National choirs’ capital ANZAC celebrations
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Three of the four national choirs, nearly 200 singers under the age of 25, will be in Wellington over the April holidays, and one of them, New Zealand Youth Choir soprano Sophia Gittings, is already getting international attention. An alumna of the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir and Queen Margaret College, Sophia has just received scholarships to attend several overseas universities, including the Royal College of Music in London and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, “I haven’t decided for sure which college I’m going to, but I’m super excited!” says Sophia, “I’ll be leaving New Zealand at the end of August and studying classical voice with the goal of becoming an opera singer”. Sophia began singing lessons at six and says becoming a professional singer was always the dream.
While Sophia will soon embark on her overseas adventure, for now the focus is the upcoming New Zealand Youth Choir (NZYC) Wellington concerts and preparation for the choir’s own international tour in July. On ANZAC Day, NZYC will perform at Whirinaki in Upper Hutt and on the following day, two concerts at St Andrew’s on The Terrace.
Under the direction of David Squire, the New Zealand Youth Choir gathers New Zealand’s finest young voices aged 18–25 and has 50 members from all over Aotearoa. The choir is getting ready to travel to Europe to compete in Aarhus, Denmark, for the Grand Prix of Nations before returning to the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales, where they previously won “Choir of the World” in 1999. NZYC has launched a Give-a-little page to support their 2025 European tour and ensure no singer is left behind. While overseas, NZYC will also be singing in Singapore and the UK: in Oxford, Barnsley and at Covent Garden in London.
The Aotearoa Academy Choir, the singers of the new national choral academy, has 83 members aged 18–25. Their special guests in the capital will be Helen Tupai and Jadrah Tupai, directors of the award-winning Signature Choir. Helen and Jadrah will provide coaching for the piece “Mauga e ole Atuolo”. There will be two chances to see the Aotearoa Academy Choir in concert, they will sing at the Wellington Cenotaph on ANZAC Day and be a guest choir for the second of the New Zealand Youth Choir Concerts at St Andrew’s on The Terrace.
The new intake of over 50 singers in the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir (NZSSC) will be in Wellington for their first rehearsal season of a two-year membership. Director Sue Densem gathers our finest voices (14–18 years old) from across Aotearoa and offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from top vocal teachers and perform across the motu, culminating in an international tour in 2026. In 2022, NZSSC won the Llangollen Eisteddfod’s “Children’s Choir of the World” title. The New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir is in Wellington for a week and will hold an open rehearsal on the 18th of April.
Image: Sophia Gittings singing with NZSSC in China last year.
NZ Youth Choir, Aotearoa Academy Choir and NZ Secondary Students Choir
Wellington performances
Friday, 18 April 2025
New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir open rehearsal
5:45pm, Wellington College Auditorium
ANZAC Day, 25 April, 2025
New Zealand Youth Choir
1pm at Whirinaki, Upper Hutt
Adults $38
Tickets: www.nzyouthchoir.com/events
Aotearoa Academy Choir
9am, Wellington Cenotaph
FREE
Saturday, 26 April, 2025
New Zealand Youth Choir
3pm, St Andrew’s on The Terrace
Adults $25
New Zealand Youth Choir & Aotearoa Academy Choir
7:30pm, St Andrew’s on The Terrace with
Adults $25
Tickets: www.nzyouthchoir.com/events
For more information, contact: Rachel Healy, Publicist, T: 027 2706105, E: rachel@rachelhealy.co.nz