The New Zealand Youth Choir (NZYC) has a distinguished international reputation, having won multiple awards and performed at some of the world’s most prestigious venues. As Music Director, you will shape the artistic direction of the choir, develop innovative and inspiring programmes, and uphold our commitment to musical excellence and cultural authenticity.

We welcome applications from visionary choral leaders who share our passion for artistic excellence, youth development, and the rich musical traditions of Aotearoa.

Essential Criteria:

• Proven experience in choral conducting at a high level.
• Deep knowledge of choral repertoire, vocal technique, and ensemble training.
• A strong commitment to fostering young musical talent.
• Understanding of Te Ao Māori and Pasifika musical traditions, or a willingness to engage in these areas.
• Experience in planning and delivering performances at an international standard.

The MD is supported by a professional team and will benefit from a supportive partnership with the artistic team of the other national choirs.

As part of our new MD appointment policy all of Choirs Aotearoa NZ Music Director roles will become publicly contested on a regular basis. Current MDs are encouraged to apply.

Interviews for this position will take place in the last week of May with a practical assessment 14 June in Auckland.

For more details about this role and Choirs Aotearoa NZ, please refer to the Candidate Information Pack.

Applications:

Please include cover letter, CV, alongside any links to audio and video material as outlined in the Candidate Info Pack of your previous conducting work and send to joinus@choirsnz.co.nz .

If you have any questions beyond the information provided please email us on the above email or contact the CANZ Chief Executive.

Applications close 21 May 2025

Please follow link for full review by Elizabeth Bouman for Otago Daily Times.

Reimagining Mozart
St Paul’s Cathedral
Sunday, March 30

Patrons filled St Paul’s Cathedral on Sunday for Reimagining Mozart (2023), Robert Wiremu’s (Auckland) unique hour-long choral piece commissioned for Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir (Karen Grylls) and chamber ensemble.

Jono Palmer conducted.

Wiremu conceived Reimagining Mozart by blending memories of the 1979 Erebus tragedy with thematic material and passages from Mozart’s famous Requiem, imagining a hypothetical passenger had been listening to Requiem on a Sony Walkman, which continued to play on in Antarctica’s icy silence.

…

Wiremu has crafted an outstanding programmatic work in memory of a great tragedy and, along with the large audience, this was a unique performance I will always remember.

Please follow link for full review by Elizabeth Bouman for Otago Daily Times.

Reimagining Mozart
St Paul’s Cathedral
Sunday, March 30

Patrons filled St Paul’s Cathedral on Sunday for Reimagining Mozart (2023), Robert Wiremu’s (Auckland) unique hour-long choral piece commissioned for Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir (Karen Grylls) and chamber ensemble.

Jono Palmer conducted.

We are looking for a new team member to manage the activities of our iconic national choirs, which include New Zealand Youth Choir, NZSSC and Voices New Zealand.

We are working out of a groovy office in Victoria Street and deliver the management of our three internationally-awarded national choirs, a national academy and nationwide outreach and engagement program.

Your role in 2025 would include managing the logistic preparation and planning of the ionic New Zealand Youth Choir’s activities, travel arrangements, scheduling and administration. For 2025 that includes a tour to Northland, Wellington and international tour to Europe. Your role includes tour-managing and leading 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.

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 on our website choirs.nz/jobs

Get in touch now or send your application to joinus@choirsnz.co.nz no later than 12noon 20 January 2025.

Interviews will take place before 25 January and immediate start is possible.

Location: Wellington (preferred)

Essential: previous Tour Management experience

0.8 FTE to Full-Time

Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand (CANZ) continues to thrive and we are looking for new Trustees with specific skills. We’d love to hear from you and invite you to send your governance CV to canztrustees@gmail.com by 10 December 2024. If you have any questions you can contact us at this email address.

The CANZ Trust governs three national choirs with great domestic and international reputations – NZ Secondary Students Choir, NZ Youth Choir and Voices NZ. CANZ also delivers a national choral Academy and an Outreach and Engagement programme.

The Trust is a dynamic organisation which aspires to and achieves artistic excellence while developing the artists and contributing to  the place of New Zealand contemporary vocal music with commissions and performances of New Zealand works. We have excellent working relationships with our major funding organisational partners – Creative New Zealand, Infratil and NZ Community Trust – and enjoy the generous sponsorship and donor relationships with a wide variety of committed individuals. Our highly capable management team is complemented by the top artistic talent we attract.

We would like to hear from people who appreciate excellence in artistic performance and the creative arts, and have the governance skills to make a difference for our top quality endeavours.  The Trustees have a strong governance focus, currently meeting 5 times a year, generally online for a couple of hours, with one more strategically focussed face-to-face meeting for around half a day.

CANZ Trust Board

We are seeking the following skills in particular:

1. education – skills and knowledge to help us with policy settings in particular for the NZ Secondary Students Choir and the Aotearoa New Zealand Academy Choir
2. arts administration – experience working with arts organizations and managing events, festivals or tours
3. political or business networks – someone who has networks and connections which may help us open doors and/or the skills to support the CE turn these into actionable opportunities
4. capability and experience to support the embedding of CANZ’s approach to partnering with Māori and Pasifika that is commensurate with our role as a national organisation, and build on the good things already happening in this area
5. governance and leadership experience – help us ensure we’re considering the right detail at a board level to shape and influence the direction of the organisation

Voices New Zealand and their inspiring conductor Karen Grylls presented another dazzling and risk-taking programme when they brought their ‘Horizons’ concert to Wellington for three performances over Labour weekend. It is, in fact, much more than a concert. Horizons offers complete musical storytelling, integrating choral music, movement, staging and lighting linked by poetic narration and evocative percussion colours.

read the full review

How did you hear about NZSSC?

As a singer at Burnside High School, I was well aware of the NZSSC and Jean Cumming (teacher) was consistently having students audition and be accepted into the choir throughout her teaching career.

How did a boy from Burnside High become a baritone in the incredible Kings Singers?

It’s been a wonderful journey, starting out when I was a boy chorister at ChristChurch Cathedral, a place I spent the next fifteen years honing my ensemble skills. Having been in the Specialist Music Programme throughout my time at Burnside High, the follow-on with my six years in the national choirs (NZSSC and the NZ Youth Choir) was a natural continuation of that top level education. After school I completed a Mus.B (Hons) at The University of Canterbury, majoring in Voice and minoring in French. Then, I spent a year at the NZ Graduate School of Education to gain a diploma in teaching before spending just over three years teaching at my old stomping group, Burnside High School, running the choral department. It was very much a case of coming full circle.

Give us a snapshot of a day in the life of a member of The King’s Singers?

There is always some form of travel, be it a plane, train or automobile. If possible we’ll check into the hotel beforehand to drop off our luggage before heading to the venue to rehearse for up to two hours on any given concert day. Then we have dinner before the show. The concert is a two hour performance, usually with an interval, and then we come out to sign and meet people afterwards. If we don’t have any post-show commitments, then it’s back to the hotel for as much sleep as the schedule allows. In Asia, especially, the signing can be nearly as long as the concert itself! Depending on the travel we sometimes have to drive for up to two hours after the concert to get to an airport hotel ahead of an early morning flight the next day. Living out of a suitcase is perhaps not the most glamorous part of the job but the opportunity to, literally, see the world doing something we love is a dream come true.

Where’s ‘home’?

We’re on the road 200 days a year. My home is in a village called Kennington, just south of Oxford. It’s a sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of touring life.

What are the highlights from your time in NZSSC?

There are many highlights: definitely the tour to Brisbane in 2002 and working with the esteemed (conductor) Anton Armstrong. I’ll never forget his talk on authenticity with Afro-American music and then his workshop with us of his piece, ‘Keep Your Lamps’.

Have you kept in touch with your old choir friends?

I have indeed. Facebook’s good for that. Most recently, I was in Doha performing with The King’s Singers and Alexi O’Brien came to the show so that was wonderful catching up with her!

Apart from the friendships, what else did you gain from NZSSC?

NZSSC, and Elise Bradley (Director from late 2000) in particular, have a special place in my heart. Under her guidance I developed my love for conducting, and was encouraged to be a choral conductor. I spent the rest of my time in New Zealand, before moving to the UK in 2010, conducting choirs, namely the Burnside High School Male Voice Chorus and The Christchurch Boys’ Choir.

NZSSC built on the foundation that I had gained from being a Cathedral chorister, teaching me about a vast amount of repertoire from many more languages than I’d encountered before. The introduction of Kapa Haka was particularly special and it provided the launch-pad for singing in the National Youth Choir. I simply wouldn’t have had the opportunity to join the touring choir in 2004 had I not been in the NZSSC.

Do you have any advice for other young singers just starting out in NZSSC?

It’s so important to remember why we perform. It’s for the love of music. So, whether you want to have a go at making a career out of it, or keep it as a hobby, never forget what made you get into music in the first instance. In the challenging and competitive world of professional music, particularly outside of NZ, it sometimes feels more like a job than a vocation and we can fall out of love with it quickly. Identify what your version of ‘making it’ is and work harder than anyone else to make that happen. I’ll never forget what the late Christopher Doig said to me when I was studying at University: ‘I was never the best singer on the circuit, but I made a career out of turning up on time, being prepared, was always reliable, and easy to work with.’ If I can add to that, I would say that one is only as good as their last gig and you never know who’s listening! Practise as you would perform and, above all, have fun and enjoy the experiences and relationships you make. They can last a lifetime.

“The kids realise NZSSC is a life-changing experience, and we create an environment for them that’s so welcoming and friendly. I’m very proud of that! It’s not just music, it’s the experience and the camaraderie. The students literally grow up when they’re in our choir, especially those in the choir for two cycles/four years.”

On tour in Canada 2016

Anna is the person who ensures auditions, rehearsals, concerts and other events run smoothly, and she manages all aspects of our international tours. The recent merger into Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand has taken some of the pressure off Anna and she’s enjoying the support that comes with being in a team, rather than working from home. “I can discuss issues with colleagues who have similar experiences and challenges. I also have more access to music connections across the country and around the world. I feel part of something much bigger, which is fantastic”.

Anna, what goes on tour stays on tour but can you share some of the interesting times you’ve had overseas with the choir?

 I’ve been on five international tours and there were definitely times on all of them when my skills were tested. I’ve seen quite a few international hospitals!

Probably the most intense was our 2018 tour to Asia. We got stranded in Shanghai for five days due to a typhoon.

On what was meant to be the last tour day, all our phones started pinging with notifications from Cathay Pacific, simply saying our flight was cancelled, ‘sorry for the inconvenience’! It was pandemonium, including tears from many of the students.  It was the hardest I’ve ever had to work, I woke up at 4am every morning to get to the airport, liaise with worried parents back in New Zealand and deal with the airlines.

Happy staff heading to Hong Kong and Shanghai 2018 (before the typhoon….)

Thankfully we had our wonderful translator Liqin with us and I was supported by Pania Tyson-Nathan from Maori Tourism and of course the fabulous tour team, especially Gavin Hurley. We managed to get the students home in batches over a number of days, prioritising those who needed to return first. By the last day, there were just seven students left and with the pressure finally off, we had a lot of fun exploring Shanghai together.  We saw a lot more of the amazing city than we had planned, and I actually felt incredibly fortunate for that!

 How did you become involved with NZSSC?

 It was early in 2009, my youngest child was soon to start kindergarten and I saw the job advertised. Everything felt right—I come from a family of singers (my sister was in Youth Choir), and I had previously worked as the Business Manager for Taki Rua Productions. It was there I learnt many of the skills essential to my role at NZSSC. I’d also been hugely involved with fundraising for the Ngaio School Fair and realised that experience was also invaluable to the choir.

I was interviewed for the job by Errol Pike, Chair of the NZSSC Board. My husband was waiting in the car outside because he knew how nervous I was! Luckily Errol was lovely.

I began working from home 20 hours a week, which was never enough and I now work 25 hours from the Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand office in Ghuznee St. Music Director Andrew Withington had also just joined NZSSC so we learned together on the job.

2010 was when NZSSC attended the International Choral Kathaumixw in Powell River for the second time (the first was with music director Elise Bradley) …

 Being my first tour, I had sleepless nights worrying about how we were going to fund that trip, but everything came together and Errol was a great support. Because my children were only primary-school age then, the tour was my first time being submerged in the world of teenagers. I couldn’t believe how big they all were! They were great young people though, and British Columbia was beautiful. We received the People’s Choice Award at the festival, we were a massive hit. The waiata Kua Rongo was a stand-out, leaving both singers and audiences in tears with the passion of our performances.

Closing Ceremony of the 2010 Kathaumixw

As always, there were some incredibly talented students in the choir, including Benson Wilson who is now a professional opera singer.

Barring a few technical malfunctions causing our director some stress, the tour went smoothly. Oh… apart from on the last day when one of the students got lost (no cellphones back then). Thankfully he  turned up as we were about to leave for the airport, totally unaware of the distress he had caused!

We know you do so much more than go on tour, but tell us about the 2012 trip to South Africa. NZSSC was meant to go to Greece?

 Our tour to the International Society of Musical Education conference in Greece was all planned when the global financial crisis hit Greece hard and we could no longer get insurance to attend. We changed all the bookings and went to a festival in South Africa instead.

Culturally this tour was unbeatable, an amazing experience. We were all blown away by our African experiences, including a very moving visit to an orphanage and staying at a “free roaming” safari park where the animals roamed around our cabins and drank from the pool!

Opera singer Clinton Fung was part of that choir and it was Carole Randall’s  and Rachel Alexander’s first tour.

South Africa tour, 2012

And a change of plans again in 2014?

Yes, it was beginning to feel like a pattern! In 2014, we went to Singapore and Malaysia but only because our trip to Brazil had to be abandoned. With everything booked, Aerolíneas Argentinas announced they were no longer flying from Auckland. They issued a full refund but we couldn’t find alternative, affordable travel.

Instead we attended a festival in Singapore as guest choir then drove up through Malaysia, stopping in Malacca in the south, Kuala Lumpur and on to Penang. The Malaysian Minister of Arts and Culture attended our concert in Kuala Lumpur and some of our students were interviewed on national television.

We visited many beautiful places but the mid-July heat really affected our students and the itinerary was very full. There were lessons learnt on this tour, and we have improved procedures and processes as a result. For the 2018 tour to Asia, I did my own ‘reccy’ ahead of time which was incredibly useful in planning the tour and meeting concert partners. But you still can’t plan for typhoons!

In 2016, it was back to Powell River as guest choir …

 Another incredible experience, the whole town of Powell River really gets behind the International Choral Kathaumixw. Because we were Guest Choir, not competing, we got to sing with conductors from across the globe and all the other choirs. Here we were introduced to the Wah Yan College Kowloon Boys Choir (winners of the Kathaumixw Choir of the World), which later lead to our 2018 tour to Hong Kong and China.

With NZSSC members Jack Page and Emma McClean in Canada 2016

What’s next?

In 2020, we’re off to Europe for the first time ever! We’ve been invited to Dresden as one of five international choirs at a children’s choir festival. We were planning to stop in Hong Kong on the way, to perform a new commission from David Hamilton with the Wah Yan Boys Choir again. But continuing our pattern of disrupted tours …. we have had to make the hard decision to cancel that part of the tour due to the political demonstrations there. The tour is earlier this cycle, in the April holidays rather than July, so that we can attend the World Choral Symposium in Auckland, which will be very exciting and a great honour for the NZSSC.

But before then, we’ve got concerts in Napier and Palmerston North to look forward to. Don’t forget to book your tickets: NZSSC in Napier and Palmerston North!