Southern singers come together for national choir

Now they are actually getting to know each other after being selected for the New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir.

Because Ronan Geraghty, Rosie Auchinvole, Aidan Hung, Emma Jones, Jesse Hanan and Jack Fisher don't go to the same schools or sing in the same Dunedin choirs, this is the first time they have sung together.

The NZSSC is rehearsing at St Hilda's Collegiate School in Dunedin this week for a concert in St Paul's Cathedral on Friday night.

Southern singers (from left) Ronan Geraghty (17), of Logan Park High School, Rosie Auchinvole (16), of Columba College, Aidan Hung (16), of John McGlashan College, Emma Jones (17), of Southland Girls' High School, Jesse Hanan (14), of Bayfield High School, and Jack Fisher (18), of Otago Boys' High School, rehearse with the New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir in Dunedin yesterday. Photo: Craig Baxter

Ronan said it was nice to work together for a change, rather than compete against each other.

''They're such different energies.

''Singing together, working for a cause, towards presenting to an audience - I find there's less stress and it definitely helps to get our voices out more and sound even better than if we were singing by ourselves.''

Choir manager Anna Bowron said the Dunedin concert would be the first of a South Island tour, and was part of the choir's build-up to an international tour to Germany and the Czech Republic next year.

The 56-strong choir is one of five around the world selected to perform at the Children's International Choir Festival in Dresden next April.

Mrs Bowron said secondary school pupils, aged 13-18, were auditioned across the country every two years to form the choir.

john.lewis@odt.co.nz