National

The Big Sing Finale 2022 awards

29 Aug 2022

Congratulations to all the participating choirs in The Big Sing National Finale 2022! Our adjudicators were hugely impressed with the high standard of performance and were blown away by the passion...

Celebrating two new Life Members

04 Jun 2021

At the NZCF’s Annual General Meeting on 16 May 2021, Elizabeth Crayford and Michael Littlewood were accorded Life Membership, in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the Choral...

Musica International Virtual Choral Library: a global tool for choral repertoire

03 May 2021

What choral conductor has not dreamt of having a search tool able to bring up a complete list of works to match precise needs or criteria? Musica International’s Virtual Choral Library is exactly...

Queen's Birthday 2020 honours

03 Jun 2020

We were thrilled to see so many of our choral community recognised in the Queen’s Birthday honours this year. We extend our hearty congratulations to National Cadenza Coordinator and NZCF Otago...

NZCF virtual choir project

03 Apr 2020

With the cancellation of many of NZCF’s major events this year, including the World Symposium of Choral Music and The Big Sing, we have been exploring other ways to engage with our choral...

Choral sound concept - Vowels are key!

06 Mar 2020

Continuing our series of videos recorded at the 2019 Choral Connect convention in Wellington, we’re pleased to release Elise Bradley’s presentation Choral Sound Concept – Vowels are the Key! in...

Introducing The Big Sing 2020 regional adjudicators

05 Mar 2020

We’re pleased to announce our adjudicators for The Big Sing 2020 regional festivals: Philip Norman: Auckland, Waikato-Bay of Plenty Rachael Griffiths-Hughes: Wellington, Taranaki,...

Why Personal membership of NZCF is important

05 Mar 2020

While Personal membership of the New Zealand Choral Federation offers some tangible benefits in terms of discounts and priority entry to NZCF events, most of our Personal members see it as a way of...

Introducing Emma Billings, NZCF’s new Events Manager

08 Feb 2020

We are delighted to welcome Emma Billings to the NZCF team in a new role as Events Manager. This new position within the team will incorporate the role of The Big Sing National Coordinator, which Emma...

Calling for Volunteers for WSCM2020

08 Feb 2020

For those of you who have been eagerly awaiting news of how you might volunteer at July’s World Symposium of Choral Music in Auckland, details of how you can get involved are now on the Volunteer...

Have we got a NZ Festival deal for you!

07 Feb 2020

It’s a stellar year for international choral performances in New Zealand! Ahead of our own World Symposium in July, there are two amazing opportunities in the NZ Festival of the Arts in Wellington....

The perfect choral movie fundraiser

05 Feb 2020

NZCF has had advance notice of an upcoming movie release we’re sure will appeal to our members and would provide the ideal opportunity for a choir fundraiser! Military Wives is directed by Peter...

Giving Direction in 2020

05 Feb 2020

Canterbury community and chamber choir directors are warmly invited to attend a Giving Direction workshop where they will be given ‘hands-on’ instruction on conducting gesture and other vital...

Call for applications for Asia Pacific Youth Choir

04 Feb 2020

Since its successful debut in 2011, the Asia Pacific Youth Choir has offered an annual opportunity for young singers from across our culturally diverse region to perform together and exchange ideas...

Teapot Summer School January 2020

04 Feb 2020

Elizabeth Crayford reports on the 20th annual Teapot Summer School which took place in Brightwater, Nelson from 10-19 January 2020 How about this for a summer holiday? Being part of a capacity choir...

Coming Your Way – WSCM update

04 Feb 2020

It’s been an action-packed January in the WSCM2020 office and there’s so much news to share that we’re going to send you a special edition with all the juicy details in a couple of weeks. So...

The Big Sing 2020 dates, adjudicators and categories

09 Dec 2019

We are delighted to announce our three regional adjudicators for 2020: Philip Norman, Rachael Griffiths-Hughes and Peter Watts. A full list of regional dates and adjudicators is below, along with...

NZ Youth Choir turns 40

06 Dec 2019

The New Zealand Youth Choir (NZYC) has just turned 40 and to celebrate, it’s holding a special Christmas concert in Auckland, Friday 6 December, before boarding a cruise ship the next day for a...

Not just an accompanist!

06 Dec 2019

Continuing our series of videos recorded at the 2019 Choral Connect convention in Wellington, we’re delighted to release Rachel Fuller’s presentation Not just an accompanist! in which she...

Harmony in the House – a show of parliamentary proportions

06 Dec 2019

This month, MPs and staffers from across Parliament are coming together to stage a fundraising show like no other …with a little help from Brent Stewart and the NZCF. For one night only, it won’t...

WSCM2020 Advance Registration closes soon!

06 Dec 2019

Looking for ways to show your choir director how much you appreciate them? How about giving them the gift of a career-boosting opportunity for Christmas? Both your conductor and your choir will...

VOCES8 at WSCM2020

06 Nov 2019

We’re delighted to announce that British ensemble VOCES8 will join the 12th World Symposium on Choral Music (WSCM2020) programme with two headline performances. WSCM2020 will be the ensemble’s...

A Kodály-inspired approach

05 Nov 2019

Following on from this year’s highly successful Choral Connect convention in Wellington, we’re delighted to release the second in a series of videos we recorded at selected Choral Connect...

Sing New Zealand - The Story of Choral Music in Aotearoa

05 Nov 2019

In the last major project before his death, NZCF’s former Chair Dr Guy Jansen set out to document the outstanding development of choral music in Aotearoa. That project has come to fruition in the...

Inspirational mentoring initiative

05 Nov 2019

Wellington chamber choir Inspirare recently presented a concert of songs for women’s voices titled Femme, featuring 16 of its women alongside 16 student singers from four colleges in the...

Efficient and Engaging Rehearsal Strategies

04 Oct 2019

Following on from this year’s highly successful Choral Connect convention in Wellington, we’re delighted to release the first in a series of videos we recorded at selected Choral Connect sessions....

Andrew Withington in the USA

04 Oct 2019

One of NZ’s leading choral practitioners, Dr Andrew Withington, has recently taken up the position of Visiting Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Westminster...

WIN your WSCM accommodation or an America's Cup experience!

24 Sep 2019

Register now for WSCM2020 and you could score your accommodation for free! Book for either the Full or Half Symposium by 31 October and you’ll be in the draw to win your accommodation at...

Voices for the Oceans

24 Sep 2019

This month, Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir is embarking on a unique tour of nine regional centres for Chamber Music New Zealand. Choirs Aotearoa Chief Executive Arne Herrmann tells us more… As...

Triple Cadenza

06 Sep 2019

The Big Sing got even bigger this year with the addition of three highly successful Cadenza festivals in the South Island (Timaru), Lower North Island (Whanganui) and Upper North Island (Rotorua). A...

Five Minutes with... Jenni Prentice

06 Sep 2019

Introducing NZCF’s new Accounts and Membership Manager We’re delighted to welcome Jenni Prentice to the NZCF staff to take on the combined roles of Accounts Manager and Membership Administrator....

Flocking to WSCM2020

06 Sep 2019

With WSCM2020 now less than a year away, and with hundreds of people from over 40 countries already registered, the 12th World Symposium on Choral Music in Auckland is shaping up to be one of the...

“Sing Creation” -Waikato and Bay of Plenty

03 Sep 2019

Over 170 singers from choirs in Waikato and Bay of Plenty will join with the Bay of Plenty Symphonia this month for four memorable performances of Haydn’s mighty oratorio Creation, in Rotorua,...

The Big Sing Finale 2019: live stream and schedule information

23 Aug 2019

**WATCH THE LIVE STREAM HERE** Around 830 singers with their choir directors and supervisors will converge on Dunedin 29-31 August when the 24 secondary school choirs selected from The Big Sing (TBS)...

The Big Sing Cadenza - Lower North Island awards

20 Aug 2019

Twelve Secondary School choirs selected from The Big Sing Regional competitions in Wellington, East Coast, Manawatu-Whanganui and Taranaki took to the stage to compete in the inaugural Big Sing...

Meet our new partner - Trinity College London

01 Aug 2019

Introducing Trinity College London’s Exams for Choirs You probably know about Trinity College London’s exams for solo singers and instrumentalists, but did you know Trinity also offers assessments...

Now is the month of Cadenza and Finale!

01 Aug 2019

Over 1800 young singers are excitedly preparing for The Big Sing Cadenza and Finale festivals coming up this month in Timaru, Whanganui, Rotorua and Dunedin. 36 secondary school choirs were selected...

Hear The Kids Sing in August

01 Aug 2019

The sound of children’s voices will be ringing out in Auckland, Hastings and Whanganui this month when the NZCF regional The Kids Sing festivals are held. Details of each festival are as...

Hilary Barry to compère The Big Sing Finale

01 Aug 2019

We’re very excited to announce that Hilary Barry will be the compère for the Gala Concert at this year’s The Big Sing Finale in Dunedin. Hilary was a member of the New Zealand Youth Choir from...

WSCM2020 Advance Ticket deadline: 31 December 2019

31 Jul 2019

The next Advance Ticket deadline for the 12th World Symposium on Choral Music (WSCM2020) is 31 December 2019. Early Bird tickets closed mid-August and the event organisers were thrilled with the...

Choral Connect '19 - a meaningful exchange of ideas

30 Jul 2019

Last month, 85 of New Zealand’s choral directors came together in Wellington to exchange ideas and develop their art at the NZCF Association of Choral Directors’ biennial Choral Connect...

Auckland Youth Choir success at the Australian International Music Festival

30 Jul 2019

Auckland Youth Choir’s 38-voice chamber choir spent six days in Sydney last month at the Australian International Music Festival alongside groups from Australia, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore,...

NZ singers perform with the Asia Pacific Youth Choir

30 Jul 2019

Two young New Zealand singers, Charlotte Leigh and Melissa Tsoi, were honoured to be selected for the 2019 Asia Pacific Youth Choir. They recently returned from performances in Hong Kong at the Asia...

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