6 day Itinerary for 2012 Singdownunder Festival Visit

Day 1 Tuesday June 26 Arrival afternoon

Day 2 Wednesday After a breakfast in the hotel transfer to Aorere College for Maori Choral Workshop.   Program includes

• Maori welcome, Powhiri with speech and song from hosts and guests
• learning a Maori choreographed action song taught in sections by sections of the host choir, Sweet Sixteen
• welcome to the Maori Department of the school
• sharing a Maori “Hangi” lunch with the school’s Kapa Haka (Maori Cultural) group in the Maori dapartment.
• participation in the Aorere College unique “singing assembly” under choral director Douglas Nyce including coperformance of Maori song with host choir
• learning the long and/or short poi under instruction.  (See the ladies of the Patea Maori Club)

Day 3 Thursday Adjudication day with Auckland school and youth choirs at Holy Trinity Cathedral.

All day participation.  Adjudication rounds; sing 15 minutes, one song or many, a cappella or accompanied (there is a piano)

Day 4 Friday Transfer to Rotorua.  Lunchtime concert/event at Hillcrest High School Hamilton en route under Mervyn Cook’s direction.

Day 5 Saturday Powhiri, shared meal and shared concert at Ohinemutu Marae.

Day 6 Sunday Transfer to Waitomo, en route concert in Hamilton.

Day 7 Monday Exploring Waitomo limestone area.  Recording opportunity in Waitomo’s Cathedral Cave.

Day 8 Tuesday Departure or custom touring

“In the Jungle”, “Shosholoza”, from the Front Row Choir

The Front Row Choir (TTBB) seemed to have developed this track by putting together two songs of South African origin. “In the Jungle” started its life as “Mbube” first recorded in 1939 by Solomon Linda and his group the Evening Birds.

The original in 1939 focusses almost entirely on the chorus “wimoweh”, and is much slower. Their track when then smoothly, but oddly, into a different song, Shosholoza, which is also South African. It wasn’t popularised in the west but still huge in South Africa it seems. My choir choir sings Shosholoza with a chorus the Front Row choir ommitted.

William Pati, in his late teens, directed the choir with confidence.

SingDownunder and the Christchurch Earthquake

At 1pm (NZT) on Tuesday February 22nd Christchurch city centre was partially destroyed by a shallow earthquake almost directly underneath it.  There is substantial loss of life and many major and historic buildings in the centre of town are partly or wholly destroyed.  The destruction includes two of the beautiful choral venues, the Anglican Cathedral in Cathedral Square  and the Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament that we sang in last year.

TVNZ coverage

It also seems to include the central hotel we stayed in last year, which did very well by us, opening their restaurant to suit our warm up/perform schedule.   The SingDownunder South Island touring options have been changed by this tragedy.  Safety will be the number one consideration.  Venues and accommodation will also be important to our choirs.

Christchurch still has the most reliable international airport in the South Island.  It also has a large choral community which we want to support and is the centre of a very beautiful part of New Zealand.

Stay tuned.

Pokarekareana, from “The Front Row Choir”

Pokarekareana is a Maori love song.  It is anthemic in New Zealand and widely know internationally thanks to Dame Kiri te Kanawa, and Hayley Westenra.  It is claimed by different regional Maori groups by inclusion of their local placenames.  In this unusual presentation the Front Row Choir sings both in Maori and in English.

The Front Row Choir is a boys choir, from prominent choral school Aorere College.  The “Front Row” of their name is a set of positions in a rugby team.  The boys wear their rugby uniform when performing on stage.   They are ably directed by student William Pati.

The Front Row choir was clearly the crowd favourite at the festival and awarded as such.  They moved beautifully with their songs,  they sang with obvious power, and they were boys.