Supertonic Hawke’s Bay Tour Extended Press Release

Supertonic Hawke’s Bay Tour Extended Press Release

The Supertonic Choir of Wellington will be travelling a little further than normal for its next concert series ‘Sojourn’, as it embarks on its first ever regional tour with concerts in Taradale and Waipawa. ‘Sojourn’ will be a celebration of the changing of the seasons, incorporating folk, up tempo jazz and soaring psalms as part of a connected but diverse set of music.

For most of the 56 young singers who make up the choir it will be a rare chance to perform in front of different audiences in entirely new venues. However for the four Hawke’s Bay members of the choir Briony Pentecost, Juliette Irwin, Louisa Gommans and Tim Herbert it will instead be a chance to perform, often for the first time in many years, in front of their friends and extended family.

For former Havelock North High School student Juliette Irwin it will cap off a particularly whirlwind year, in which the recent graduate embarked on a career in law, and toured Europe as part of the the Grand Prix winning New Zealand Youth Choir. Irwin is looking forward to the impending tour with much excitement, remarking that "the opportunity to perform in Hawke’s Bay is always fantastic - I can’t wait! The visit to Church Road will be very special, as I have many fond memories of watching my Dad playing in the Hawke’s Bay Jazz Band there many years ago”.

Supertonic has been led by musical director Isaac Stone since its inception in 2014. Stone, who leads the successful choral programme at Tawa College, says he wanted to create a choir aimed at singers in their 20’s and 30’s that put an increased focus on creating a socially collaborative environment without losing the serious musicianship.
“It's my belief that in order to create music of a high standard, the choir needs to know each other and trust each other”.

It is that environment which Stone credits for the choir's incredible success to date. Supertonic has performed multiple sold out concerts ranging from a rock spectacular celebrating the music of David Bowie and Fleetwood Mac, to a tender and harrowing classical concert that looked at music created within concentration camps of World War II.

For ‘Sojourn’, Stone has chosen repertoire that will allow the choir to demonstrate its genre defying versatility. Works by English composer Gustav Holst will feature, including his Six Folk Songs; quintessential traditional pieces examining themes of love, loss and adventure, and his two Psalm arrangements - known for their unravelling structure and a grand finale. Alongside Holst will be a set of jazzy twists on well known songs including Scarborough Fair and Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

Supertonic will be performing in the beautiful Church Road Winery Cellar in Taradale at 5.30pm on Saturday 10 September, and the iconic CHB Municipal Theatre in Waipawa at 1pm on Sunday 11 September. Tickets are $14 waged & $10 unwaged and can be purchased form eventfinda.co.nz, the Napier, Hastings & Havelock North i-Site centres, CHB Municipal Theatre and the CHB Visitor Information Centre.

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