St Paul’s Cathedral
Sunday, April 12
Long acclamations, cheering and a standing ovation from an audience who filled every pew in St Paul’s Cathedral in Dunedin rewarded the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir who, after a week of intense vocal training, revealed their choral skills at several South Island venues.
This prestigious choir, chosen from all areas of the country, currently includes three local singers and an assistant director.
Complex harmonies together with appropriate choreography from 56 teenage singers has taken hours of patience and practice under tutelage of director Sue Densem, vocal consultants and assistant directors Benjamin Madden and Brent Stewart (also pianist).
They began with Introit, Kyrie and Dies Irae from Requiem, by MJ Trotter, with organ accompaniment by Dunedin choir member Joseph Kelly.
A vocal soundscape Father Thunder followed, producing amazing alleatoric effects representing a storm. Similar effects (plus a ‘‘singing bowl’’) filled the cathedral with birdsong for Una Noche de Verano, by David Hamilton.
The 13-item programme varied in style and origins and I counted an unbelievable total of confident deliveries in nine foreign languages, many with matching choreography.
Some were: Siueli ’o e Pasifiki, a Tongan song celebrating ‘‘Jewels of the Pacific’’.
In German was Das ist meine Freude, by Johann Ludwig Bach (third cousin of the famous Johann Sebastian Bach), with keyboard and cello accompaniment, double chorus and impressive soprano coloratura.
Two sets of short Estonian songs from separate groups translated as Spring Songs showed excellent dynamic shading, especially from the girls’ sections, and great body language and movement from all.
Traditional dance highlighted Indonesian folk song Cikala le Pong Pong. Fire Dance of Luna (Lim) celebrated mystical magic of the moon and Unicornis Captivatur, by Ola Gjeilo, used medieval text, ending with robust ‘‘Hallelujahs’’.
In recent years, New Zealand choirs have achieved outstanding international recognition and awards and this intake of NZSSC singers appears to be well on the way to very big success in their upcoming overseas tour.
