Concert Choirs
Our main performing choirs, singing at a range of formal and informal events.
Why do we perform?
We love sharing our music with our audiences and seeing the joy that it brings, both for listeners and for our singers! We find that the experience of performing together gives our singers a wonderful sense of achievement, and builds the community within the choir.So our four established Concert Choirs are unashamedly orientated towards producing polished, musical performances that our members can feel proud to be part of, and that our audiences enjoy.
Where do we perform?
Many of our members who thought they would never sing in public have been thrilled to find themselves part of lovely performances in amazing venues like St-Matthews-in-the-City, the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre (Aotea Centre), Parnell Cathedral, the Auckland Museum, and the Auckland Town Hall.We aim to perform in lots of community events during the year, but our main goal is the Town Hall concert in November, which is a shared event with all Concert and Garden Choirs involved. Concert Choirs sing the entire programme from memory (Garden Choirs join for the second half only). This means that members need to learn around 14 to 16 songs from memory.
Are rehearsals still fun? Or just hard work?
We work hard to balance our rehearsal experience with our performance goals, so we always want our members to enjoy the process of learning and building towards concerts. Our view is that learning to sing well and challenge ourselves to improve our skills can be a good experience. Our rehearsals are filled with laughter and fun as well as focus and effort.As well as Concert Choirs, we provide Garden Choirs, or those who want to perform but are just starting out, or for other reasons can't make the commitment required for Concert Choir. And we also have Singing Club for people who just want to come along and sing without the pressure of performing!
How much work is it to sing in a Concert Choir?
Our expectation is that for us to achieve a high standard of performance, singers need to be prepared to attend rehearsals regularly, as well as doing some practice (mostly listening to our demo tracks) at home, and meeting with other singers in their voice section (soprano, alto, tenor or bass) at least 4 or more times per year. These "sectionals" are usually fun, involving afternoon tea or a glass of wine, or whatever, and are a great way to get to know others in the choir!
Two Jamborees, a Concert Workshop and a Dress Rehearsal are included in the membership package for these choirs, because we have found that these extra opportunities to get together and sing with all of our members, not just those in your local choir, builds confidence and helps us to reach the standard of singing together that we all want. And it's fun!
Who can belong to a Concert Choir?
Membership of a Concert Choir is open to singers of all levels, who meet the criteria outlined in our Terms and Conditions, and are willing to meet our membership guidelines. However, it is recommended that beginner singers who are interested in performing begin their journey with us in one of our Garden Choirs. We will provide gentle and discreet guidance at your initial rehearsals if we feel you are not ready to participate in a Concert Choir, but we encourage new members to try more than one choir format and discuss with us if in any doubt.
