Chilton Saint James School Choir To Sing At Vatican

22 June 2011

Chilton Saint James School Choir To Sing At Vatican

The Chilton Saint James School Seraphim Choir is off to Europe to take part in the Rhapsody Children’s Choral Festival in Europe. Under the direction of Ella Buchanan Hanify the choir will perform with other top international children’s choirs at prominent venues in three of Europe's most musical and historical cities: Vienna, Salzburg, and Prague, culminating in a Grand Concert in Prague.

Rome will provide the highlight of the three-week tour with The Seraphim Choir singing at a Mass at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City on 26 July. In this Mass the choir will sing sacred songs composed by Ella Buchanan Hanify and her sister Dorothy Buchanan. They will also sing the Missa de Angelis Gregorian Chant as required by the Vatican.

Choral Director Ella Buchanan Hanify comments that, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and the culmination of all my work at Chilton as a choral director and composer.” She continues that, “Working with girls at Chilton in the choirs is a great joy. Their enthusiasm and boundless energy and beautiful voices never fail to inspire me.”

This is not the first time that the choir has received international attention. In 2007 The Seraphim Choir sang at the 90th Anniversary Commemorations of World War I at Messines and Passchendaele performing before Queen Elizabeth of England, the Queen of the Belgians and other Heads of State. Proving their versatility, they have also sung national anthems in the Wellington Westpac Stadium for an International Rugby test match between the French team and the All Blacks, eliciting an unprecedented worldwide enthusiastic email response.

Featuring their 2011 Europe Tour repertoire, The Seraphim Choir will perform in their final New Zealand concert at 7.30pm on Thursday 23 June in the Chilton Saint James School Jubilee Centre. There will be door sales on the night: $5 adult, $3 student, $10 family. The Seraphim Choir will be joined by Bella Voce, one of the School’s junior choirs, with guest appearances from Chilton alumnae Ruth Armishaw and Allison Whitelaw.

About The Seraphim Choir

The Seraphim Choir of Chilton Saint James School is the premier auditioned choir of Chilton Saint James School. With members aged between 14 and 18, the Seraphim choir has enjoyed success within New Zealand and on the international stage.

The Seraphim Choir is directed by Ella Buchanan Hanify who is also Head of Music at Chilton. Ella composes and arranges music regularly for the Chilton Choirs and other ensembles. Ella also enjoys a broad musical career as a pianist, singer and musical director. She has been the musical director for the Wellington Schools Music Festival Artsplash for the last 6 years, conducting massed children’s choirs of 800 students in the Michael Fowler Centre in each of five concerts.

The choir enjoys singing a wide range of musical styles including sacred, classical, jazz, musical theatre, 20th century and New Zealand compositions. New Zealand compositions that feature regularly in their repertoire are compositions and arrangements by their director Ella Buchanan Hanify and also her sister, well known composer, Dorothy Buchanan.

The choir is delighted to be accompanied by the well-known Wellington pianist, Hugh McMillan.

About Chilton Saint James School

Established in 1918, Chilton is an Independent school, affiliated with the Anglican Church. Chilton Saint James School is a girls’ only day school from Year 1 through to Year 13 with a co-educational Preschool based in tranquil surroundings in central Lower Hutt.

With a high-achieving academic record and strong participation in both sports and arts the School has a long history of nurturing students to become independent lifelong learners.

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