Four Distinguished Service Awards

We are delighted to announce that four incredibly committed NZCF members have recently been awarded NZCF Distinguished Service Awards for service to choral music in their respective regions:

Ann-Elise Miles (Waikato/Bay of Plenty)
Glenys Kempshall (East Coast)
Ngaire Shand (East Coast)
Carrol Donoghue (Manawatu/Whanganui)

Outlined below are of some of the notable achievements of these inspirational women. We thank them for their years of service to the art of group singing and for their longstanding dedication to their choral communities.

WAIKATO/BAY OF PLENTY

Ann-Elise Miles started her involvement with NZCF in the early 1990s as a member of the NZCF Bay of Plenty regional committee. She was the first Chair of the Waikato / BOP Committee when these two regions amalgamated into one in the mid 1990s, and was the Coordinator of The Kid’s Sing when held in Rotorua during that time.

She led the local Rotorua subcommittee to help organise three Sing Aotearoa festivals held in Rotorua, in 2009, 2013 and 2016. Sing Aotearoa had lapsed for some years and Grant Hutchinson and Ann-Elise spent many hours working together to help get this up and running again.

Ann-Elise has continued to serve for many years as both Chair and committee member on the regional committee and has regularly volunteered at numerous NZCF events in her region, including The Big Sing and The Kid’s Sing, held in Tauranga, Hamilton and Cambridge. She was also actively involved in the organisation of two SingFests in the Waikato / BOP region – The Mozart Project, and Sing Creation. She recently retired from the Waikato-BOP regional committee at its AGM on 1 May 2022. 

Ann-Elise is an inaugural member of the Upper North Island Cadenza Committee, and is still actively involved today.

EAST COAST

Glenys Kempshall was the music teacher at Hastings Girls’ High School in the 1960s-1980s, and when Head of the Music Department she instigated the House Singing Competition. This was quickly picked up by other schools in the Bay seeing it as a way of promoting choral singing. For 25 years she was President of the Hawkes Bay Society for Music Education and is still on the committee.

She has been the Treasurer of the East Coast branch of NZCF since 2007. Since 2011 Glenys has also been the Coordinator for The Big Sing.

She has been a driving force behind much of the musical activity in Hawkes Bay for many years, and is widely respected in the music community for her work for The Big Sing and other musical events ensuring their success. These efforts have allowed the joy of choral music to be appreciated by audiences and performers alike.

Ngaire Shand has been a member of the NZCF East Coast regional committee since 2006. For thirteen of those years she ran the annual Kids’ Sing.

As well as being a staunch member of the Choral Federation, Ngaire has been a long-time music educator. She was an inaugural member of the Hawkes Bay Society for Musical Education in 1984, an organisation in which she is still active. She also championed the learning of ukulele in primary schools and more recently worked on the Orokohanga Music Trust  programme, providing instruments for children to learn to play.

Ngaire was awarded an MNZM award in the 2007 New Year’s Honours for services to music education and sport.

MANAWATU/WHANGANUI

Carrol Donoghue was a foundation member of NZCF while living in Auckland, during which time she sang with the Auckland Choral Society. After moving to Palmerston North in 1995, Carrol joined the Palmerston North Choral Society, and her organising ability was quickly realised as she moved swiftly through the ranks to become President in 1998.

In addition to the many offices she has held with the Society including Secretary (2007-2010) and Senior Vice President (2015-2020), Carrol has managed the archives, producing weekly displays of historical information for its 90^th Jubilee and Centenary year in 2019. Honorary Life Membership of the Palmerston North Choral Society was conferred on Carrol in 2005 to mark her distinguished service.

Carrol was a member of the Regional NZCF Big Sing committee from 2006 to 2017, and besides compiling The Big Sing programme each year, also manned the reception desk at the Regent Theatre. Carrol also served on the organising committee for The Kids Sing for 2019 and 2020. In 2011 Carrol became a member of the Regional NZCF Committee, and served for 10 years until 2021. Carrol has given long and distinguished service to the NZCF at a Regional level, as well as taking a very active part in the Manawatū musical scene.

Click here to read the full citation for Carrol

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