SingFest

Sunday 28 June (rehearsal)
at Hall of St Peter's Anglican Church, Palmerston North

               &

Tuesday 30 June (concert)
at Pathways Presbyterian Church, 388 Church Street, Palmerston North.

NZCF invites local Manawatū-Whanganui choirs to join the award-winning NZ Youth Choir for a special Singfest event in Palmerston North in June.

Local choirs can now register to be part of a concert on Tuesday 30 June with NZ Youth Choir. Each local choir will be given an opportunity to perform up to 10 minutes of their own repertoire in the first half of the concert and then join NZ Youth Choir and the other choirs for two massed items at the end of the second half.

The massed items will be two Matariki themed pieces by NZ composers to celebrate the time of year. These pieces will be sent to local choirs electronically in advance and rehearsed with NZ Youth Choir and their conductor, Rowan Johnston, on Sunday 28 June.

SingFest schedule
 

Singfest Rehearsal

What: Singfest massed items rehearsal with local choirs and NZ Youth Choir

When: 4pm-5:30pm on Sunday 28 June

Where: Hall at St Peter’s Anglican Church, 229 Ruahine Street, Roslyn, Palmerston North 4414

Singfest Concert

What: Singfest concert with local choirs and NZ Youth Choir (local choirs will perform their own pieces in the first half, NZYC will perform in the second half and then there will be two massed items at the end of the concert).

When: 7:30pm-9:30pm on Tuesday 30 June

Where: Central Palmerston North venue tbc

Rowan Johnston (conductor)

Rowan is the Music Director of the New Zealand Youth Choir. He is HOD Music at Chilton Saint James School, where he conducts all the school’s choirs, and he directs the Wellington Youth Choir.
Rowan has previously conducted the Taranaki and Auckland Youth Choirs, was Director of Choirs at Auckland Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and HOD Music at Westlake Girls High School, where he conducted Choralation – the school’s premier mixed voice choir. Rowan has regularly been invited to conduct choirs at the Gondwana National Choral School in Australia and is a Choral Advisor for the NZ Choral Federation. An alumnus of the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir and the New Zealand Youth Choir, Rowan still sings in Voices New Zealand.

New Zealand Youth Choir

Auditioned from across the country, the new cohort of singers for the 2026-2028 New Zealand Youth Choir have started their journey in this internationally acclaimed choir. 
Since its formation in 1979, the NZYC has performed all around New Zealand and has undertaken thirteen international tours including visits to the UK, Europe, Canada, USA, Australia, Singapore, Russia, the Republic of Korea, China and the Pacific Islands, firmly establishing its reputation for consistency, energy and excellence. NZYC has won the "Choir of the World" title twice at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, most recently at last year's highly successful European tour.

SIGN UP YOUR CHOIR

Cost: Sign up your choir for $5 per singer - caps at $200 per choir.

For further information please contact regional events coordinator Nigel Tongs - nigeltongs43@gmail.com