Singing their hearts out
Marlborough Girls' College's 'Crescentia' putting final touches on their songs - Supplied/Christianna Morgan
Aspiring student singers are fine tuning their final performances for their national Big Sing Choir Competition qualification chance this Tuesday.
The Big Sing 2023 regional festival is being held at Blenheim’s ASB Theatre on Tuesday, June 6. The competition will begin at 1pm with a gold coin donation upon entry for the public for the afternoon. This is then followed by the ticketed Gala concert at 6pm, where the seven competing choirs from across the top of the south present their two favourite songs before the regional award winners and qualifying choirs are announced.
This year, the New Zealand Choral Foundation Nelson/Marlborough region is delighted to welcome seven groups from five schools - Marlborough Boys' College, Marlborough Girls College, Motueka High School, Nayland College and Nelson College for Girls - to participate in the Big Sing qualifiers.
The Gala concert will showcase 166 talented young singers from local and regional secondary schools, with an amazing and diverse selection of tunes to test themselves and amaze the audience, as well as regional adjudicator Michael Stewart.
Michael is at the forefront of New Zealand choral conducting, as Organist and Director of Music at the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul, Music Director of The Tudor Consort, and Deputy Music Director of the New Zealand Youth Choir.
He has led critically acclaimed performances with The Tudor Consort and has prepared both The Tudor Consort and Voices New Zealand for performances with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
An exciting new addition to each qualification competition around New Zealand is the Te Reo award trophy, introduced this year for the best performance by a choir singing in Te Reo.
Of the two hundred choirs which will compete nationally, sixty choirs will have the chance to be selected to participate at either the South Island Cadenza in Timaru on August 11th and 12th or the Big Sing National Finale in Auckland on August 25th to 27th 2023.
Tickets for the evening concert are now on sale ($25, Seniors $20, Children/Students $10. Phone 035208558).