Emma began her singing training at the University of Otago, graduating from there with a BA in English Literature and a Bmus (hons) in Voice. She was a semi-finalist in the Mobil Song Quest in 1993 and went on to complete a Professional Performance Diploma at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK, in 1998. While living in the UK, Emma was a member (with NZ Mezzo-Soprano Sarah Castle) of the trio HearSay, which regularly performed as part of the the prestigious Live Artists Now! programme which specialises in taking live classical music into the community.

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.

Operatic roles include Lucia in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, (RNCM) Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro, (Wellington City Opera) Susanna in Figaro, (Opera Factory, Cover NZ Opera) Second Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Cover NZ Opera) Ramiro in Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera, (Opera Unleashed) Jano in Janacek’s Jenufa, (NZ Opera) Siebel in Gounod’s Faust, (Cover NZ Opera) Hortense in The Opera Ball, (NZ Opera) Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, (Viva Voce) Romilda in Handel’s Xerxes (Cover NZ Opera) and Settler in Jenny Mcleod’s New Zealand opera Hohepa. (NZ Opera)

Emma is an experienced singing teacher and in recent years has also enjoyed adjudicating for Opera Factory’s ‘Opera Idol’ competition and for NZIRMT (New Zealand Institute of Registered Music Teachers) Vocal Scholarships.

Amelia Giles is a versatile musician who is active in both the New Zealand instrumental and choral communities. She began her instrumental musical studies at the age of three through the Suzuki method, with choral involvement beginning first in elite secondary school ensembles, and then in New Zealand National Youth choir from 1996 – 2004.

After the completion of a MMus in both ‘Modern’ and Baroque violin performance in 2003 followed by a period of orchestral work, Amelia changed careers and trained as a primary school teacher. She currently works at ‘St Cuthbert’s College’ in Auckland as a full time classroom music specialist, string specialist, and orchestra, choir and chamber ensemble director.

When she is not in the classroom, Amelia performs as both an orchestral and choral musician in a wide range of ensembles including NZ Barok, ‘Auckland Choral’s ‘Piper’s Sinfonia’, Bach Musica, The Auckland Chamber Choir, and since 2010 as a pool member of ‘Voices NZ’

Sharon is a Psychologist who specialises in supporting people with Autism, Learning Disabilties and Developmental Delays. She has had vocal coaching for a number of years and also sings with Bach Musica.

Originally from Hawke’s Bay, Phoebe attended Napier Girls’ High School and the Eastern Institute of Technology. She now studies and teaches Economics at Victoria University of Wellington.
Phoebe learned piano from the age of 4 and her passion for choral singing began as a young chorister at St John’s Cathedral in Napier. She was a member of the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir that toured South Africa in 2012. Now based in Wellington, Phoebe sings in the Tudor Consort and the choir of Wellington Cathedral of St Paul.

Megan Flint (M.Mus.(Hons), B.Ed., Dip. Tchg., ATCL (Voice)), has a background in education and music. She is a past member of the New Zealand National Youth Choir (1997-1999) and sings with Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir (2006-present) and the University of Auckland Chamber Choir (2006- present).

Megan completed her Masters degree in Choral Conducting at The University of Auckland with Dr Karen Grylls and was recently awarded the Australian Kodaly Certificate by the Kodaly Music Education Institute of Autralia. She is currently a full-time Music Specialist at Royal Oak Primary School in Auckland, teaching classroom music, choirs and instrumental programmes.

Megan is the co-author of Hear Our Voices, a handbook for leaders of children’s choirs and presents the successful national workshop series Primary Gestures for the NZ Choral Federation.

Maaike Christie-Beekman started her vocal training and pedagogy studies at the Amsterdam Conservatorium where she first graduated for her Bachelor’s degree in vocal pedagogy and in 2000 gained her artist diploma. She studied with renowned voice teacher Margreet Honig. She also studied at the Conservatoire de Metz, France with Udo Reinemann.

To enhance her skills in chamber music, Maaike took part at the Britten Pears School in Aldeburgh with Sergei Leiferkus, and followed art song courses with Roger Vignoles, Rudolf Jansen and Konrad Richter.

From 2002, she was a member of the Netherlands Opera Studio and worked with director Pierre Audi and conductors Nicholas McGegan and Ed Spanjaard.

As a professional singer, Maaike has sung opera, oratorio and chamber music throughout the Netherlands and Europe and features on Brilliant Classics, singing the title role of Mozart’s Ascanio in Alba and featuring on Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tiresias.

In 2010 Maaike moved to New Zealand with her husband and two daughters. She was a Resident Artist for the New Zealand Opera for two years and performed in a number of Days Bay Opera productions. Currently, Maaike regularly performs chamber music and oratorio. She has sung at the Schubertiade Festival, sang Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’Ete with the Manawatu symphony orchestra, performed Mahler songs with the Wellington Chamber Orchestra and regularly collaborates with the Takiri ensemble. As an oratorio soloist, she performed among others in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Orpheus choir, Handel’s Messiah with the Christchurch City Choir and Rachmaninov’s Vespers with Inspirare.

Next to her singing, Maaike is a voice teacher, conductor and offers training and workshops in performance, presentation and stagecraft. Currently she is an artist teacher at Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music teaching Voice & Performance and Stagecraft.

Voices NZ, 1998, 2014 – present.

Karen was a founder member of Voices NZ in 1998, including their tour to Spain later that year after relocating to London. While in the UK she sang with the BBC Symphony Chorus, and Surrey chamber choir, the Occam Singers.

Since moving back to New Zealand in 2009 she has performed solos for the Linden Singers and Hastings Choral society as well as being a singing member of Cantare chamber choir, 2011-2016.

In 2015 together with 4 local musicians she formed the vocal ensemble, Amabile, specialising in early sacred and secular music.

Karen also holds a performance diploma on Viola and was a member of the NZ Youth Orchestra.

Helen grew up in Hamilton singing in choirs, while obtaining an ATCL in piano and a Bachelor of Management Studies, before moving to Auckland as an accountant.

In 1991 she joined Viva Voce and continues to enjoy singing with this group. Highlights in recent years include selection for the NZCF Tallis choir project in 2013 and as a soloist for a combined-choir Elijah in 2016. Helen was National Accountant for the New Zealand Choral Federation during the first four years of its revamped governance structure.

Erin was a member of the 2000-2001 New Zealand Youth Choir and first sang with Voices NZ in 2012.

Erin has a BMus(Hons) in Musicology from the University of Auckland and a PhD on music in literature from the University of Edinburgh. After several years teaching university English in New Zealand and Canada, Erin is now retraining as a secondary English and Music teacher. She has sung in chamber and cathedral choirs in Scotland, Canada and New Zealand and is currently a member of the Auckland Chamber Choir.

Anna Sedcole grew up playing the piano and violin, and later took up singing studies, completing her ATCL in 2000. Anna was a member of the TOWER New Zealand Youth Choir for over six years, during which time she toured with the choir to Europe in 1999 (winning the ‘Choir of the World’ title at the International Music Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales) and to Texas in 2001.