Plenary Session 1: The Composer, The Choir, and A Clock

Abstract

The inspiration for this convention arose from a desire to connect the worlds of the composer and the choir. Singing extracts from a selection of contemporary scores will help us to identify some of the challenges in this area, and work with the tools that will create the artistry. As Artistic Director, I am delighted to present this national convention that brings together for the first time the worlds of the choral conductor and the composer. The collaboration between the composer and the choir is one that is critical to our musical life, one that creates new stories and one that helps make the world in which we live in the 21st century have relevance through singing. The days will be filled with expert wisdom, practical music-making in rehearsal and concert, opportunities for increasing our individual knowledge base and for debate about things that matter to us. From our days of music-making together, we will aspire to identify the challenges and find ways to build the choral environment of our future here in New Zealand. It is a special privilege to welcome to Aotearoa our international guests, conductor André Thomas (USA), composer Eriks Ešenvalds (Latvia) and James Cuskelly (Australia), educator and President of the International Kodály Society. In addition, we wish to acknowledge the presence of two of our national choirs – New Zealand Youth Choir and the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir – and the specially-formed Choral Connect Children’s Choir.