Recognition in the King's Birthday Honours
3 Jun 2026
Our congratulations to Rachael Griffiths-Hughes, Peter Adams, Alison Talmage and Miriam Spragg for receiving honours in the recent King’s Birthday Honours List, all for their services to music.
Each in their own way has made a significant contribution to choral singing in New Zealand, and we are thrilled that their service has been recognised at a national level.
Rachael Griffiths-Hughes, Peter Adams and Alison Talmage have all been appointed as Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit and Miriam Spragg has been awarded a King’s Service Medal. Read on for their achievements and their Honours Citations.
In addition to her many choral activities listed below, Rachael is currently one of the three regional adjudicators for The Big Sing, a role she has undertaken four times before. She has also acted as a Finale Adjudicator on two occasions and served on the NZCF Waikato-Bay of Plenty committee.
Citation - To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit - For services to music.
Dr Rachael Griffiths-Hughes lectures in music at the University of Waikato, where she also directs the University Chamber Choir, and has been Director of Music at St Peter’s Cathedral in Hamilton since 2000.
Dr Griffiths-Hughes was conductor and musical director of the Hamilton Civic Choir from 2000 to 2014. She has been a Trustee of the Hamilton Civic Choir Foundation since 2018 and Chairperson from 2023. She chaired the Waikato branch of the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) from 2012 to 2019. She has been a Trustee of the Guyon Wells RSCM Fellowship since 2008, which makes grants to support the activities of the Waikato RSCM branch. She was named an Associate of the RSCM in 2017. She has founded and directed Vox Baroque since 2014, a group of instrumentalists and singers specialising in Baroque music in Hamilton, performing monthly. She plays harpsichord and organ for NZBarok and the early music ensemble Affetto. She has performed frequently in orchestral concerts, including with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. She has organised numerous ad hoc concerts in the Waikato region, arranging visiting musicians and performance venues. Dr Griffiths-Hughes was an adjudicator at the 2024 World Choir Games in Auckland.
While much of his work has centred on education, alongside orchestral and brass band music, Peter Adams has been a valued contributor to choral music. Most significantly Peter was the Music Director of the City Choir Dunedin for 10 years. He also served as an adjudicator for the Big Sing Regionals in 1993.
Citation - To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit - For services to music and music education.
Emeritus Professor Peter Adams is an educator and composer who has been a musical director of several music groups for more than 38 years.
Emeritus Professor Adams taught at the School of Performing Arts at Otago University for more than 30 years, where he established the Music Technology (now Music Production) subject. He has been musical director for several musical organisations in Dunedin, including the St Kilda Brass Band and City Choir Dunedin, of which he was made an Honorary Member in 1997. In 1972 he became a founding member of the Dunedin Youth Orchestra and has been conductor for the past 35 years. He has served as conductor for the New Zealand National Secondary Schools Symphony Orchestra. He was Director of the National Youth Brass Band on four occasions. He has served as a brass band Adjudicator and Assistant Chief Adjudicator nationally and in Australia. He has been musical director and principal conductor of the Waitaki Summer Music Camp since 2008, where students of all ages are accepted without audition to an intensive eight-day camp. He has composed several pieces for a wide range of instruments, including ‘Concerto Burlesca’ (2007), ‘Taiaroa Head’ (2010) and ‘Southerly Blasts and Airs’ (2025). Emeritus Professor Adams is active in the New Zealand Musicology Society.
Dr Alison Talmage has been a leading light in music therapy in New Zealand and particularly in the development of therapeutic choirs. With a particular interest in choirs for people with brain conditions, she is the co-founder of CeleBRation Choir and has developed a handbook so more choirs can be established around the country. Click here for a recent interview with Alison on Radio New Zealand.
Citation - To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit - For services to music therapy and seniors.
Dr Alison Talmage has transformed the landscape of music therapy for seniors and people with neurological conditions in New Zealand.
Dr Talmage is a registered music therapist, educator, and academic. She cofounded the CeleBRation Choir in 2009 at the University of Auckland’s Centre for Brain Research. The Choir is a pioneering initiative that uses singing to restore communication, confidence, and wellbeing for people living with stroke, Parkinson’s disease, or dementia. She has led the choir since establishment and under her leadership it has become an exemplar for therapeutic choirs in New Zealand, inspiring similar programmes across the country. In 2017 she founded a further community music therapy choir Sing Up Rodney. She has produced practical guidelines for clinical approaches to music therapy choirs. In 2024 she published ‘The VOCCAL Handbook – a Toolkit for Neuro Choirs’, offering a framework and resources to support practitioners to establish and manage neurological choirs. Her research continues to contribute to international understanding of music therapy and ageing. She was Chair from 2014 to 2016 and is a current Board member of Music Therapy New Zealand. She is an advocate for equitable access to music therapy, working to overcome financial and geographic barriers, particularly in rural areas. Dr Talmage’s work was recognised with a 2024 New Zealand Association of Gerontology Early Career Award.
Miriam Spragg has played a significant role in the planning and management of Sweet Adelines events in New Zealand and overseas. A dedicated member of the Christchurch City Chorus—one of NZCF’s member choirs—she has made a lasting and meaningful contribution to both the chorus and the wider barbershop community.
Citation - The King’s Service Medal - For services to barbershop singing and music administration.
Mrs Miriam Spragg has dedicated more than 25 years of voluntary service to women’s barbershop singing in New Zealand.
Mrs Spragg has overseen the design, sourcing, manufacture and custom fitting of costumes for up to 140 singers for the Christchurch City Chorus since 2000. She has managed the logistics for the Chorus and supporters for several international competitions between 2007 and 2024 in the United States, coordinating accommodation, rehearsal spaces, transport and meals for groups of up to 180 people. With Sweet Adelines New Zealand, she was Events Coordinator from 2008 to 2015, Chair of the Regional Convention from 2010 to 2015, and Convention Facilities Coordinator from 2018 to 2023. She ensured the annual conventions ran smoothly and that international judges have been well hosted. She was Sweet Adelines New Zealand Membership Coordinator from 2019 to 2023. She has also represented New Zealand, assisting with the organisation and running of conventions in Calgary and Winnipeg. Mrs Spragg received the Region 35 Spirit of Sweet Adelines Award in 2018 for her service.