Our philosophy
We believe that everybody has a voice, and that the overwhelming majority of people love the idea of singing but many hesitate to join in because they think they can't sing.
But we believe that singing is a learned skill and that people who have previously missed the opportunity to learn, for whatever reason, can learn at any time, with good guidance.
Our choirs create singing communities where people can develop personal confidence and positive social relationships, through singing with others.
We are committed to providing high quality musical material and excellent teaching, and to working with our singers to improve their musicianship and singing skills. And although we are professional musicians, we see ourselves as learning along with our members.
We provide top quality vocal tuition, in the interests of healthy singing and greater enjoyment, and we encourage all our singers to strive to improve their singing and performance skills.
We place a high value on performances that are satisfying for the audience and the singers, with warmth and fun but also wtih good singing and enjoyable music. And we balance that with rehearsals which aim to be fun and life-enhancing in themselves. Just like a yoga lesson, even if you’re tired when you arrive, you should leave feeling energised and uplifted.
We work to support everyone who comes to us in finding their singing place, whether it’s with us or not. Whilst we believe that almost everybody can learn to sing, we acknowledge that there are some health and personal issues which might prevent full participation at any given time. Please read our Terms & Conditions, and if you have any questions, just ask.
Although we do not audition, we do ask people to bring a willingness to learn and practise, so they can truly be part of their singing “team”. We never promise it will be effortless, but we do promise that it will be fun and rewarding!
The University of Auckland’s Ingenio magazine interviewed Kate in August 2021, prior to lockdown. You can read the article here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2021/11/04/ingenio-kate-bells-community-choirs.html
Our members
Our singers come from all walks of life, and range from teenagers to oldies, and everything in between. They come from a variety of musical and singing backgrounds - some can read music and some can't. Some have been in choirs before, some not since school days, and for some this is their first ever experience of being in a choir. There's no typical All Together Now member - so you'll probably fit right in!
Our choir leaders
Our wonderful Choir Leaders (conductors) are all higher qualified music practitioners and teachers. They know about voices, and how to bring them together to create beautiful choirs. They have broad and deep knowledge about music of many different styles and genres. And they are skilled at working with groups of people, with a huge commitment to creating community through great music-making. You can read more about them individually on this page: Our People
Our music
Most tastes are catered for in our broad range of music! We sing pop arrangements, waiata Māori, African music, African-American spirituals, gospel, folk, and some selections from the classical choral repertoire, stretching back as far as the 16th century! And we range from simple chants and rounds right through to complex, 8-part (or more!) pieces.
But we almost always sing a cappella (without accompaniment).
And almost everything we sing is arranged or composed by members of our team, so it's specially tailored for our ensembles.
