VOICES 24

The 24 strong chamber choir is chosen from these singers on a project by project basis.

Celia Aspey-Gordon

SOPRANO

Celia sang with the NZ Youth Choir from 1989 to 1996 and was a founding member of Voices New Zealand from 1998 to around 2007

Emma Roxburgh

SOPRANO

Emma is now resident in Auckland where she performs regularly as a concert soloist with many of Auckland’s choirs and orchestras including the APO, ACO, Auckland Choral, Viva Voce and Bach Musica. She is also a member of the Freemasons NZ Opera Chorus and is one of NZ Opera’s current Resident Artists and Freemasons Scholars.

Fiona Wilson

SOPRANO

Fiona has been a member of Voices NZ Chamber Choir since 2006 and has previously sung with NZ Youth Choir, London’s BBC Symphony Chorus, V8, Auckland Chamber Choir and Dorian Choir. Fiona is the Director of Cantare, the premier girls choir at Westlake Girls High School in Auckland, where she is the Head of Music.

Luana Prictor

SOPRANO

Luana has sung in choirs since high school, when she was fortunate to tour with Key Cygnetures under the direction of Elise Bradley. Her journey in singing has taken her through the NZ Secondary Students’ Choir, NZ Youth Choir, Cappella vocal ensemble, and Auckland Chamber Choir.

Nicola Holt

SOPRANO

Born in Dunedin, Nicola studied voice and piano performance at Otago University. She went on to complete a Masters degree in performance singing from Victoria University and a Diploma from the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague, Holland. Nicola has had many years experience as a soprano soloist, choral singer and musical director. She has sung […]

Chelsea Whitfield

SOPRANO

Chelsea completed her Bachelor of Music majoring in organ performance at Te Kōki, New Zealand School of Music in Wellington. She then went on to graduate from a Bachelor of Science majoring in Psychology at Victoria University of Wellington. She was a member of the New Zealand Youth Choir from 2014 – 2019.

Jessica Wells

ALTO

Jessica joined Voices NZ in 2017 and also currently sings with Viva Voce and the Auckland branch of the Freemasons NZ Opera Chorus.

Thomas Woodfield

ALTO

Thomas is originally from Christchurch and lives in Auckland.

He is a primary school teacher.

Keani Taruia-Pora

SOPRANO

Growing up in the suburbs of South Auckland, Keani began singing at a young age, taking part in many cultural singing customs and admiring the voices of roles models in her family and community.  Being of Cook Island descent, her cultural views and passion around Pasifika music has paved the start of her musical journey. 

Andrea Cochrane

ALTO

With a love of singing choral and early music, Andrea was in the New Zealand National Youth Choir from 1985 to 1993 and then again in 1996. She has sung with Voices New Zealand since 1996 and also sang with the World Youth Choir twice in her younger days. Andrea also sings with The Tudor Consort and Baroque Voices in Wellington.

Megan Hurnard

ALTO

Megan is from Wellington.

She was in the New Zealand Youth Choir from 1997-1999.

Steven Rapana

TENOR

A New Zealander of Māori and Samoan extraction, Steven is best known for his arrangements and compositions of Pacific choral music. Tracing his family lineage back to his ancestral lands of the Hokianga in the north of Aotearoa, as well as to the Samoan villages of Sāfune and Sāmauga in Savai’i, and Vailoa (Aleipata) in […]

Matthew Bennett

TENOR

Matthew is a student at the University of Auckland and enjoys singing in many choral groups. He is currently also a member of the Auckland Chamber Choir, the NZ Youth Choir, and sings in smaller ensembles such as the St Patrick’s Vocal ensemble.

Jack Timings

TENOR

Jack Timings is based in Auckland and works as an industrial process engineer. Jack has been a member of Voices New Zealand since 2016, and has been involved in a number of national and international tours with the choir during this time. He has also been a member of the New Zealand Youth Choir.

Benjamin Madden

TENOR

Benjamin Madden is a proudly born-and-bred Dunedin tenor trained by Pat Scally-Richardson and Judy Bellingham. Since finishing a Bachelor of Music in Classical Music Performance (Voice) and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy at the University of Otago in 2014, Benjamin has been working as a choral director and private singing teacher in Dunedin.

Phillip Collins

Phillip Collins

TENOR

Phillip was a member of the 1999 New Zealand Youth Choir that won the “Choir Of The World” competition in Llangollen, Wales. He studied Music, English and Theatre at Victoria University, Wellington. He has performed regularly with Baroque Voices, The Tudor Consort and Voices New Zealand, as well as appearing as a soloist in performances of major Early Music works.

Richard Taylor

TENOR

Jared Corbett

TENOR

Jared is a choral conductor and part-time medical doctor, originally from Ashburton, currently based in Ōtautahi Christchurch. He has directed the Wellington Youth Choir, and the choral programme at Saint Kentigern College in Auckland, and is currently the director of The Cecilian Singers in Christchurch.

Rowan Johnston

BASS

Rowan has been a member of the NZ Youth Choir from 1993, and of the Voices NZ Chamber Choir since 1999. Based in Auckland, Rowan conducts the acclaimed school choir, Choralation and is Director of Choirs at Holy Trinity Cathedral Auckland. He is a regular guest conductor at the Australian National Choral School and in […]

Blake Nicholson

BASS

Blake is from Auckland’s North Shore. He went to Westlake Boys’ High School, where he sang in “Voicemale” and “Choralation” choirs, which kick-started his love for choral music, before joining the New Zealand Youth Choir. Blake also currently sings in the University of Auckland Chamber Choir, where he is studying a conjoint degree in Engineering […]

Jono Palmer

BASS

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 […]

Gregory Camp

BASS

Gregory Camp is Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Auckland, where he teaches a wide variety of topics in musicology, music theory and musicianship. He is the school’s Director of Research, and is also the artistic director of the University of Auckland Opera Workshop, for which he directs an opera production each year.

James Butler

BASS

James was a member of the New Zealand Youth Choir from 2000-2004. He has been a Lay Clerk at Wellington Cathedral and a member of the Tudor Consort, the Auckland Chamber Choir and Musica Sacra.

In memoriam | Helen Acheson

Helen-Atchison-01-300x300
Our treasured friend and Voices NZ singer Helen Acheson passed away suddenly earlier this year. Our most heartfelt thoughts are with her husband Chris and her young children during these difficult times.
Helen joined the Choirs Aotearoa NZ whānau more than 25 years ago. She was a member of the New Zealand Youth Choir in 1997 and 1998 and has sung with Voices New Zealand for over a decade. With her passion for music and singing she became a classroom music teacher, mentored and coached young singers of NZ Secondary Students' Choir and NZ Youth Choir, contributed to outreach activities into school and community choirs and offered her expertise to everyone. This year Helen worked for the New Zealand Choral Federation in an outreach role to encourage more primary school aged children to sing. At the same time Helen worked and toured with Voices New Zealand as recent as in May.
Helen has been such an incredible, positive, engaging and committed member of our national choirs’ community, a cornerstone of all our Voices NZ projects and musical inspiration to all of us. We will miss her so much and find it difficult to imagine the future without her.
Hei konā mai me te aroha
- From the Choirs Aotearoa NZ whānau, the trustees, artistic and admin staff, Karen and Arne

VOICES 60

VOICES 60 are singers who have successfully auditioned and contribute to concerts where ensembles larger than 24 singers are required.