Choirs Aotearoa NZ Trust in association with JCP presents

 

In a landmark moment for choral music in Aotearoa New Zealand, Grammy Award winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre is presenting in concert one of his most recent compositions, THE SACRED VEIL, sung by Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir.

Eric Whitacre's works are programmed worldwide and his ground-breaking Virtual Choirs have united singers from more than 145 countries over the last decade. A graduate of Juilliard School of Music, Eric completed his second term as Artist in Residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 2020 having served five years as Composer in Residence at the University of Cambridge. In 2021, Eric was named a Yamaha Artist.

There will be an opening performance from the NZ Youth Choir in Auckland, and NZ Secondary Students' Choir in Wellington, both performing a selection of Whitacre's works conducted by Whitacre himself. This will be followed by Voices New Zealand presenting his long-form work The Sacred Veil, a profound meditation on love, life and loss, written with Whitacre’s frequent collaborator, poet & historian Charles Anthony Silvestri. The work was premiered by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and released on Signum Records in 2020. This will be conducted by Eric Whitacre.

In “The Sacred Veil,” Whitacre and the Master Chorale memorably celebrate the precarious beauty of life, offering the welcome consolation of art and a momentary stay against our collective fate.

— LA Times

NOTE FROM ERIC

The Sacred Veil is a 12-movement work and the most recent collaboration between Eric Whitacre and poet/lyricist Charles Anthony Silvestri telling a story of life, love and loss. Silvestri’s wife, Julie, died of ovarian cancer at age 36 in 2005, leaving two young children. Including texts from Silvestri, Whitacre and Julie herself, the intimate, compelling score tells a story of courtship, love, loss and the search for solace. Although inspired by this extraordinary and moving friendship, the piece does not mention Julie by name and shares a very human journey –one that so many of us can relate to.

Check out Eric's viral TED talk

 

Keeping everyone safe

  • Our choir and staff are fully vaccinated
  • There will be restricted audience numbers in the Red level of the Protection Framework
  • Bubbles will be spatially distanced
  • Audience will be required to wear masks
  • If you have any specific questions around our commitment to keep our choir and audience safe, feel free to email choirs@choirsnz.co.nz

 

The Sacred Veil was commissioned by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Grant Gershon, Artistic Director, and co-commissioned by Monash Academy of Performing Arts – MLIVE and NTR ZaterdagMatinee for the Netherlands Radio Choir.

 

Presented by arrangement with John Cristian Productions and Music Productions LTD

 

With support from:

 

 

Gemma New Conductor
Voices New Zealand Choir 
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

 

Featuring

John Psathas Seikilos
Strauss’s Death and Transfiguration
Mozart Requiem

Mozart’s untimely death at just 35 years old meant Requiem lay unfinished when he passed in 1791.

The version most often heard today was completed by Mozart’s contemporaries and gives us a tantalising glimpse of the creative direction Mozart could have gone if his life had not been unexpectedly cut short.

The NZSO is joined by VOICES NZ for this performance. Led by legendary choral conductor Dr Karen Grylls, this top-tier choir has won a Tui, toured internationally, and performed spectacularly in arts festivals nationwide. 

Two other song-inspired gems bring their special lustre to this programme. John Psathas’ Seikilos was inspired by a fragment of an ancient Greek song which exhorts us to enjoy life while it lasts. Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration is a gorgeously evocative poem about earthly suffering and heavenly bliss.

 

With support from:

 

CONDUCTOR – Karen Grylls ONZM

SOLOISTS – Natasha Te Rupe Wilson (soprano), Oliver Sewell (tenor) and James Harrison (Baritone)

CHOIRS – Voices New Zealand, New Zealand Youth Choir, New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir, Nota Bella Junior Choir

 

From the opening chorus of the instantly recognisable O Fortuna through the ups and downs of the wheel of fortune, this is a rare opportunity to see our national choirs staging one of the most iconic choral works of the 20th century.

“Carmina Burana, with its storytelling and elemental rhythms, creates the worlds of the wheel of fortune, at certain times joyful and filled with hope, and at other times filled with bitterness and grief. The 13th century text is accessible and speaks about the fickleness of fortune and wealth, joy in spring and the pleasures and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling and lust! “ says Artistic Director Karen Grylls, who will also conduct the piece on the night.

“This version for soloists, mixed choir, children’s choir, two pianos and six percussion, was authorized by Orff and is the one we will perform. It allows for clarity and impact from our ensembles and a showcase for our soloists.”

The soloists are all alumni of the national choirs, Natasha Te Rupe Wilson (soprano), Oliver Sewell (tenor) and James Harrison (Baritone).

The evening will open with a world premiere of a newly commissioned work by ‘Compose Aoteraoa!’ grand prize winner Rosa Elliot. The 24 year old Christchurch based composer and singer has created the work Forest Song during her time as composer-in-residence at the national choirs.

This is a one-night-only performance from three choirs of rare talent and well over one hundred of the country’s best choral voices. The beautiful Holy Trinity Cathedral will be filled with the sounds of Orff’s down-to-earth, primal directness, showcasing one of the most human of all choral compositions.

 

Keeping everyone safe

  • Our choir and staff are fully vaccinated
  • Audience will be kindly asked to wear masks, which we will have available
  • If you have any specific questions around our commitment to keep our choir and audience safe, feel free to email choirs@choirsnz.co.nz

With support from:

 

 

Due to impact of COVID on our touring ensemble this week, we regretfully have to cancel this tour.

Ticketholders will be contacted and a full refund offered.

We share the disappointment of our audiences and supporters as we have been looking forward to touring this show to the South for over a year.

“No good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are feeling sensible.” – W.H. Auden

We are head over heels with opera, wide eyed for Monteverdi and smitten for Britten. VOICES LOVE OPERA is coming to southern stages in Invercargill, Dunedin and Oamaru. Some of New Zealand’s best singers feature in this operatic romp, exploring both the triumphs and the heartbreaks of love. Straight from the opera stages comes this romantic tour-de-force involving Carmen, Madame Butterfly, Lucia de Lammermoor and other operatic favourites.
Wild, surprising, jubilant, funny and sometimes disastrous, this story was created and directed by well-known opera director Jacqueline Coats. Through well-loved arias, duets and choruses, the story is being told by a 16-strong Voices ensemble joined on stage by soloists Morag Atchison (Soprano), Catrin Johnsson (Mezzo Soprano), Andrew Grenon (Tenor), and Chris McRae (Bass) accompanied by Rachel Fuller.

Join us for this uplifting concert and you will recognise the songs from L’Orfeo, Dido and Aeneas, Gloriana, The Tales of Hoffman, Lucia di Lammermoor, Carmen, The Merry Widow, Madame Butterfly and more.

Director Jacqueline Coats
Musical Director Karen Grylls
Soloists
Soprano Morag Atchison
Mezzo Soprano Catrin Johnsson
Tenor Andrew Grenon
Bass Chris McRae
Pianist
Rachel Fuller

 

Keeping everyone safe

  • Our choir and staff are fully vaccinated
  • There will be restricted audience numbers in the Red level of the Protection Framework
  • Bubbles will be spatially distanced
  • Audience will be required to wear masks
  • If you have any specific questions around our commitment to keep our choir and audience safe, feel free to email choirs@choirsnz.co.nz

 

With support from:

    

 

 

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

Conductor Giordano Bellincampi
Soprano Erika Grimaldi
Mezzo-soprano Olesya Petrova
Tenor Gustavo Porta
Bass Petri Lindroos

With
New Zealand Opera Chorus
Members of Voices New Zealand
The Graduate Choir NZ
Chorus Director Karen Grylls

Verdi Requiem

‘Opera in ecclesiastical dress’, sniffed one of Verdi’s contemporaries, completely missing the point. A better assessment from a Verdi biographer: the Requiem is ‘his genius at its most concentrated’.

Having composed 26 operas, once liberated from the requirements of plot and character, Verdi poured into the Requiem everything he knew about music.

Judgement Day, with trumpets calling across the void, was never more terrifying. And the sacred liturgy is clothed in unforgettable melodies.

Verdi’s Requiem calls for a quartet of exceptional soloists, a massive chorus of singers and an orchestra capable of overpowering grandeur.

 

With support from:

The NZSO closes their 2021 season with a concert of hope, drama and triumph.

Verdi composed the opera Nabucco at a very emotional time in his life. After personal tragedy and the failure of his most recent opera, he resolved to never write another opera. Fortunately, he was persuaded to change his mind and Nabucco, from which the Overture is derived, became the work that established Verdi’s reputation as a composer.

While visiting friends in 1868, Brahms came across a poem by Friedrich Hölderlin. He was so deeply moved by this work he immediately began sketching ideas that would become Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny). Featuring a chorus of singers from Voices New Zealand, Brahms’ Song of Destiny traverses the tranquillity, havoc, drama and mystery of Hölderlin’s original poem.

Compared to Dvořák’s more sombre 7th Symphony, the 8th is often seen as joyful and idyllic, although it is not without its darker moments. From the brooding opening theme in the cellos to the joyful trumpet fanfares of the final movement, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 is a work of great contrasts.

Song of Destiny is performed under Alert Level 2 conditions – capacity is reduced, audiences are required to wear masks throughout the concert and social distancing is in place.

 

Book tickets to the live concerts 

or

Purchase a ticket to the livestream of Song of Destiny via Jetstream
Live from the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington

This event will not be going ahead due to the cancelling of the festival

 

Moving, uplifting, and thought-provoking. A very special evening of music indeed.

— OTAGO DAILY TIMES

 

Our moana is living and breathing and Taonga Moana is a love letter to our oceans.

Join us as we present a musical and visual journey that transports you across the seas to explore the vulnerable beauty of our oceans.

Following the great Māori navigator Ui-Te-Rangiora on his quest to save the oceans, Taonga Moana is poetry that begs the question, will you protect the voice of the ocean?

Conducted by Dr Karen Grylls, with elegant direction and choreography by Arts Foundation Laureate Sara Brodie, this spectacular theatrical event features new music from eclectic Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi and New Zealand’s Warren Maxwell.

On this evocative and uplifting journey, travel with our navigator to the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans to encounter whales, turtles and mysterious serpents.

He whakaaturanga toi ataata tēnei e pā ana ki te moana, ki tōna ātaahua, ki tōna tapu, me ōna tini āhuatanga katoa. Ko te ingoa o te whakaaturanga nei ko Taonga Moana, he whakaaturanga e whaiwhai ana i ngā tapuwae o te toki whakatere waka nei, o Hui-Te- Rangiora, ko tāna i whai ai, ko te oranga tonutanga o te moana.

SOLD OUT

Fall in love with the music of this exquisite new vocal ensemble made up of singers from Voices New Zealand.

Our singers will serenade you with music from the ages, romantic to contemporary weaving all matters of the heart into an entertaining evening of song.

 

Wellington’s brand new vocal ensemble 9Live are heading to the pub! Grab a pint and let some of Wellington’s most accomplished vocalists take you round the world – without leaving your barstool.

Witness the debut of this professional ensemble, singing jazz from Germany, Scandinavian folk, some gorgeous modern works and even taking a trip down ‘Penny Lane’. 9Live is made up of singers from New Zealand’s premier chamber ensemble Voices New Zealand, and with this programme called Encore, you’ll be thirsty for more.

 

Repertoire

Penny Lane – Lennon-McCartney arr. Bob Chilcott
Rest – Ralph Vaughan Williams
Earth Song – Frank Ticheli
This Marriage – Eric Whitacre
Ave Maris Stella – Edvard Grieg
Underneath the stars – Kate Rusby
Words – Anders Edenroth
Kaipaava – Finnish folk song arr. Essi Wuorela & Jussi Chydenius
Bardinerie – Orchestral suite no. 2 in B minor, J.S Bach arr. Ward Swingle
Lay a Garland – Robert Pearsall
Can’t Buy Me Love – Lennon-McCartney arr. The Kings’ Singers

 

Ensemble funding from Creative New Zealand