“From Tallis to Rutter”—the phrase describes the vast scope of the Great British Choral Tradition. Thomas Tallis was an Elizabethan musical star in the 16th century, while five centuries later, in the same tradition, John Rutter writes some of the most imaginative choral music to be found anywhere today.
The motet Spem in Alium is in forty, yes forty— parts, and moves through myriad combinations to form a stunning vocal kaleidoscope.
Composed in 1985 as a tribute to his father, Rutter’s smooth but modern Requiem often nods fondly towards some of the composer’s own musical “fathers”, including Fauré, Mahler, and Gershwin.
Separating Tallis from Rutter, Vaughan Williams appears through his ravishing instrumental work based on everyone’s favourite English folksong Greensleeves.
Morag Atchison, Soprano
Auckland Choral
Pipers Sinfonia
Uwe Grodd, Conductor
Tickets are available at eventfinda.co.nz or phone 0800 BUYTIXS (0800 289 8497).
Price $45, concessions available.
Please note that some seats have obstructed views.
Nigel grew up choral singing with the choirs of Kings School and Kings College in Auckland, but then took a break for the next 30 years while focusing on his career as a Consulting Engineer in Ottawa Canada where he moved with his wife in 1981. Later he joined a choir in Ottawa as a way of relieving the stresses of the daily grind, and found that he really enjoyed the challenge, stimulation, and therapy that choral singing provides. He sang with Coro Vivo Ottawa and the Ottawa Festival Chorus for many years, and part time with Auckland Choral since 2006 on his many visits back to New Zealand, before moving back to Auckland with his wife Ming, last year. He sings as a Tenor 2.
Hi! I'm Maria Millar. I'm an Alto 1, and also convener of the Auckland Choral Music Committee. I first joined Auckland Choral in 2015, in time for the Missa Solemnis. I come from a musical home, with a Dad who played Organ at church and piano for the local pantomines and performances. Thanks to his influence, I've sung for most of my life. I studied singing with Margaret Medlyn when I lived in Wellington, as well as singing simultaneously with both the Bach Choir and the Orpheus Choir. I was also a performer in two International Festival of the Arts operas: Salome and Madam Butterfly. I lived in Sydney for three years, and stepped away from the predominantly classical choir style, and sang with the gay & lesbian choir, whose repertoire was more contemporary in nature. Then, in 2001 I moved to London, and while there returned to my classical roots and sang with the Wimbledon Choral Society for a number of years. I took a bit of a break from singing when my two children came along, finding it a struggle to juggle full time work and a young family. It was when we finally moved back to NZ in 2014 that I decided it was time to get back into singing. I returned to singing lessons under the tutelage of Claire Martin, and joined the Auckland Choral Society, which was exactly what I was looking for. By day, I work as a marketing researcher and strategist, a job which I've been doing for 20 years, and which has taken me all over the world. When I'm not working or singing, my happy place is in the kitchen. I love to bake - bread, cakes, anything!
Hi, I am Katherine Hong - Alto 1, joined Auckland Choral in the early 2016. I am crazy about 18th and 19th century classical music and dreamt one day I could sing "Messiah" in a symphonic choir. And now not only I sing "Messiah" but also have lots of opportunities to sing other beautiful and heavenly music which I never dreamt that dream. No single rehearsal I want to miss.
