News & Reviews Archive - Page 2 of 7 - Voices NZ

Chair of the Choirs Aotearoa NZ Trust, Amanda Barclay, expressed the organisation’s gratitude, saying, “It’s been our privilege to benefit from Dr Karen Grylls’ expertise through her musical direction of Voices New Zealand and the NZ Youth Choir, and as Artistic Director of all four of our national choirs. Karen is a tireless promoter of choral music and brings a great deal of heart to her unrelenting pursuit of choral excellence. On behalf of the Trust Board, I congratulate Karen on this well-deserved honour.”

Reflecting on this significant recognition, Dr Karen Grylls shared her deep appreciation for the opportunity to contribute to choral music in New Zealand, saying, “I am deeply honoured to receive the CNZM in the King’s Birthday and Coronation Birthday Honours, 2023. I consider myself very privileged to have worked and performed with so many choral musicians, and to be a voice for choral music in Aotearoa.

In receiving this award I acknowledge these many musicians and colleagues who have supported me along the way: composers, singers, stage directors, international and national conductors and pedagogues and the many managers who have made it happen. This award honours them also.”

Dr Karen Grylls’ passion for singing and its transformative power has been a driving force throughout her career. “The opportunity to have worked with and trained ensemble singers and conductors over several decades as part of my long-standing work with Choirs Aotearoa NZ has given me the greatest opportunities which I acknowledge here with heartfelt thanks.” She expressed her hope that young musicians feel empowered to lead and become global musical citizens themselves.

As Dr Grylls looks forward to the immediate future, she eagerly anticipates the upcoming tour with Voices New Zealand and Chamber Music New Zealand. The tour, titled ‘Reimagining Mozart,’ features a new full-length work by composer Robert Wīremu for choir and instruments promising to be a captivating exploration of Mozart’s timeless Requiem from a fresh perspective.

We extend our warmest congratulations to Dr Karen Grylls on this well-deserved honour. Her unwavering commitment, extraordinary talent, and visionary leadership have elevated choral music in New Zealand and beyond, leaving an indelible impact on the cultural landscape.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Arne Herrmann

Chief Executive
Choirs Aotearoa NZ

027 276 1751

ceo@choirsnz.co.nz

About Dr Karen Grylls:

Dr Karen Grylls is an acclaimed conductor and the Artistic Director of Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand. She established the renowned Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir in 1989, which she continues to lead. Dr Grylls’ pioneering efforts have made an indelible mark on the international choral music landscape, and her visionary leadership has shaped the future of choral excellence in New Zealand.

My inspiration for the May and October concerts, especially, comes from the whakataukī (Māori proverb) Ka mua ka muri (walking backwards into the future) where the past and the future intertwine, where those in the present stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before, where our composers carry ideas from early music and classical composers into their new kupu and new works. This inclusion of works from the choral canon into the newly commissioned works has always been a clear path for composers and choirs.

At the May Concert, Early Music Reimagined, you will hear Leonie Holmes’s new work Der Weg alongside Bach’s double choir motet Komm, Jesu, komm BWV 229.This concert will feature Eric Renick (marimba, percussion) and James Bush (violoncello), directed by Jacqui Coates, and will present new views of old music and new compositions connected to these works. Expect the unexpected!

The theme continues with the October Concert Mozart Re-imagined, a new work commissioned by Chamber Music NZ from our very own NZ composer, Robert Wiremu. This will be an exciting opportunity for Robert to write a work for 18 voices and instrumental ensemble, with his relevant and contemporary view which references Mozart’s Requiem.

The orchestral collaborations give us the chance to perform Beethoven 9 with the Auckland Philharmonia and Mahler 3 with NZSO featuring an upper voice choir and a children’s choir.

This is indeed an exciting year for us all. See you at the concerts!

Karen Grylls ONZM

Music Director, Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir

Artistic Director, Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand

I am genuinely excited to share our 2022 season with you all. These concerts showcase the magnificence of two monumental requiem settings by Verdi and Mozart, The Sacred Veil, composed and conducted by Eric Whitacre, a performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana performed by our three national choirs, and a production for sixteen Voices New Zealand singers, Voices Love Opera, staged by the award-winning opera and theatre director, Jacqueline Coates.

Such collaborations as this season offers give us the point of difference as national choirs. The opportunity to work with the NZSO and their newly appointed Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor, Gemma New, to perform Mozart’s Requiem and with the APO and Music Director, Giordano Bellincampi, for a once in a lifetime opportunity to perform Verdi’s Requiem are priceless opportunities for our singers and audiences alike.

The versatility and panache of Voices New Zealand singers is captured in Jacqui’s staging for Voices Love Opera. The show is one of the funniest and most engaging we have presented and I’m very proud of the ensemble singers and the professional soloists who bring the stories of the lovers and their various successes (or otherwise) to life. The excerpt from Nico Muhly’s The Two Boys exposes the horrors of relationships in chat rooms and gives the show a particularly contemporary and poignant twist.

Most significant for 2022 are the opportunities for our national choirs viz. Voices New Zealand, New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir, and New Zealand Youth Choir to perform together. First, the opportunity to present two recitals conducted by Grammy award-winning American choral composer, Eric Whitacre, will give the choirs and the listeners the opportunity to hear the first New Zealand performance of The Sacred Veil, a profound meditation on love, life, and loss. Then all three choirs join, together with alumni soloists Natasha Wilson (soprano), Oliver Sewell (tenor) and James Harrison (baritone), in the dramatic and intense work by Carl Orff, Carmina Burana which I will conduct in Holy Trinity Cathedral.

Can’t wait to share this with you all. See you at the concerts!

Karen Grylls ONZMArtistic Director

Manager, NZ Secondary Students’ Choir

Wellington based

(part-time 0.6)

If you like variety, travel, and working in small teams for something utterly beautiful, read on!

After nearly 13 years in this job, our staff member has decided to change roles within our organisation. We are looking for a new team member to manage all activities of the iconic New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir.

We are working out of a groovy office in the Wellington Central delivering the management of our three internationally-awarded national choirs (New Zealand Youth Choirs, Voices New Zealand and NZSSC).

Your role would be to manage the logistic preparation and planning of all NZSSC’s activities, travel arrangements, scheduling and administration. You would also tour-manage these choirs within New Zealand and occasionally overseas and lead the touring party and artists on the road. If you like good systems, have attention to detail and work well with creative people, this job could be yours. Work experience with secondary school aged teenagers highly preferred!

This is a fantastic opportunity to work for an iconic national organisation and grow as an arts manager in New Zealand’s vibrant creative sector.

You can find more info about this role in this JOB SCOPE

Get in touch now or send your application to joinus@choirsnz.co.nz no later than Wednesday 19 January 2022.

Just in time for the festive season, we’re proud to present ‘Follow That Star’, a southern hemisphere Christmas collection of New Zealand Choral Music. In the midst of the pandemic, six New Zealand composers (five are represented here) were commissioned by Voices New Zealand and Artistic Director, Karen Grylls, to reimagine familiar Christmas tunes. The new works set old tunes, some with the atmosphere of centuries old traditions and some with the stories and traditions from New Zealand.

You can read more of Artistic Director Karen Grylls thoughts here.

Stream now on all your favourite music platforms.

Commission new works

The national choirs regularly commission work from New Zealand composers which they perform publicly, take on tour and often record. To promote a musical legacy for the choral sector in New Zealand we have also established an annual composition competition for composers under 30 years of age, Compose Aotearoa!. Support from the Amplify Collective makes commissioning new work possible and enables us to create meaningful opportunities for established and emerging composers.

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Thank you to the many individuals and choirs who have supported this initiative and ordered masks over the past 8 months.

We are no longer accepting individual orders – the minimum order is now 8 masks.

If you are a choir or group wanting a large number, please contact us directly before ordering as we may need to have them made specially, which could take some time.

In this new environment of uncertainty, we are dedicated to keeping our singers safe. In stylish black, all our national choirs will be wearing our uniquely designed mask for singers. These masks are designed to hold the fabric away from the mouth, and allow for full jaw movement.

Our singers and artistic staff have all reported back that they are far easier to sing in than normal masks as the singer is not constantly inhaling fabric.

They include a label to mark the singers name.

Please note: If you are purchasing a mix of SMALL and LARGE masks, only select shipping once.

Cost:

$35 (incl GST) plus shipping

A year ago we challenged ourselves to keep singing at a world-class level, as expected from Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir, but in a way that is more locally focused when borders and alert levels keep us at home.

We’re excited now to debut our regional ensembles! With funding from Creative NZ’s resilience fund, we’re now rolling out the project in Wellington and Auckland.

Thank you to the many individuals and choirs who have supported this initiative and ordered masks over the past 8 months.

We are no longer accepting individual orders – the minimum order is now 8 masks.

If you are a choir or group wanting a large number, please contact us directly before ordering as we may need to have them made specially, which could take some time.

Quantity 8-10

Quantity 11-20

Quantity 20+

THANKS TO