Horotu: NZ Youth Choir Celebrates 40 Years "A Christmas Journey."

Abstract

This event acknowledges 40 years of singing for the New Zealand Youth Choir. My role was to direct Voices NZ and the joint choir comprising NZ Youth Choir, Voices New Zealand and all the Alumni in attendance. From an artistic perspective… Four decades, four conductors, endless numbers of notes, hundreds of concerts, performances of NZ music, international tours and competitions, excitable audiences and so many nationally selected singers; such is the world of the NZ Youth Choir as it celebrates 40 years of singing. The riches for the singers have always embraced the fine music-making, friends made for life, a place where they can belong, and the opportunities which arise from the aspirational levels of excellence in singing challenging and exceptional repertoire. All this lies at the heart of the life the singers experience as members of the choir. As the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Youth Choir for two of the four decades, I have had the privilege of watching the development of the singers and the choir from 1989. During the early years, singers had less opportunity to experience the regular experience of good cathedral/church choirs; declining musicianship skills and the lack of weekly singing of sacred repertoire had its impact on the national choirs. NZSSCC became a critical source of new auditionees and still is. As the curriculum in secondary schools developed, vocal lessons and regular choral performance had a significant impact on the daily experience of the singers. In youth choir rehearsals, the refinement of Robert Wiremu’s vowel clock as a tool to develop vowel resonance and the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet became critical to the development of the sound of the choir and their ability to sing repertoire in languages other than English. 1993 was a significant year when, with the encouragement of Graham Hoffman from NZ Choral Federation, the relationship with Te Waka Huia, and Ngapo and Nen Wehi, began. It was a significant moment when the NZ Youth Choir and Te Waka, together, performed “Kua rongo” in the Sydney Opera House at the 1996 World Choral Symposium. This required skills and a knowledge of repertoire in Te Reo that challenged us all. has continued to include works by NZ composers, major choral/orchestral works and a mixture of pieces from the choral canon and the more contemporary style. Regular appearances in the Wellington and Auckland Festivals, the opportunity to work with international conductors, and the chance to perform and compete internationally remain a critical and hugely successful part of the Youth Choir’s profile.