A world of experience
Jason Balla, the new music director of the Nelson Civic Choir, has had a career in music most could only dream of.
He has spent a lifetime working in some of the great opera houses of the world. At age 18, he was awarded the prestigious Organ Scholarship to study music at Balliol College, Oxford.
After graduating, Balla spent some time working as a radio broadcaster in Hong Kong where he produced and presented a series of programmes on choral music through the centuries and the European choral traditions.
After receiving his Master of Arts degree from Oxford University he continued vocal and opera studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and at the Verdi Academy of Busseto in Italy.
A company member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago from 1995 to 2018, Balla speaks Italian, French, German and Spanish.
He also previously owned a design business and a restaurant.
After such a colourful, well-travelled life, Balla chose Nelson as a place to settle.
He knows the region well, having visited the city yearly from 2006, describing it as the ‘‘one place I could come for a month or so and just really get away’’.
In 2021 Balla and his GP partner finally settled permanently in the area, where he already had an established group of friends.
He doesn’t miss the ice and snow of Chicago winters, and living right on the waterfront, said the views were nice even when the weather was bad.
Now, as the music director of the civic choir, Balla says while it’s not the Chicago Symphony or the London Philharmonic, the group produced amazing results in its June concert after just three months of rehearsals.
‘‘There are certain standards that I try not to go below in terms of performance standards, and they came up and met me, which is great,’’ he said.
‘‘I think they were quite shocked at what they pulled off as well.’’
The choir has around 60 members, with several younger people joining recently.
Balla would like to get another 10 to 20 more – a group of 70 to 80 would be ‘‘optimal’’, he says.
The group is in rehearsals for Joy to the World – A Seasonal Celebration at the Christ Church Cathedral in early December, followed the day after by the Christmas Messiah Sing Fest!.
Balla has high praise for Nelsonian singers: ‘‘They sound like a choir in their 20s, there’s a great, clean sound that they’re producing.’’
When it comes to Kiwi choirs, Balla said the talent is here and the interest is here, stemming from British choral society traditions.
‘‘The key is to find the right kind of leadership. I think very often, they just lack leadership, because the really good people don’t stay.’’
Balla said his goal was to share what he’d learned over a really fun and long career.
‘‘It’s not about proving anything, it’s just about having a great experience as a participant, and as a member of the audience,’’ he said.
■ Joy to the World– A Seasonal Celebration is at Nelson’s Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday, December 3, at 7pm. Tickets from Nelson Centre of Musical Arts or on the door.
■ Christmas Messiah Sing Fest! is on Sunday, December 4, at 3pm at the NCMA.