Sarah has a a Bachelor of Choral Music Education from Butler University (hons) and a Master of Music from The University of Auckland. After living and teaching English in the Kingdom of Tonga, Sarah fell in love with the South Pacific and moved to NZ in 2009. Her music teaching career began at Waiheke High School, where she established the school’s first choral programme.

Sarah now leads a thriving choral programme at Macleans College, overseeing five choirs and more than 400 students. Alongside her choral work and role as head of curriculum music, she has directed community choirs, including working as part of the directorship team at All Together Now.

Sarah has been a passionate choral singer since the age of seven when she joined Essex Children’s Choir. Since then, she has sung with show choirs, university chamber and madrigal choirs, and was part of MUSE: Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir. In NZ, Sarah has sung with Sister Shout on Waiheke Island and Auckland Chamber Choir. Sarah currently sings with Luminata Voices.

Sarah has a a Bachelor of Choral Music Education from Butler University (hons) and a Master of Music from The University of Auckland. After living and teaching English in the Kingdom of Tonga, Sarah fell in love with the South Pacific and moved to NZ in 2009. Her music teaching career began at Waiheke High School, where she established the school’s first choral programme.

Sarah now leads a thriving choral programme at Macleans College, overseeing five choirs and more than 400 students. Alongside her choral work and role as head of curriculum music, she has directed community choirs, including working as part of the directorship team at All Together Now.

Sarah has been a passionate choral singer since the age of seven when she joined Essex Children’s Choir. Since then, she has sung with show choirs, university chamber and madrigal choirs, and was part of MUSE: Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir. In NZ, Sarah has sung with Sister Shout on Waiheke Island and Auckland Chamber Choir. Sarah currently sings with Luminata Voices.

Sarah has a a Bachelor of Choral Music Education from Butler University (hons) and a Master of Music from The University of Auckland. After living and teaching English in the Kingdom of Tonga, Sarah fell in love with the South Pacific and moved to NZ in 2009. Her music teaching career began at Waiheke High School, where she established the school’s first choral programme.

Sarah now leads a thriving choral programme at Macleans College, overseeing five choirs and more than 400 students. Alongside her choral work and role as head of curriculum music, she has directed community choirs, including working as part of the directorship team at All Together Now.

Sarah has been a passionate choral singer since the age of seven when she joined Essex Children’s Choir. Since then, she has sung with show choirs, university chamber and madrigal choirs, and was part of MUSE: Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir. In NZ, Sarah has sung with Sister Shout on Waiheke Island and Auckland Chamber Choir. Sarah currently sings with Luminata Voices.

Hailing from the UK, Jessica moved to New Zealand for this new role with CANZ and brings extensive experience from across the choral arts management sector. Most recently working as Artist Manager at James Brown Management, Jessica spent several years leading operational management of The Tallis Scholars – spearheading the planning and execution of more than 300 high-profile performances across 25 countries for this world-class ensemble by collaborating with promoters, festivals and broadcasters throughout the globe to pilot the logistical and strategic delivery of the group’s international artistic work. Her wider JBM portfolio included supporting choral conductors Daniel Hyde and Nicholas Chalmers, and the GRAMMY-winning Attacca Quartet.

Alongside her work at JBM, Jessica took on a pivotal leadership role in the formation and growth of Cambridge University Schola Cantorum. Having played a central part in leading the international campaign to save St John’s Voices as it faced closure, Jessica went on to serve as Cambridge Schola’s first General Manager after its emergence from SJV following its disbandment. She was instrumental in guiding the choir through its transition and reconstitution, helping to re-establish the ensemble with a renewed artistic vision and organisational structure. Working closely with the Artistic Director, she contributed to defining the choir’s vision, mission and long-term strategic direction, and aided the facilitation of community engagement and outreach projects such as development opportunities with the BBC Singers and Sheffield’s Steel City Choristers.

Jessica also brings extensive experience as a professional choral singer, having held posts with the VOCES8 Scholars, Choirs of Clare & Trinity Colleges in Cambridge, St Martin-in-the-Fields in London and the Choir of Royal Holloway amongst others. Jessica has enjoyed singing on the freelance choral circuit across the UK and Europe for a number of years, also acting as choral fixer for a variety of projects including ‘Carols at the Royal Albert Hall’ and the Edington Music Festival.

She holds a Bachelor of Music (Hons) and Master of Music from Royal Holloway, University of London, and spent a year studying on international exchange at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington and Te Kōkī – New Zealand School of Music.

Jono Palmer is a dynamic and enterprising conductor from Auckland, New Zealand. His choirs have won national and international acclaim, including two Gold Medals at the 2015 Grand Prix of Nations in Magdeburg, Germany, and many awards at regional and national festivals of the NZCF Big Sing festival. As a conductor, Jono has been selected for masterclasses at the 2017 World Symposium of Choral Music and the 2017 National Collegiate Choral Organization National Conference. In October 2018, he was a finalist in the inaugural London International Choral Conducting Competition.

He has a particular research interest in choral works inspired by te ao Māori, especially in the influence of colonisation and cultural appropriation on New Zealand choral music, which is the topic of his doctoral dissertation. In 2019, he presented a paper at the national conference of the National Collegiate Choral Organization on the performance of kapahaka music by non-Māori choirs, and in 2021 he led a round-table discussion at Indiana University on issues related to the appropriation and cultural borrowing of Indigenous music by Western composers.  

As a singer, Jono has been a member of the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir, the New Zealand Youth Choir, and Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir. Some of his solo engagements have included the role of Papageno in The Magic Flute (Class Act Opera), Superintendent Budd in Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring (University of Auckland), a Christmas concert tour with Operatunity, and guest solo performances with the South Auckland Choral Society and Auckland Choral Society. Jono has also performed several times with the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project.

Jono has sung with many of Auckland’s leading choirs including the University of Auckland Chamber Choir, Musica Sacra, Viva Voce, Bach Musica, Holy Trinity Cathedral Choir, V8 Vocal Ensemble, Voices of the Age of Discovery, and Laudamus Vocal Ensemble. At Indiana University, he has performed regularly with the HPI ensemble Concentus, as well as NOTUS Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, University Singers, the Conductor’s Chorus, and the Singing Hoosiers.

Jono has earned a MM in Choral Conducting from Indiana University, a BMus(hons) in Performance Voice, and a BA in Ancient History from the University of Auckland. He is a doctoral candidate in Choral Conducting at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where he is currently writing the doctoral final project document.

Fiona Wilson is a conductor and educator based in Auckland, New Zealand. As Head of Faculty of
Performing Arts at Westlake Girls High School, she directs two of the school’s acclaimed choirs, Cantare
and Choralation.
Under her leadership, these ensembles have achieved exceptional success on both national and
international stages. Highlights include Cantare winning the Teenage Choir category and competing in
the Grand Prix at the 2024 Bali International Choir Festival and Choralation earning two Gold
Championship medals at the 2024 Interkultur World Choir Games. In 2017, Cantare also performed at
the Australian National Choral Association’s ChoralFest and won both the Choral and Best Performance
Overall awards at the Brisbane Aspire Music Festival.
Fiona’s choirs consistently receive Gold and Best Performance awards at NZCF’s The Big Sing, New
Zealand’s premier regional and national choral competition, where she is recognised as a leading figure
in choral excellence.
Fiona is a passionate advocate for collaboration, frequently partnering with leading arts organisations.
Her choirs have performed alongside prestigious ensembles, including the national choirs of New
Zealand, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Auckland Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Choral,
Auckland Chamber Choir, Hamilton Civic Choir, North Shore Brass Band, the Toronto Children’s Chorus
and the Young Choral Academy, Kuala Lumpur.
In 2022, Fiona co-founded the Treble Voices Festivals in Auckland with Elise Bradley MNZM, creating an
enriching platform for young singers to learn from esteemed choral clinicians, perform in a massed choir,
and showcase their own repertoire. Since its inception, the festival has grown to include both junior and
senior events, with Fiona also serving as a guest clinician.
In 2023, Fiona was selected as one of eight international conductors for the prestigious Masterclass
Program at the World Symposium on Choral Music in Istanbul, Türkiye. She has served as Chorus Master
for productions including Red!, a children’s opera at New Zealand Opera’s Summer School, and for Voices
New Zealand in the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s The Blue Planet. Fiona has led outreach
workshops for community choirs in Kaitaia and Waiata Mai, the opening event of the 2024 Auckland Arts
Festival.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Karen Grylls, Fiona was appointed the inaugural Assistant Conductor for
Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand in 2024, conducting each of the national choirs. In 2025, she was honored
to serve as adjudicator for the NZCF The Kids Sing Festival in Auckland.
As a prior member of New Zealand Youth Choir, and singing with the Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir
since 2006, Fiona continues to refine her artistry and deepen her passion for choral music