Outstanding Choir To Perform In Auckland

On Sunday 30 October, the 45 members of The Graduate Choir NZ will perform a special concert to celebrate its 21st anniversary.

The concert is a rare opportunity to see and hear one of this country’s finest choirs performing in Auckland. It will feature the world première of a commission from internationally acclaimed composer, Chris Artley.

The Graduate Choir NZ is known for the warmth of its sound and the unique voice blend of the singers who represent our country’s diverse cultural mix.

The choir performs a wide range of the choral repertoire and has sung in cathedrals and concert halls around New Zealand and abroad. They have sung at NZ Fashion Week, as the pre-match choir at Eden Park, in the presence of the Governor General at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland, at the Deloitte Top 200 Awards, for President Clinton, at the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year awards, and most recently in Sol3Mio’s concert at Vector Arena.

The Graduate Choir NZ was established by Terence Maskell for school leavers (mostly from Aorere College) who wished to continue singing with him after leaving school. Some still do today, 21 years later. “Terence’s choir is a national treasure. That indefinable voice of New Zealand – its soul brimming, as it always has been, with singers from a wide ethnic and cultural background, bringing to its art not only the varied passions and gifts that are part of those diverse backgrounds but also the collective desire to excel and to sing at the highest end of the spectrum” said Dr Stuart Middleton, former Aorere College Principal.

As a result of winning the New Zealand Classic Sing Grand Prix trophy for the most outstanding choir in 2003, the choir was invited to be the guest performer at the Annual Conference of British Choral Conductors in Guildford, UK in 2005. British Mastersinger magazine said, “The Gala Concert was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the pinnacle being The Graduate Choir New Zealand. Their level of performance, skill, and their knowledge of the haka, made for a breathtaking performance. The care and attention, and devotion to their conductor, that this choir attains is unbelievable”.

Pene and Amitai Pati, both alumni of The Graduate Choir NZ and now pursuing stellar opera careers including founding Sol3Mio with their cousin Moses McKay, were taught by Terence Maskell at Aorere College where their music, vocal, piano and professional skills were nurtured and developed.

“Terence Maskell and his Graduate choir … made life worth living” said Heath Lees, former University of Auckland Professor of Music, in 2002. “Twelve huge, young Māori and Pacific guys sang unbelievably expressive numbers with the most amazing delicacy. When they joined with the women as a full choir at the end of the evening, it was as though choir-singing had passed the final frontier and was now right up there with the angels. Sheer technical and musical excellence. The Graduate Choir New Zealand redefine the word perfection before your very ears”.

The Graduate Choir NZs 21st Anniversary Celebration concert

2.15pm, Sunday 30 October 2022. St Matthew-in-the-City, 132 Hobson St, Auckland.

Tickets: $45 ($40 concession), www.iticket.co.nz / 0508 484 253

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