Our People

 

Musical director

 

Kate Bell

            Photo: Dominic Wilson


As the overall Musical Director for the All Together Now group of choirs, Kate selects the repertoire, usually in consultation with the other Choir Leaders, and arranges most of it herself, to suit the particular needs of our choirs.  

Kate leads the Hobsonville choir but is often at rehearsals for all of the other Auckland choirs, assisting the Choir Leaders and supporting our members.

She is a professional choir director, arranger, composer and singing teacher.  She returned to study at Auckland University in 2008, after a long hiatus raising her 3 children and teaching Suzuki-method piano, as well as high school music and drama. During these interim years, she lived for a decade in the UK, where she was briefly in the same synchronised swimming classes as Princess Diana.

With Steven Rapana, she founded Volcanic City Voices in 2012 and worked with that choir until it became part of the Everybody Sings Group in 2017. Kate co-founded Everybody Sings and was a director until that organisation closed in 2021. She was also musical director of Stonefields Choir from 2013 until 2022, and of Sister Shout (a women’s choir based on Waiheke Island) from 2013 until the end of 2016.

Kate graduated in 2017 with a Masters in Music, majoring in composition and choral direction.  She is a member of the New Zealand Association of Teachers of Singing and of the New Zealand Choral Federation Association of Choral Directors, and sang with the University of Auckland Chamber Choir from 2008 to 2020..  

She returned to study yet again in 2022, undertaking a PhD. Her research will investigate the experiences of community choir singers in Aotearoa New Zealand, and the development of their choirs since settlement. She has also recently completed a New Zealand Certificate in Te Reo (bilingual) Level 1. 

As well as Musical Director, Kate is the Managing Director of All Together Now Ltd,  the business which manages all of the choirs.  
 

Choir leaders

Our Choir Leaders are an important bunch of people who have a combination of high-level singing and choral expertise plus a heartfelt commitment to make group singing accessible. We all meet together regularly to talk about our practice and bring whatever new ideas or learnings we have into the group, so that everyone benefits. This is a unique collaboration in the choral profession in New Zealand, and we all value it enormously.


Steven Rapana 

 

 

Steven is currently Choir Leader of Auckland Central Grey Lynn, Owairaka choirs and Auckland East choirs.  He also assists sometimes with the Fun-damentals choir for beginners. 

As well as his Choir Leader role, Steven is a valued advisor around repertoire, vocal pedagogy and Tikanga Māori. Kate and Steven work closely together, planning and conducting All Together Now performances and concerts, and share goals of mentoring and supporting other choral conductors to become community choir leaders. 

A New Zealander of Māori and Samoan extraction, Steven is best known for his arrangements and compositions of Pacific choral music. Tracing his family lineage back to his ancestral lands of the Hokianga in the north of Aotearoa, as well as to the Samoan villages of Sāfune and Sāmauga in Savai'i, and Vailoa (Aleipata) in Upolu, he was greatly influenced by the customs and music of both cultures. In particular his childhood involvement in traditional Samoan church life, through the insistence of his maternal grandparents, meant that music, both religious and cultural, was always a feature of his upbringing. Prior to becoming a Choir Leader for All Together Now, Steven lived for a time in Australia, where he trained as a motorbike mechanic.

A graduate of the University of Auckland in vocal performance and choral studies, Steven has arranged and composed music for many notable national choirs including the New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir and the New Zealand Youth Choir. He currently works as a singing teacher, choral director, language coach (phonology and languages for singers), a professional singer, arranger, and composer in and around New Zealand. 

 

Megan Flint 

Megan is the leader of our Taupō choir. 

She is a passionate teacher, choral singer and conductor. She began singing in choirs at 6 years old and believes there is nothing better than making music through singing with others. Megan is a past member of the New Zealand Youth Choir and University of Auckland Chamber Choir, and continues to sing with Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir.


Megan completed her Masters degree in Choral Conducting through The University of Auckland, under the guidance of Dr Karen Grylls.  She has also studied with Grete Pedersen (Norwegian Soloists Choir, Norway/Norwegian Academy of Music), Elise Bradley (Toronto Children’s Chorus), and was selected as one of 12 international conducting students to work with Bo Johansson (Sweden) at the International Symposium on Choral Music (Copenhagen, 2008). Megan is currently working on her PhD, investigating the beliefs of classroom teachers around the teaching of music in New Zealand primary schools.  

Megan is the co-author of Hear Our Voices, a handbook for leaders of children’s choirs and was the Artistic Advisor for the NZCF Primary Choral Outreach aimed at developing singing in primary and intermediate schools across the motu. Megan is a presenter of the national workshop series Singing Matters for the New Zealand Choral Federation and a national conducting mentor.  She is on the board of the Association of Choral Directors (ACD) and Music Education New Zealand Aotearoa (MENZA).


As a result of her time singing in a Donna Summer tribute band, Megan became an international sequin expert, and is often asked for specialist advice by theatre companies from all over the world. A Taupō resident since 1996, Megan loves contributing to the music scene in Taupō.


 

Assistant Choir Leader & wellbeing advisor


Catherine Oxenham


 

Despite having a lifelong relationship with music, Catherine’s first career choice was Occupational Therapy, which she practised for 20 years both in New Zealand and the UK.

Working mostly in community settings, Catherine had the privilege of walking alongside people during periods of significant illness or disability, or as part of a team delivering end of life care.  Her other significant roles involved negotiating and facilitating complex funding outcomes for key stakeholders alongside government agencies.  Through this work Catherine has developed a strong understanding of the human condition and honed her communication and facilitation skills. During this time, as a complete contrast to this role, she was occasionally a tumbling and acrobatics gymnastics guest performer for a famous international circus.
 
In 2018 she completed an ATCL in Performance Piano and this re-engagement with music resulted in a significant career change.  Since this time, she has organised Performing Arts Competitions, worked for Trinity College of Music and is Programme Co-ordinator for Auckland Art Song and Lieder.  Catherine's work facilitating musical engagement was recognised by the Institute of Registered Music Teachers, which awarded her Affiliate Membership in 2018. 
 
In 2021 she became founding Music Director of Gloriana, the girls' choir at Mt Albert Grammar School, taking this newly-formed choir through the rigours of participation in The Big Sing national competition.. At the same time, she began  work on an ATCL in performance singing and undertook choral conducting studies.  And, in this same year, she came across All Together Now, whose values of providing a safe, smart, fun place to engage in music-making seemed to be a perfect match.
 
This year, 2025, sees Catherine formalising her role across ATN as an Assistant to the Choir Leaders and Wellbeing Advisor, with an important role in managing our growing number of events. She matches this with a similar role as Wellbeing Advisor for the Choirs Aotearoa Academy Choir, one of New Zealand’s national choirs.
 
Catherine values the privilege of working in teams that enable people to find their place in music.

 

Administration and membership

 

Linda Bean - Membership Manager

 

 

Linda Bean has joined the team as Choir Manager this year. She has been singing in ATN Auckland Central for several years, and started assisting Kate and Mylene with administration during the World Choir Games in July 2024.

Linda has always loved singing, and has sung in choirs over many years. She also learned the violin as a young person, and really enjoyed the experience of playing in an orchestra. 

Linda and her husband lived in France and in the UK, and she joined local choirs in both those countries - they were a great way of meeting people who enjoyed making music together. During this time, Linda took lessons in fire-eating, a skill which she admits she has allowed to lapse in recent years.

Her professional background is in health, firstly as a nurse at Auckland Hospital, and then in a GP practice. In France she worked alongside her husband in pastoral care, and while they were living in the UK she did her counselling training. On their return to NZ she worked as a high school counsellor before retiring at the end of 2023. 

Linda is now delighted to be working part time with ATN. She loves belonging to this community, and is committed to keeping everyone up to date with what is happening so that they can concentrate on enjoying singing together!

 

 

Mylene Coordes - Admin assistant

Mylene assists Kate and Linda with administration tasks.

You will also see Mylene organising and facilitating at our concerts and other events, as well as singing in the Auckland East choir. Mylene has held many diverse roles in her career, incuding training as a eurythmist, and a stint as a sous-chef in a 5-star Michelin restaurant.


 

 

 

Now and then...

 

Keani Taruia-Pora


Keani was Choir Leader of Auckland East, but currently on leave, while she establishes herself as a high school teacher. 

Keani’s cultural background has played an important part in her musical upbringing.  Being of Cook Island descent, her cultural views and passion around Pacific music have paved the start of her musical journey, ultimately influencing a new love for Western music.  Keani began singing at a very young age, taking part in many cultural singing practices and admiring the voices of role models in her family and community.  

Keani is a graduate of the University of Auckland with her Bachelor of Music (Hons) majoring in Classical voice and minoring in Conducting.  Keani is a practising solo performer and chorister, currently singing with the New Zealand Youth Choir and NZ Opera Chorus as well as being an alumni of the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir, Auckland Youth Choir and Auckland Chamber Choir.  Keani has recently started her career as a high school teacher, working with singing and choirs. In addition, she works as a singing teacher, choral director, and vocal coach for various schools and community choirs across Auckland.  In 2022, she achieved her Diploma in Teaching. 

Esther Wu - Choir Leader Locum

 

Esther completed her Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Auckland in 2021. She began learning the piano at the age of six after hearing, sobbing, and concurrently interpretive dancing to Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata. Musicking has since been a vital part in the way Esther engages with and gives back to her community.

 She has arranged music for various high school and community ensembles, accompanied choirs and instrumental music exams, enjoyed singing at rest homes with her peers, directed the String Ensemble at Epsom Girls’ Grammar School, appeared as a guest conductor for the Devonport Chamber Orchestra, and loves playing in the cello section of the Auckland Symphony Orchestra (ASO). Esther has also performed the Grieg Piano Concerto with the ASO in a packed Auckland Town Hall.  In 2021 Esther conducted the Howick Everybody Sings choir, taught the piano and the cello at Remuera Music School, and sang in the Auckland Chamber Choir. 

Esther began her studies at the University of Auckland School of Medicine in 2022, but we are delighted that she will still be available to assist where needed and to take a “locum” role if we have regular choir leaders absent.  And it's always fun to have her along on our annual Christmas busking performances, too!



 

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