isaac has been a member of  NZSSC and the National Youth choir. He currently sings in Voices New Zealand.  As well as leading the  choral programme at Tawa College, he also directs Wellington choir, Supertonic.

Tawa College’s ‘Twilight Tones’ win in San Francisco 2006

In this new environment of uncertainty, we are dedicated to keeping our singers safe. In stylish black, all our national choirs will be wearing our uniquely designed mask for singers. These masks are designed to hold the fabric away from the mouth, and allow for full jaw movement.

Our singers and artistic staff have all reported back that they are far easier to sing in than normal masks as the singer is not constantly inhaling fabric.

They include a label to mark the singers name.

Please note: If you are purchasing a mix of SMALL and LARGE masks, only select shipping once.

Cost:

$35 (incl GST) plus shipping (if applicable)

Quantity 8-10

BUY SMALL  –  BUY LARGE

 

Quantity 11-20

BUY SMALL  –  BUY LARGE

 

Quantity 20+

BUY SMALL  –  BUY LARGE

Fiona Wilson has just been announced as the inaugural 2024 Assistant Conductor for Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand, the body that governs our four national choirs. This new role is part of a dedicated annual mentoring programme that will see Fiona working one-on-one with acclaimed New Zealand conductor and Choirs Aotearoa Artistic Director, Dr Karen Grylls (CMNZ). The programme is designed to develop future choral leaders for Aotearoa, and Karen will actively mentor Fiona for 12 months.

“The role of Assistant Conductor was hotly contested,” says Karen, “The calibre of applicants was impressive, which bodes well for a healthy future for choral music in Aotearoa. I’m delighted to announce that Fiona is the successful candidate for 2024. Many of the choirs she’s led have won competitions, here and overseas, and in April 2023, she represented New Zealand in the Conducting Masterclass at the World Choir Games in Istanbul.”

Fiona has been Head of Music at Westlake Girls High School for ten years during which time she’s earned the school half a dozen gold medals at the highly-competitive Big Sing Finale – New Zealand’s national choral festival for secondary schools. Fiona is also a singer and is currently a soprano in Voices New Zealand, our premier national chamber choir. Fiona has toured with Voices to the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Germany and performed with internationally acclaimed artists Eric Whitaker, The Kings Singers and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, here and overseas. In her new role, Fiona will also work with Voices NZ as a conductor, including at the Compose Aotearoa workshops later in 2024 when she will work with the winners of the national choral composition competition.

“I’m excited to be selected for this new role and look forward to working with Karen Grylls, the other national choirs’ music directors and, of course, the talented members of our national choirs,” says Fiona. “I’ve always worked hard to empower singers to explore a diverse range of vocal colours and expressions and ignite a profound appreciation for music, enabling every member to thrive as both an artist and an individual”.

As well as Fiona’s work at Westlake Girls’, recent highlights include last year conducting competition pieces with Voices NZ and composers at CANZ Composers Workshop in Wellington and working with community choirs for the Northland region local community. In 2022, Fiona shadowed Karen Grylls as Chorus Master for Voices NZ in concert with Eric Whitacre and his award-winning work, The Secret Veil. In 2021, she was Chorus Master for Voices NZ in concert with the APO for ‘The Blue

Planet’.

This year, Fiona’s been the Chorus Director for the recent New Zealand Opera Summer School and coming up soon, Fiona will be leading workshops and performance to open the Auckland Arts Festival in Choirs Aotearoa’s event Waiata Mai.

 

 

More about Fiona Wilson & Dr Karen Grylls

Fiona Wilson

Fiona has a Bachelor of Music from Auckland University, a secondary teaching diploma from Auckland College of Education and a Master of Arts in Music Education from the University of London Institute of Education (2002–2006). She is trained in the Kodály method of teaching music.

Fiona was a member of the BBC Symphony Chorus, London (1997–2001) with the choir included in annual concert programming for the BBC promos and touring to Istanbul and Vienna. She is a current soprano in Voices New Zealand choir and toured internationally including to the Tolosa International Choral Competition, Spain (1998). Fiona was a member of the New Zealand Youth Choir (1991–1996) and toured to the World Symposium of Choral Music in Sydney in 1996 and the World Symposium of Choral Music in Vancouver in 1993.

As director of the Westlake Girls’ choir Cantare:

2023: The Big Sing Finale: Gold Award. Best Performance of Choral Art Song (joint winner)

2023: The Big Sing Auckland Regional: Best Festival Programme by a Female Choir. Best Performance of an Unaccompanied Work

2022: The Big Sing Finale: Gold Award. Best Performance of Choral Art Song

2022: The Big Sing Auckland Regional: Best Festival Programme by a Female Choir

Best A Cappella Performance in Any Genre. Adjudicators Award for any Performance of a Single Work.

2021: The Big Sing Auckland Regional: Best Festival Programme by a Female Choir.Spirit of the Festival Award.

2019, 2018, 2017: The Big Sing National Finale: Gold Awards

2018: Concert with Toronto Children’s Chorus on New Zealand tour

2017: National Choral Conference and ASPIRE Music Festival, Brisbane – Best Performance Award

2016 & 2015: The Big Sing National Finale: Silver Awards

As director of the Westlake Boys’ and Girls’ choir Choralation:

2023: The Big Sing Finale: Gold Award. Auahi Kore Performance Award for Best Performance of a piece with text in Te Reo Māori

2023: The Big Sing Auckland Regional: Best Festival Program by a Mixed Choir. Adjudicators Award for any Performance of a Single Work

2023: Concerts with Auckland Chamber Choir, APO, recording and featured in the NZ film Tinā

Dr Karen Grylls CNZM

Karen founded Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir in 1998 and is its artistic director. Karen was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2023 for services to choral music. She led the NZ Youth Choir to international recognition as Best Mixed Choir at the 2007 Cantonigrós International Music Festival, Choir of the World at the International Eisteddfod and Overall Best Choir at Cantat Grand Prix in 1999. Karen was appointed Kaitiaki of Te Whānau Wehi and Waka Huia in 1999, bringing Māori music to the forefront of choral performance in New Zealand for more than two decades. She is founding director and Conductor Emerita of the University of Auckland Chamber Choir, having been principal conductor from 2006 to 2022. She established the University’s postgraduate choral conducting programmes in 2006.

Karen is also co-Artistic Director of the New Zealand Children’s Choral Academy founded in 2022. From 2002 to 2008 she was a Board member of the International Federation of Choral Music and has been a Founding Board member of the New Zealand Choral Federation since 1985.

Michelle already has fingers in other choirs (literally…as pianist) including Auckland Youth Choir and Auckland University Students’ Choir, so we were keen to find out where it all started, and how this NZSSC experience compared to their other choir work.

It was their grandmother who first spotted Michelle’s rhythm – they used to play duets together on trips to visit family in China – so Michelle was given beginners’ piano books and lessons when back in NZ. At high school in Wellington, Brent Stewart (NZSSC Assistant Director/Accompanist and former HOD Music at Wellington East Girls College) overheard Michelle playing piano in the music rooms, and asked them to accompany Cantala, the school’s auditioned choir. Michelle was ecstatic at this, accompanying the choir for four years – and cannot overestimate the positive effect this had on their school years.

Michelle is in the final year of a BA/BMus studying Politics and Philosophy and Classical Performance Piano. A sense of curiosity led them to Politics and Philosophy – Michelle is a keen non-fiction reader, particularly interested in the philosophy of language and semantics. On top of piano, they are self-taught in bass and acoustic guitarist and listen to jazz, funk and rock, which balances the more classical piano programme at Uni. Michelle also loves video-gaming and is a mental health and disability advocate.

Playing for a couple of Auckland choirs has introduced them to the Auckland choral network. Auckland Youth Choir reached out to them, and Michelle was appointed Emerging Accompanist with Creative New Zealand funding.

Michelle says of this week with the NZSSC, “I am blown away by the talent in this group, seriously some of the most talented singers in the whole country. I did not know what to expect, but all my expectations have been exceeded”. Michelle accompanied two pieces at our concert – our new commission from Richard Oswin, In Flanders Fields, and jammed with our band for I Sing Because I’m Happy by Rollo Dilworth.  They also spent a day working with Elise Bradley and the NZSSC Reserves.

Michelle has big dreams for the future, meaning a “diverse career, always to include teaching and choirs”. Next step would be a Master of Arts in collaborative piano performance, and eventually a PhD in Philosophy. They’d also love to play bar gigs in a cover band! Go for it Michelle!

Thank you Michelle, it has been wonderful to have you on our team for the week and we hope you have gained an insight into the accompanist role in a national choir.

We welcome accompanists, vocal coaches and conductors to submit interest in our Internship programme for all three national choirs: Voices NZ, NZ Youth Choir and NZSSC. Email Anna Bowron anna@choirsnz.co.nz for more information.

Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir
8pm, Friday 28 February 2014, Cathedral of St Paul, Wellington
Reviewed by William Dart, NZ Herald

There was an air of ritual about Requiem for the Fallen, the major music commission of the New Zealand Arts Festival.

It all took place on a raised stage in Wellington’s Cathedral of St Paul, with audience on either side, which worked well for some shorter choral items from Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir, under Karen Grylls.

The ethereal textures of Purcell’s Hear My Prayer, O Lord gained poignancy with its shivery dissonances aloft in the building’s resonant acoustics.

Schnittke’s Drei Geistlicher Gesange had the singers moving from a circle formation to two opposing groups, delivering the piece’s almost primal passion with real fervour.

The New Zealand String Quartet contributed the central movement of Beethoven’s Opus 132 quartet. There was a hushed gravity to its song of thanksgiving, although the venue was not so kind to the floating scales of its andante sections.

Ross Harris and Vincent O’Sullivan’s Requiem for the Fallen was the key offering of the evening, acknowledging the centenary of World War I with a thoughtful mix of formal and personal, Latin liturgical texts blending effectively with O’Sullivan’s pithy verses.

Bringing together string quartet, choir and the taonga puoro of Horomona Horo, the innate drama of this score did not always need the sometimes distracting to-and-fro that director Jonathan Alver had imposed.

Horo’s exquisitely gauged improvisations ranged from a crystalline koauau introduction to a war-like pukaea in the Dies Irae, that evoked the horrors of hell itself, in tandem with Harris himself on thunderous bass drum.

Voices NZ and Grylls are a potent team and there was pride of ownership in their handling of Harris’ immaculately crafted score. The arching phrases of In Paradisum seemed to leap to heaven itself and, early on, tenor Lachlan Craig eloquently delivered the all-important lines, “He is one of us. His is one of our own.”

William Dart

Aotearoa’s youngest national choir, the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir (NZSSC) won the title of Children’s Choir of the World at last night’s prestigious Llangollen Eisteddfod in Wales.

Regarded as one of the world’s most inspirational cultural festivals this event has been staged every summer in Llangollen since 1947. Each year around 4,000 performers and as many as 35,000 visitors converge on this picturesque small Welsh town and its International Pavilion.

NZSSC had been selected to submit a pre-recorded digital entry for this year’s competition and not only did the choir win 1st place in the Senior Children’s Choir category, but was also crowned Children’s Choir of the World, the best of all children’s choirs competing this year. While all other competitors from England, Wales and the USA appeared live on the Llangollen Pavilion stage, NZSSC’s video performance was played to the judges and audiences live during the competition session.

“We are over the moon to win this incredible title.” says Music Director Sue Densem. “I’m grateful to all the singers and the team to reach this quality of performance during 2 years of pandemic and disruptions. It’s just incredibly exciting and it will be such a boost for our upcoming tour”.

NZSSC is the national choir for secondary school students, aged 13 to 18 years, with up to 60 members. Audition are held nationwide every second year. NZSSC only gathers each school holidays for a week of rehearsals and concerts throughout the country. Many students find membership a life-changing experience, making clear their future path as a singer/musician. They go on to join the more advanced New Zealand Youth Choir, study voice or music at university, and become strong components of the New Zealand choral and wider music community.

“Receiving the news this morning has unearthed a raft of emotion hidden away for the last two years,” says Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand Chief Executive Arne Herrmann. “Like all other choirs around the world there has been heartache, disappointment and resignation. To get recognition for not giving up, not letting go of our values and goals is balm on our wounds. I’m proud of our artistic team, management and singers.”

The news reached the choir on the eve of its Farewell tour ‘Southern Stars’ through the South Island starting in Nelson tomorrow. Audiences around the South Island will now have the opportunity to see our own internationally awarded choir live in Nelson, Blenheim, Christchurch, Wanaka and Queenstown.

The programme will include the pieces that won them the Children’s Choir of the World title, the waiata Te Mura O Te Ahi from Christchurch’s Puanaki Whānau and David N. Childs’ The Moon is Distant from the Sea.

Excerpt from the winning video:

https://www.facebook.com/NZSSChoir/videos/594504595531706

Dates:

11 July Nelson Centre of Music Arts, 5.30pm

12 July Blenheim, Nativity Church, 76 Alfred Street, 7.30pm (With special guest, Ovation Choir of Marlborough Girls College)

14 July Christchurch, St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, 373 Manchester Street, 7.30pm

17 July Wanaka, Lake Wanaka Centre, 4pm

 

Ticket info: www.nzsschoir.com/events/