NZ students choir heading north

The New Zealand Secondary Students Choir will perform three public concerts in Northland, in Kerikeri and Waitangi and, for the first time, Whangārei.

Local member, Riley Rolton, from Coopers Beach, is excited to be one of the 56 young singers from all over Aotearoa that make up the choir, and to be bringing his new friends to Northland.

Under the direction of Sue Densem, the NZ Secondary Students Choir gathers New Zealand’s best young voices and offers a once in a lifetime opportunity – a two-year membership to learn from top vocal teachers and teachers that (in prepandemic days) culminates in an international tour.

The Northland concerts will be the first performances for 2022, awarm-up for more national touring and, travel restrictions allowing, a trip to Australia in July for Festival of Voices in Hobart.

Riley, a tenor who will be year 13 this year, was part of the choir invited by the prime minister and the governor-general to sing at the state memorial service for Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, last year.

Last year, the choir also performed at the national Anzac commemoration.

Arriving in Whangārei on January 24, the choir will be rehearsing at Whangārei Girls’ High School in the lead-up to the Northland performances.

The choir will offer a new repertoire, which includes works from Aotearoa and the Pacific as well as kapa haka. In between concerts in Kerikeri, Waitangi and Whangārei, the choir will also visit Kaitaia College on January 26 to work with the school’s singers and kapa haka group, and their music teacher, Dr Opeloge Ah Sam.

These workshops will culminate in a public performance at the school that afternoon.

The choir’s Northland tour is proudly supported by local trusts Foundation North, Oxford Sports Trust and the Four Winds Foundation.

Riley Rolton, from Coopers Beach, is excited to be one of the 56 young singers from all over Aotearoa that make up the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir.