2025 Sing Aotearoa International Guest Conductor
Internationally acclaimed South African conductor, educator, composer, and choral clinician Michael Joseph Barrett will be our International Guest Conductor at Sing Aotearoa 2025.
Dr Michael Barrett was the conductor of the University of Pretoria (TUKS) Camerata and a full-time faculty member in choral conducting at the University of Pretoria's Department of Music from 2013-2025. As the conductor of the TUKS Camerata, an 80-voice choir consisting of full-time students from diverse academic fields, Michael led the group to great success, including winning the prestigious Grand Prix of Nations for Best Mixed Youth Choir in Riga, Latvia, in both 2014 and 2017. The Camerata also performed at the World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona, Spain (2017), and recorded six critically acclaimed albums. Their 2022 tour of the United Kingdom included a performance with the renowned vocal ensemble Voces8 and in March 2025, the Camerata performed as a Headline Choir at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) National Conference in Dallas, Texas.
Michael has conducted and presented workshops in the United Kingdom, USA, New Zealand, Singapore, China, Russia, and South Korea. In April 2026, he will make his debut at Carnegie Hall, marking a significant milestone in his career. Recent international engagements include conducting the Texas All-State Choir (2024), the Missouri All-State Choir (2022), and the Florida ACDA High School Honor Choir (2019). He has held university residencies at Missouri State University, Texas State University, San Jose State University, and the University of Washington, among others. Michael is also a passionate advocate for collaboration and regularly works with high school festivals and university programmes in the United States, Europe and Asia.
As a composer and arranger, Michael has over 40 works published by Santa Barbara Music Publishers and Walton Music (USA). He has been recognised by the National Research Foundation of South Africa for his contributions to South African Choral Music Research. Michael also serves as the Executive Director and Co-Producer of Capital Singers, South Africa's largest community choir project. Michael was recently in New Zealand as a juror for the 2024 World Choir Games.