New Zealand’s premier national chamber choir, Voices New Zealand, performs a stunning musical reminder of the beauty and importance of our oceans. Taonga Moana is born from the desire to talk and sing about topics that are acutely relevant to people at present. The current state of our oceans is a highly-charged topic that presents an opportunity to connect concerned people with the choral art-form.

Choral singing for many is seen as a static event that takes place in churches and sacred spaces, but Taonga Moana aims to blast that perception out of the water with an immersive theatrical experience – a musical story fusing atmospheric visuals from the oceans with live sounds from the ensemble to bring audiences a mesmerizing, exhilarating and thought-provoking experience.

One of the driving forces behind the project is internationally-renowned New Zealand choral conductor Karen Grylls. “One thing we learned early on in the project was the oceans, and their issues, are all connected.” She met with ocean experts and campaigners to really understand the central issues that our oceans face. Issues such as temperature change, the impact on global food chains, the reduction in biodiversity and how pollution and plastics wash into rivers, entering oceans and ultimately affecting what ends up on our plates. “I developed a real sense of what happens in the Atlantic is connected to what happens in the Southern Ocean, which impacts on the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. This meant that our music had to show the interconnection of all oceans.”

Grylls set out to source a global mix of musical creatives to tell the story and collaborate with prominent New Zealand theatre and opera director Sara Brodie . The result sees works from composers in Latvia, Indonesia, Canada, Finland and the U.S. come together in a programme that highlights that connectivity of our waters. The resulting story follows the flight of the kuaka – the godwits – and their hero, the ancient Maori navigator Ui-Te- Rangiora’s, from the freezing arctic through the rough Atlantic, the burning Indian and epic Pacific oceans to the sanctuary of Antarctica.

Nearly half of the music has been commissioned, or rewritten by the composers specifically for this project. Grylls says “it wasn’t hard to find musicians who wanted to lend their voice to this important topic.”

But the artistic voice about our neighbouring white continent, the Antarctic, was determined to be found in Aotearoa. “And we did” said Grylls, “in Warren Maxwell.”

Maxwell is the driving force behind psychedelic blues quartet Little Bushman and a founding member of Trinity Roots. A musical giant in Aotearoa, Maxwell was one of the five inaugural recipients of an Arts Foundation New Generation Award in 2006, and became a perfect fit as he had spent time on the ice as an artist-in-residence in 2016. “This was a chance for Warren to express his life-changing experience into a creative project, and for us to connect his composition prowess with choral music – something he’d never done before” Grylls says. With that, Maxwell’s first choral composition, Te Tai Uka a Pia (The Tides of Icy Shards), was created and has become his way of sharing his emotional response to Antarctica with the world – a place which he has decsibed as “gobsmackingly beautiful… it just left me breathless!” Maxwell was so moved by the project he ended up writing a second piece which will see its world premiere on this tour. Hind Mahaasaagar is about the Indian Ocean and incorporates Hindi verse with Tibetan throat singing – a testament to the varied musical styles Maxwell is known for.

It’s clear the project has emotionally moved Grylls. “I am very honoured and proud to be conducting Taonga Moana with Voices NZ. We are lending our voices to a relevant and contemporary issue that demands our attention and action at every level. I invite and challenge audiences to be part of this journey.” Grylls is joined for the first time by director Sara Brodie, whose works include Auckland Theatre Company’s ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime’ and New Zealand Opera’s ‘Hohēpa’. It’s a topic close to Brodie’s heart, and creating a narrative framework for Taonga Moana has been “an epic journey drawing on the skills of wonderful collaborators who figuratively, and in some cases, literally plumb the depths.” “We have drawn on current oceanic research, religions, mythologies, and historical figures of old to craft a story across the world’s oceans” she adds. “It is not intended to be a lesson, rather a musical reflection of the power we possess to protect or destroy.”

Taonga Moana is an exciting event for anybody who cares about our planet, loves exquisite music and appreciates human creativity – the explorers, the seafarers, the beach dwellers, the thinkers, the environmentalists.

ENDS

PROGRAMME
DAVID HAMILTON Karakia Of The Stars
JAMES GORDON Frobisher Bay
JAAKKO MÄNTYJÄRVI The Seafarer
JEFF ENNS The Sorrow Song Of Whales
MOZART Dies Irae/Lacrimosa
WARREN MAXWELL Hind Mahaasaagar
KEN STEVEN Henkatan Jiwa
ERIKS ESENVALDS A Drop In The Ocean
MASON BATES Observer In The Magellanic Cloud
WARREN MAXWELL Te Tai Uka a Pia

ARTIST INFO
Composers include David Hamilton (New Zealand), James Gordon (Canada), Jaakko
Mäntyjärvi (Finland), Jeff Enns (Canada), Warren Maxwell (New Zealand), Ken Steven
(Indonesia), Eriks Esenvalds (Latvia) and Mason Bates (United States)
Creative Team includes Dr Karen Grylls (Music Director/Conductor), Sara Brodie
(Director/Storyboard), Briar Grace-Smith (Script Development) and Tim and Mic Gruchy
(Audio Visuals)

CONCERT INFORMATION
Running Time: 70 minutes with no interval

WHERE & WHEN
INVERCARGILL | 4 October at 7.30pm
DUNEDIN | 5 October at 7.30pm
CHRISTCHURCH | 6 October at 5.00pm
HAMILTON | 11 October at 7.30pm
NEW PLYMOUTH | 12 October at 7.30pm
PALMERSTON NORTH | 13 October at 5.00pm
NAPIER* | 18 October at 7.30pm
NELSON* | 19 October at 7.30pm
GISBORNE* | 20 October at 7.00pm – tickets here

Tickets from chambermusic.co.nz/taongamoana or voicesfortheoceans.nz

* Features as part of the Nelson, Hawke’s Bay and Te Tairawhiti Arts Festivals.

Photo by Aja Lethaby

Creating meaningful links between the sung pieces was poetry by UK poet Godfrey Rust presented by Catrin Johnsson:

“The universe from which Love sprang
started with a Tiny Bang
when Love, to everyone’s surprise,
came dancing out of paradise…” ‘Dancing’, Godfrey Rust

Johnsson lifted the words off the page with such profound and sincere delivery, it added a genuine depth to the occasion.

Centred around Christmas and the spirit of Christianity, the choir began the programme with Bob Chilcott’s contemporary “Nova Nova” with joyous call and response between sections. This led to the multitalented Pasifika composer Igelese Ete and his “Nova Nova” a gem that received it’s premiere last night. Here Voices NZ gave us warmth and beautiful intelligent singing, cupped handclaps added a Samoan touch.

Chris Artley’s premiere of his take on “Deck the Halls” airlifted the tone into fun jazz sounds. Here the especially shiny sopranos led the melody with real confidence and beauty. Along with the delicious endpiece of Peter Gritton’s “Follow that Star”, the Artley was a welcome lift of style and rhythm.

Voices NZ has a beautiful choral sound born of schooled singers with top technical ability. Grylls draws out a disciplined and exacting sound which gives this choir a focussed purity which is hard to beat. The sopranos particularly shone last night, but the whole ensemble is right on Gryll’s fingertips. It was challenging choral music – Daniel Elder’s “O Magnum Mysterium” of 2013 undulated on waves of hummed notes and created pure magic. There were angelic sounds from the women and glorious tone from the men. Good solo spots were also on offer – beautiful soprano and tenor solos formed a youthful frame for the Stephanie Martin piece “An Earthly Tree”.

How fortunate is NZ to have so many notable composers and for these premiers to be performed by such a fine choir. “Quittez Pasteur” by David Hamilton, featured Canteloube-like folk melodies and a charming roundelay finish. An alto/soprano duet vignette lit up Anthony Ritchie’s “Es ist ein Ros”. Eve de Castro-Robinson’s “Star of Wonder” brought an inventive new take on traditional Christmas carol texts. Even if the choir wasn’t altogether comfortable with the tricky accented rhythms and the bodhrán drum accompaniment was slightly tentative.

But the stand-out performance of the evening was Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds’ “Stars” of 2011. Positioned around the audience, the singers fanned out surrounding us with their resonance. Added to this the composition calls for sustained notes from Tibetan singing bowls and pitched wine glasses. It was spine-tingling and profoundly moving to be immersed in these voices as their sound rose high into the vaulted ceiling of St Matthew-in-the-City.

Daniel Elder’s “Star Sonnet” suffered unfairly from being the aftermath of such glory. Ideally, a short sharp little firecracker would have been better programming. Similarly for the John Taverner, “Sleep” was just a little too sleepy, and although beautiful by nature, the audience could have used cold water rather than a blanket.

And perhaps there could be more curiosity from a choir specialising in the NZ sound to root out an Aotearoa-like soundscape, especially around the time of Matariki. Robert Wiremu’s “Extra Rations of Wine”, a story of the early Europeans’ experience of Aotearoa at Christmas time, reverted to a European style Hodie Christus natus est but there could have been a moment spent in the lush forests on the shores of Abel Tasman’s anchorage. Even so, it was nice storytelling and a welcome change of colour.

Screenshot 2019 07 22 at 4.20.44 PM

But one thing is for sure, I will certainly return again. Voices New Zealand takes the audience on such an assured and crystalline journey, every concert will offer great musical riches to those fortunate enough to be present.

New Zealand composers were represented with six newly commissioned choral arrangements of traditional carols, and the 24 semiprofessional singers directed by internationally acclaimed choral conductor Karen Grylls rendered magnificent interpretations of the a capella settings.

Clarity of text is often lost in this venue, but overarticulation would have destroyed the magic and beauty of this genre’s pure kaleidoscopic resonance.

Katrin Johnsson (language and vocal coach) introduced items with relevant poetic extracts by contemporary English poet Godfrey Rust.

Spirited renderings of two versions of Nova Nova (one by Samoan composer Igelese Ete of Moana soundtrack fame) accustomed both choir and the large audience to cathedral acoustics and reverb, and revealed the choir’s strength and projection.

Familiar themes and ‘‘falalahs’’ of Deck the Halls were subtly encased in diverse rhythmic blends in a modern take by Chris Artley, and Es ist ein Ros entsprungen, newly arranged by Dunedin composer Anthony Ritchie, highlighted an immaculate union of sound, particularly in the unwavering soprano fadeout.

O Magnum Mysterium (Daniel Elder) featured melded whirling circles of tight harmonies — so effective.

Nonintrusive soprano solo lyricism over everchanging harmonic fabric illuminated David Hamilton’s Quittez Pasteurs, then came a contrast with Star of Wonder, by Eve de CastroRobinson, when bass drum percussion set contemporary tonality in a palate of pulsating dynamics but leaving discerning traces of the popular traditional carol.

Stars, by Eriks Esenvalds, used effective waterglass accompaniment, complementing the surround of sound, as choir members grouped in threes in the side aisles.

The recital ended with Birthday Sleep (John Tavener) and Hodie Christus Natus est, by Robert Wiremu.

Such a heartwarming treat for a bleak winter day.

https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/otago-daily-times/20190722/281711206238329

“This is great news for our singers and audiences,” says Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand Board Chair, Andrea Gray, “The merger will create a stronger, clearer pathway for New Zealand’s best singers, from teen to adulthood. We’ll be better serving our sector and communities—achieving excellence across all age groups.”

“NZSSC, in particular, will benefit from the merger by having access to the expertise and shared resources that Choirs Aotearoa already provides its other two national choirs,” says Linda Webb, former Chair of the NZSSC Board, which will now merge into the Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand Trust.

A unified organisation opens up new conversations with funders and sponsors. Outreach programmes will also be extended—incorporating schools across all levels. While the merger will see more collaboration and growth, each choir will still retain its own identity and artistic freedom. The three choirs will perform together at the New Zealand Choral Academy at Auckland Anniversary weekend, marking a new era for choral music in this country.

The Choral Academy will offer aspiring singers from across the country the chance to work alongside the three choirs for a weekend of fun and inspiring workshops and performances. Participants will be separated into age groups that align with each choir, and get to sit-in or work alongside them. They’ll experience the highest level of tuition and gain an understanding of the journey of a choral singer in New Zealand. The Academy is open to singers across the country, anyone can join in. Register here.

Acclaimed conductor and composer Tecwyn Evans sang in both NZSSC and Youth Choir. Now based in Sweden with his wife, soprano Susanna Andersson, Tecwyn will be leading the group mirroring Voices. Robert Wiremu was in all three national choirs and is a former director of NZSSC. He’ll be involved with the NZSSC group. Youth Choir will be working with conductor Michael Stewart.

FACE featured symphonic songs and choruses with poetic lyrics written by New Zealand writer Vincent O’Sullican providing descriptions of the landscape of war as well as the hardships faced by the wounded and their loved ones.

The work is a modern-day version of a passion play as we follow in the footsteps of a young solider with his wife singing a Madonna-like role.

The orchestra provided a rich emotional drama ranging from the peaceful and contemplative to the thunderous and ferocious. Elements of the work were militaristic along with eloquent romantic passages which Harris had carefully structured so chorus, soloists and orchestra created a musical landscape that combined the reality and horror of war, a sense of myth and the pain of individuals.

The three soloists were impeccable, their singing bringing an intensity and emotion to their roles as they interacted with the orchestra.

Soprano Alison Bell sang the role of a woman who listens to the radio, looks at photographs and waits. She revealed aspects of the impact of the war on her and her husband. Singing the verse This is the right address, her voice had a palpable anguish to it.

Tenor Henry Choo as the soldier wondering about the impact of his new face gave a thoughtful performance, his voice hinting at apprehension and despair. Joel Amosa’s rich bass voice was a strong contrast to Choo and Bell with a voice of authority.

The VOICES NZ Chamber Choir was finely integrated into the work and provided some passages of outstanding singing, both with harsh battle-inspired sounds as well as subtle passages as when members sang sotto voce.

The impact of the work was heightened by the use of large projected images created by Tim Gruchy, based on an original artwork by Barry Cleavin. These depicted a collage of faces, abstract shapes, images of toy soldiers and wasteland.

The work played before FACE was Vaughan Williams’ Lark Ascendingand there were references to larks in the singing of FACE. Given the context of the concert, the Vaughan Williams work seemed more profound. Rather than a pastoral work celebrating the coming of spring, there was a sense of the birds being the souls of men ascending from the battlefield. Violinist Yanghe Yu gave the work a spirited interpretation with a fragility and lightness, without any of the cloying sweetness that can often mar performances of the work.

Where Lark Ascendingwas an appropriate work to play before FACE, the work which followed, Elgar’s Enigma Variations,seemed to make another connection. FACE concluded with soldiers embarking on new lives. Elgar’s portraits of friends gave an additional sense of hope and of new futures.

Dutch conductor Antony Hermus flawlessly conducted the Williams and Harris works but with the Elgar he was transformed. He became a dramatic performer in his own right, cavorting, crouching and dancing on the podium. The way he conducted with his hands appeared to be some form of semaphore communication and at times he appeared to be playing an unseen instrument. He provided a witty and dramatic telling of the work.

FACE will be performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, London, this Saturday, along with Maurice Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin, John Adams’ The Wound Dresserand Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.

Forthcoming APO Concerts include The Planetson May 10 featuring Debussy’sImages pour orchestre, Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Themeand Holst’sThe Planets; and Organ Symphonyon May 17 featuring Lilburn’s Aotearoa Overture, Sibelius’ Violin Concertoand Saint-Saens’ Symphony No 3, Organ.

By John Daly-Peoples

https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/new-anzac-symphonic-work-revealing-tragedy-survivors-jd-215053

Ross Harris’ Face pays tribute to the pioneering plastic surgery of Harold Gillies during World War I. Vincent O’Sullivan’s verses take care to convey history through the lives of its participants, and it was delivered under a subtly evolving Barry Cleavin image.

Face is a score of considerable solemnity, laid out between sonorous blessings from Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir. The restrained orchestral palette early on soon graduates to wild, scatter-gun outbursts, conveying the horrors of war, with numerous sinister marches, now familiar as a component of this composer’s musical armament.

The narrative for three soloists is relatively calm alongside this instrumental fury.
Henry Choo was impressive as the impassioned young soldier, not quite matched by Allison Bell as his young woman. While Harris surrounds the Australian soprano with a bower of beautiful effects, her raw vibrato in the upper register was disturbing. Alongside them, Joel Amosa exerted his usual strong presence as a voice of military and medical authority.

Face is the Kiwi centrepiece of a staunchly British evening.

First up, Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending featured a young Yanghe Yu as a thoughtful, sweet-toned soloist, only occasionally wanting in rhapsodic fervour.

Dutch conductor Antony Hermus, a model maestro in the first half, had the orchestra to himself for Elgar’s Enigma Variations after interval, giving an extraordinarily vivid reading, full of dash and intricate detail.

This work changed the landscape of English music in 1899 and Hermus seemed to underline the fact that, back then, it had burst out, unexpectedly, from a compower known for pretty salon pieces and sturdy, worthy monoliths. In this performance, there were ironic hints and echoes of both set around a spellbinding Nimrod variation.

What: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra & VOICES NZ Chamber Choir
Where: Auckland Town Hall
When: Thursday 19 April 2018
Reviewer: William Dart

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12037580

Since 1998, Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir has performed, rehearsed and trained to deliver the most excellent choral singing in this country and on occasion, overseas. From a professionally run choir to a truly professional ensemble under Karen Grylls’ inspiring leadership, VOICES is turning 20 and now we have the opportunity to put the icing on the birthday cake – a professional European tour!

This is a dream tour and we hope you can help us make this dream come true.

We wanted to find a tour that positions VOICES in the artistic esteem it deserves and we have succeeded! We have been invited to be part of a international choral concert series in London. Two music agencies love what we do and have arranged for concerts in Hamburg and Berlin, and in Aix-en-Provence in France. New Zealand fan and renowned conductor Simon Halsey has asked us to join his choir in Barcelona for a concert at the Palau de la Música Catalana, a venue that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We have also been invited by the people of Le Quesnoy in France to commemorate the centenary of the World War I Armistice Day together. Their village was liberated by New Zealand soldiers in the final two weeks of WWI. We commissioned a special work for this occasion: THE UNUSUAL SILENCE by Victoria Kelly. Inspired by letters from Kiwi soldiers and their families, this piece of music tells an important part of our history.

This tour is our chance to take VOICES to important international stages to tell our unique New Zealand stories and share our music.

Your donation will be invested 100% towards making this tour a reality. You can donate directly through our website and put your support behind your favourite tour destination below. All donations over $5 are tax deductible.

We are very, very grateful for your support.
Karen, Emma, Arne and VOICES New Zealand

Support:

VOICES in London
VOICES in Hamburg
VOICES in Berlin
VOICES in Le Quesnoy
VOICES in Aix-en-Provence
VOICES in Barcelona

VOICES NZ joined The King’s Singers for concerts in Wellington and Auckland as part of the NZ Festival and Auckland Arts Festival on 9 and 10 March 2018. Both concerts were very well received – check out the reviews below:

“It was a double a cappella birthday celebration: The King’s Singers were celebrating their 50th ‘Gold’ Anniversary and the Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir their 20th Birthday this year.” Stephen Gibbs – SOUNZ

NZF: The King’s Singers & Voices New Zealand

“It was an unmitigated pleasure to experience the vocal sheen and expertise when the two groups joined forces for the rich canvases of Eric Whitacre’s The Stolen Child and Bob Chilcott’s High Flight, conducted by Karen Grylls.” William Dart – NZ Herald

NZ Herald review

“The balance of the programme was a carefully constructed mix of the contemplative and the exuberant, ending with a medley of close harmony songs that was greeted with the sort of enthusiasm that suggested the concert could have gone on a great deal longer; advertised as lasting 90 minutes, it ran for nearly two hours, but the audience was still ready for more.” John Button – Dominion Post

Dominion Post review

It is a wonderful achievement to be now in our twentieth year. I’m not sure any of us, whose bright idea it was in 1998 to form a national, professional-level chamber choir, thought that we would be celebrating our twentieth year in such style: performing with The King’s Singers, recording and performing with the Auckland Philharmonia and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and touring internationally to England, Germany, France and Spain. Well, we are! And congratulations, King’s Singers, on your fiftieth anniversary year and your outstanding performances around the world. We are very proud of our antipodean connections and look forward very much to singing together in this special year.

As for Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir, the inspiration initially came from singers who had sung in national youth choirs and who wanted to continue the opportunity at a national, professional level. I had already made some personal, professional decisions that would create the time necessary to work with such an ensemble. After directing the Auckland Dorian Choir for fifteen years, a change was necessary. Thanks to Jacqui Simpson and some enthusiastic singers, we launched Voices in March 1998 in time to debut at the New Zealand International Arts Festival. In quick succession, there was a June performance of Bach Johannes Passion in the Bach Festival with the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra, concerts in Spain and first prizes from the Tolosa Choral Competition in October.

Much of our performing has come as a result of collaborations with national and international organisations, festivals, orchestras and with inspiration and invitation from our musical colleagues. We treasure our relations with the New Zealand Festival and the Auckland Arts Festival (thank you, Carla van Zon). We’ve sung for Howard Shore, Jan Pascal Tortelier, James Macmillan, Jane Glover, Nicholas McGeegan, Simon Carrington, and Vladimir Ashkenazy, to name a few. Local collaborations have seen us performing with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Brian Law, Uwe Grodd, Marc Taddei and Tecwyn Evans.

Recording, too, has played a significant part of our profile. Highlights include premier recordings of Vanhal and Hummel recordings with the Aradia Ensemble for Naxos, the Tui award-winning disc Spirit of the Land, Voices of Aotearoa and most recently, Ross Harris’s Requiem for the Fallen with the New Zealand String Quartet.

Those who sing in the choir are passionate about their art, they give of themselves in time and spirit, beyond all expectations. It is a privilege to work with these inspiring singers as we develop our own art and share musical skills with other singers in our communities and schools through workshops and joint performances. The Aorere College Choir Residency in 2007 was one of the most memorable.

Also memorable was the 2011 Music New Zealand Tour, Voices of Aotearoa, with taonga pūoro artist Horomona Horo. This tour gave us the opportunity for seminal performances in the development of the choir; who we are and why we sing. We proved to ourselves that we could convincingly sing Purcell and waiata in the same programme. And as the artistic director and conductor of this national choir, I have always valued and welcomed the opportunity to commission and perform works from our New Zealand composers. This was a very special programme, which also made its way to the World Symposium of Choral Music in Patagonia and Argentina, later the same year.

In our twentieth year, our collective aspiration remains: to sing at the highest level, to encourage our composers to write about things that matter, and to share the music and the singing, which has the power to change our lives for the better. See you at the Festival!

Karen Grylls ONZM

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