Upcoming Events

Our nationally selected choir of singers aged 18-25 is so excited to be returning to Christchurch, Westport and Greymouth. In the last few years this award-winning ensemble have toured the South Pacific, gone viral on Facebook, sung for the Prime Minister and had many events cancelled by the Pandemic. Now they’re rearing to get back on the road and celebrate the new year with new repertoire, new singers, but the same quality which kiwis have come to expect for their NZ Youth Choir.

A powerhouse of 70 voices, The Vocal Collective is a Christchurch contemporary choir which sings pop and rock music. For the Top of the South tour, TVC presents a programme devoted to classic numbers which have helped define the sound of Aotearoa New Zealand's popular music. From Blue Smoke (1949), through Nature (1969) to Kia Mau Ki Tō Ū kaipō (2019) you are sure to enjoy this showcase of fresh and engaging new arrangements.
Lead by Artistic Director, Richard Marrett , the shows will be a unique celebration of what it means to be a Kiwi. Expect to be reunited with The Feelers, the Finns, Fourmyula, Footrot Flats, Fat Freddy’s Drop, For Today and Forever Tuesday Morning. Expect to fall in love with The Great Kiwi songbook all over again.
The choir is excited to be performing in Nelson and Blenheim , the latter where they are joined by the Marlborough Singers. With a pop-up appearance in Kaikoura , be sure not to miss this vibrant, energetic, and uplifting performance.

The Bach Choir of Wellington is delighted to present Stabat Mater, Op. 58, by Antonín DvoÅ™ák. This evocative and moving work beautifully captures the raw emotion DvoÅ™ák himself may have been feeling at the time it was composed. The death of his newborn daughter, Josefa, in 1875 was the initial inspiration for the work. It remained unfinished for the better part of 1877, when the deaths of his two younger children, Růžena and Otokar, caused him to return to the work and complete the orchestration. The work was very well received after its premiere in December of 1880 and likely played a key role in DvoÅ™ák becoming an internationally recognised composer.

The Bach Choir of Wellington
Directed by Shawn Michael Condon
with
Michaela Cadwgan (soprano)
Linden Loader (mezzo soprano)
Jamie Young (tenor)
Simon Christie (bass) and
Douglas Mews (piano)

The Cecilian Singers are delighted to be celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2021.

In this concert, Haere Mai, they present a programme of varied songs, including music by Chris Adams, Rheinberger, David Childs, some madrigals and some lively folksongs.

A powerhouse of 70 voices, The Vocal Collective is a Christchurch contemporary choir which sings pop and rock music. For the Top of the South tour, TVC presents a programme devoted to classic numbers which have helped define the sound of Aotearoa New Zealand popular music. From Blue Smoke (1949), through Nature (1969) to Kia Mau Ki Tō Ū kaipō (2019) you are sure to enjoy this showcase of fresh and engaging new arrangements.
Lead by Artistic Director, Richard Marrett , the shows will be a unique celebration of what it means to be a Kiwi. Expect to be reunited with The Feelers, the Finns, Fourmyula, Footrot Flats, Fat Freddy’s Drop, For Today and Forever Tuesday Morning. Expect to fall in love with The Great Kiwi songbook all over again.
The choir is excited to be performing in Nelson and Blenheim , the latter where they are joined by the Marlborough Singers. With a pop-up appearance in Kaikoura , be sure not to miss this vibrant, energetic, and uplifting performance.

Voices in the Wind are presenting Rutter's The Reluctant Dragon and other humourous songs.

Carmina Burana by Carl Orff

This hugely popular work is a cantata composed in 1935/6 with text from medieval secular poems set into an exciting collection of songs illustrating such things as the fickleness of wealth, the fleeting nature of life, the joy of Spring and the pleasures and perils of drinking and gluttony, with its most famous opening section, O Fortuna. This performance will be accompanied by an army of percussionists alongside two grand pianos

The programme will also include the reflective Five Mystical Songs for Baritone and Choir by Ralph Vaughan Williams

Schola Sacra plus combined local choirs present Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man and Peace & War by Vernon Griffiths. Accompanied by Whanganui Brass with band conductor Bruce Jellyman, this will be an Anzac Day concert to be remembered.

Soloists Jennifer Little (soprano), Cecily Shaw (alto), Nigel Tongs (tenor), Lindsay Yeo (Bass) .

Tickets from the Royal Wanganui Opera House,  ph 06 349 0511 or online at www.whanganuivenues.co.nz.  Adults $30 and seniors/Friends of the Opera House/children 13-17 $25.

Join our singalong workshop that is open to all singers. The choral works will be Gabriel Faure's Requiem and Leonard Berstein's Chichester Psalm.

Brent Stewart is the director of Orpheus Choir of Wellington

Registration Form:

May Workshop Registration Form 2021

Note:  Click on the above link and click again on the the link that appears below it.

A right royal celebration of music composed for the regnal queens of England presented by Jubilate Singers with guest artists: Christchurch Symphonic Brass, Oriana Vocal Quartet, soprano soloist Sarah-Jane Rennie, organist James Tibbles, and percussionists Brett Painter and Vicki King.

Help us celebrate in style. There are prizes for the best dressed Lady and Gentleman.

Our first concert was to be held during the season of Lent so it will not be a surprise to learn that much of the music in the programme is for Lent and Passiontide. We have three pairings O Quam Gloriosum (Byrd and Victoria); Ave Maria (Parsons and Victoria) and Justorum Animae (Stanford and Byrd), we find it fascinating to see how different composers set identical words. Our Easter choices stray as far as Ascensiontide and create a cheerful end to the programme.

We will include some entertaining instrumental music which will offer contrast of timbre and mood.

This concert has been rescheduled from 27 March to 15 May due to Covid related events.

Join us at the breath-taking Bishop Selwyn Chapel for the premiere of our stunning new repertoire and to hear our special guests Chasing Grace and Stay Tuned.

What an opportunity to experience great a cappella sitting beneath the gold-leafed ceiling and against a backdrop of some of Auckland's most beautiful scenery.

Tickets at :NORtickets@outlook.co.nz.

Hurry, we have limited seating capacity and seats are selling fast !

We celebrate the contribution of women to choral music, as symbolised by St Cecilia, the patron saint of music. She was a noble lady of Rome around 230 AD who, despite her vow of virginity, was forced by her parents to marry a pagan nobleman named Valerian. During the wedding Cecilia sat apart singing to God in her heart. She was later declared the saint of musicians.

The programme includes works by Marianna Martines (Austria), Cécile Chaminade (France), Tamsin Jones (United Kingdom), Rosephanye Powell (America), and New Zealander Felicia Edgecombe. Also included is Benjamin Britten’s "Hymn to St Cecilia".

The choir will be joined by soloists Olivia Pike (soprano), Tessa Romano (mezzo-soprano) and Benjamin Madden (tenor), all local Dunedin artists. Sandra Crawshaw, lauded for her excellence on the piano, will provide the accompaniment. Other musicians on flute, oboe, clarinet and organ will add to the riches of this production. David Burchell, who has made a name for himself as a brilliant conductor, will provide musical direction and conduct the performance.

Highlights on the programme:

Marianna Martines (1744–1812), was a singer, pianist and composer of the classical period. Little known today, Marianna Martines was an acclaimed composer in her lifetime who influenced Mozart. Growing up, she took music lessons from a young, struggling composer who rented the attic of her family’s Vienna home. His name was Joseph Haydn. Already as a child she was good enough to perform before the imperial court. "Laudate Pueri Dominum" is a psalm by Mattei that Martines set to music. As befits the text, Marianna’s setting of Psalm 112 is a joyful, energetic work.

Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) composed "Hymn to St Cecilia", a work that is as easy to love as it is to admire. Throughout the hymn it is as if we are floating in the heavens, swooping down towards earth occasionally but then rising up again on the breeze – Britten’s music really is that wondrous and weightless. Small wonder that many Britten conductors count this hymn among their favourites of the composer’s works. The hymn was given its first (radio) performance in 1942.

Felicia Edgecombe (b. 1945), teacher, song-writer and musician, was born in Napier and educated at Tauranga Girls’ College, then later at Auckland University, studying English and Music for a BA degree. She has taught in secondary schools in Auckland and Wellington, serving as Head of Music at Queen Margaret College for many years. She is currently the musical director of the Capital Choir in Wellington. Extensively involved with choirs and church music, she has written many wide-ranging songs. "Shaky Places" is a set of 14 songs for mixed-voice choir, set to poems by various New Zealand poets. It is a collection of quintessential New Zealand experiences including the natural world, puzzles of identity and the Christchurch earthquakes. The individual songs range from powerful and profound to good humoured, witty and evocative.