Meet The Big Sing Finale adjudicators
5 Jun 2026
With the Big Sing regionals underway, over 280 choirs are setting their sights on selection for this year’s Cadenza festivals and the National Finale. We're delighted to introduce this year’s Finale adjudicators who will bring their considerable expertise to the role in August.
David Childs is a music instructor at Dallas College where he teaches Vocal Ensemble, Piano, Theory, Composition, Conducting, Music Appreciation, and Voice. He has previously served as an adjunct professor at the University of North Texas, and at Dallas College’s North Lake campus.
Before moving to Dallas in 2011, David was a tenured Associate Professor of Music at Vanderbilt University, where he taught for 11 years. He holds a BMus in Composition and Musicology from Canterbury University, as well as an MM in Conducting from Florida State University and a DMA from Louisiana State University.
An active conductor, clinician, and composer, Childs has led numerous choirs across the United States, New Zealand, and Japan. His compositions have been performed worldwide, and he remains in high demand for commissioned work.
Soprano Madeleine Pierard was the 2005 Lexus Song Quest winner, an Arts Foundation of New Zealand New Generation Artist and a Jette Parker Young Artist with The Royal Opera in London, where she has since sung numerous roles whilst freelancing internationally.
Madeleine has performed operatic roles with English Touring Opera, NZ Opera, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, The Buxton Festival, Orchestra Wellington and at the Royal Albert Hall. Her roles have extended from Mozart, Verdi, Puccini and Britten to the title role in Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna.
Madeleine’s recent concert appearances include Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at the Barbican in London, Britten’s War Requiem at Cadogan Hall (London) and appearances and recordings with the NZSO. A noted recitalist, she has appeared alongside Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, and at the Wigmore Hall and The Royal Opera House.
Tim Wayne-Wright is a former member of the Grammy Award-winning a cappella vocal ensemble, The King’s Singers. He toured the world for 10 years, singing over 1500 concerts in some of the world’s greatest venues.
Tim has taught over 500 masterclasses and workshops, imparting chamber music skills and techniques to choirs and instrumentalists across the globe. Since leaving The King’s Singers in 2018, he continues to thrive as part of the choral scene internationally.
In addition to adjudicating choral competitions and coaching choirs through his global A Cappella Academy, he represents an exciting roster of world-renowned vocal groups in the Asia-Pacific region including Latvian Voices, SLIXS, Tenebrae and The Gesualdo Six.
We are delighted to introduce the adjudicators for the Auahi Kore and Pasifika Awards.
Temua Brennan ONZM
She has served as an adjudicator for the Māori section in the Lockwood Aria (now New Zealand Aria) competition, and is the Manawhenua representative for NZ Opera.
Timua has performed in Te Matatini kapa haka competitions and is currently the recipient of a Ngāi Tahu Research Centre full scholarship to undertake a Doctor of Musical Arts degree.
In 2018, Timua was awarded an ONZM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her services to music and Māori Performing Arts.piece in te reo Māori.
Dr Siliva Gaugatao
A former secondary school teacher of music and gagana Sāmoa, Afamasaga has made a significant contribution to strengthening Pacific music and language education in Aotearoa New Zealand. During his time at the University of Auckland, he led and supported national education initiatives in literacy, languages, and Tapasā — a cultural competencies framework for teachers of Pacific learners. He is the current Chair of Fotu o Mālama, the national association representing teachers of gagana Sāmoa at secondary and tertiary levels.
Tofilau serves on the national Big Sing Advisory Committee and is a regular adjudicator for the Auckland Big Sing Pasifika Award, which he co-founded to recognise excellence in Pacific choral performance. He is also a long-standing adjudicator at the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival—ASB Polyfest.
Dr Siliva Gaugatao is the adjudicator for The Big Sing Pasifika Award for the best performance of a piece in a Pasifika language. This new award is proudly sponsored by the office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor Pacific – University of Auckland.