Blake Scanlen is a bass-baritone, conductor, and composer from Tāmaki Makaurau. He currently performs with Voices NZ, NZ Youth Choir, Auckland Chamber Choir, Austellus Vocal Ensemble, and St Matthew’s Voices as well as various solo engagements with local community choirs. Blake is currently the Artistic Director of Neotectonic Vocal Ensemble and teaches Music and English at Westlake Boys High School. He studied composition, conducting, and classical performance voice at The University of Auckland’s School of Music, graduating in 2022.

Dan is based in Palmerston North, and before University, he attended Palmerston North Boys High School and was a member of the school choir ‘The OK Chorale’; this is where his passion for music and singing began. As a chorister, Dan was a member of the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir from 2017-18 and this is his second cycle with NZYC. He explores barbershop singing with internationally recognised  Wellington Chorus Vocal FX. Dan was recently accepted into the wider singing pool of Voices NZ.  He graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance from the New Zealand School of Music in 2021. Dan works as a Primary school teacher in the Manawatū region and he is working as an itinerant music teacher in a range of high schools as a brass, strings and singing teacher. He continues performing music in big bands, and community choirs in his spare time. 

Hey, I’m Josh, I am currently a first year student studying at Victoria University of Wellington. I am working towards a Bachelor of Science with a particular interest in Marine biology and biodiversity…but we shall see where that goes in the future. I currently live in Napier and I was also born and raised here. Aside from music, my other major hobbies include tropical fish-keeping, and figurine collecting, with a particular taste for dinosaurs at the moment. One of few quirks happens to be the ability to make decent animal impressions, which is always a good laugh.

Takerei (ia/they/them) is based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and holds a BMus in Classical Performance Voice from the University of Auckland. Takerei is very active in the NZ choral scene as a singer, composer and conductor. They sing in the New Zealand Youth Choir, and Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir, and regularly perform with choirs and ensembles around the country. Previously, they were a member of the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir’s 2017-2018 cycle. 

Alongside this, Takerei is actively involved as a conductor. They have been the Peter Godfrey Conducting Scholar for the New Zealand Youth Choir, and have conducted choirs at Kristin School, St Paul’s College Ponsonby, Auckland Grammar School, and currently Takapuna Grammar School and Epsom Girls Grammar School. They also developed the Lower Voices Choral Festival, which brought together lower-voice choirs from around Tāmaki Makaurau for an afternoon of bonding over singing and performance. The festival had a successful first outing in May of 2024. 

As a composer, they have enjoyed writing various commissions over the years. Their most recent major work, E Kiwi E, was premiered by in April of 2024 by Orpheus Choir Wellington, joined by Wellington Brass and Hiwa Performance Creative. In October of 2024, they were awarded Highly Commended in the national choral composition competition, Compose Aotearoa!, with their piece, Papatūānuku, scored for SATB double chorus. 

In their free time, Takerei enjoys playing video games, gawking at sunsets, and begging their three cats to love them.

Te Whanganui-a-Tara based mezzo-soprano Kassandra Wang is an active solo and ensemble singer across Aotearoa. Her work and training span styles including classical, pop, jazz, and musical theatre. With a degree in electronic and jazz composition, Kassandra is a passionate advocate of new music, fresh interpretations, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Althea joined NZYC in 2020. Originally from the Philippines, Althea is currently based in Auckland. Her interest in singing began at Westlake Girls High School where she sang as part of Cantare and Choralation choirs. Althea enjoys singing at church and in community choirs. She also plays the violin. Althea studied Law and Commerce at the University of Auckland and was successfully admitted to the bar in 2024. She currently works as an advisor in the public sector.

Brittany Osborne is a classical singer originally hailing from windy Wellington. Having completed her LLB(Hons)/BMus at the University of Auckland under the tutelage of Dr Morag Atchison, Brittany now works in criminal defence and is set to be admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court in mid-2025.

A member of the New Zealand Youth Choir since 2020 and the New Zealand Opera Chorus since 2022, Brittany has performed as a chorister with prominent ensembles such as Voices New Zealand, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. She also cantors weekly at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick & Saint Joseph. While her day-to-day focuses on ensuring the rights of those in the criminal justice system are upheld, Brittany is grateful that she can balance her legal career with her passion for music. 

Eden Garside is a soprano from Tawa, Wellington based in Auckland. This is her fourth year and second cycle with NZYC. She is currently studying a bachelor of Classical voice at the University of Auckland under the tutelage of Morag Atchison. In her working life she is the manager of the after school care program at Kings Prep.