Introducing: Hannah Darroch
We are delighted to welcome Hannah Darroch to the NZCF in a part-time contract role assisting with our digital communications: e-newsletters, website content, social media, and other communications-related activity.
With this NZCF role, Hannah is returning to the choral genre after many years away – she was in the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir from 2003-2006, co-leading the choir to a gold medal at the World Choir Games in Xiamen, China, the ‘World’s Choir’ title at the Hong Kong International Youth & Children’s Festival, and three first places at Kathaumixu in Powell River, BC.
Hannah has built a varied portfolio career, with 12 years of experience in a range of arts roles both in NZ and Canada. She first worked in Development at the NZSO, then after completing a Master of Music degree at the University of Colorado Boulder, spent a number of years as RNZ Concert’s Digital Content and Programme Producer in Wellington. After leaping over to Chamber Music New Zealand to be their Marketing and Communications Executive, she returned to RNZ Concert as a contractor working on Publicity and Partnerships. Hannah most recently worked as a Communications Officer for McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, tasked with raising the profile of the Music Research department.
On the other side of the desk as a performer and educator, Hannah is the Principal Flute of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and also teaches woodwinds at the University of Canterbury. She relocated to Christchurch for the CSO job a year ago, after finishing a Doctor of Music degree at McGill University in Montreal.
Hannah has been a regular guest player with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Wellington for the past decade, and can be heard on a number of NZSO recordings on Naxos, EMI, and Universal, including the 2014 soundtrack to The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. She also features on the premiere recording of Frank Ticheli’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated work Songs of Love and Life recorded on Klavier Records in the United States. Passionate about NZ music, she has performed a number of premieres and was recently awarded a grant from Creative NZ to commission and record four new works for flute and piano by NZ women composers.
Hannah freelances in administration around her CSO position, with recent contracts including digital communications for the Royal New Zealand Air Force Band, communications for NZ composer John Psathas, and grant writing for the NZSM’s Programme Director of Classical Performance pianist Jian Liu. She is thrilled to be adding the NZCF to her portfolio:
“I am thrilled to be joining the NZCF team, since I credit my experiences in school choirs and especially the NZSSC as a huge reason why I had the confidence to pursue a career in music. I loved working with Christine Argyle at RNZ Concert almost ten years ago, and again when she was at the NZ String Quartet and I was at Chamber Music New Zealand – it feels very fortuitous that our paths have crossed yet again!”
Contact: hannah.darroch@nzcf.org.nz