Following a successful inaugural programme last year, the Dunedin Children’s Choir team will hold another Summer Sing programme from next Thursday to Saturday, January 22-24, at Nga Maara Hall, Sacred Heart School, in North East Valley.
The Summer Sing programme will be led by choir conductor Natasha Manowitz, with Susan Frame and Helen Rutherford, with the aim of giving children and young people the opportunity to experience a musical interlude during the school holidays.
"Our aim is to provide a fun and welcoming programme, which is designed to help children and teens grow in confidence, musicianship and their love of singing," Manowitz said.
"It’s also a great way to reconnect with friends, meet new singers, and ease into the new year through music"
The Summer Sing 2026 programme is open to children and teens, aged 7-15 years, whether or not they are current members of Dunedin Children’s Choir.
Participants will learn new songs in a variety of genres, warm-ups and singing skills.
"We think the programme is a great way to give kids a taster of being in a choir, in the hopes of encouraging them to carry on."
The programme, which costs $40 per student, will be divided into streams — junior (ages 7-10 years) and senior (ages 11-15 years).
Following the teaching sessions on Thursday and Friday, the young singers will come together to present a public lunchtime concert at noon on Saturday at Nga Maara Hall, this will be followed by a pot-luck lunch.
Manowitz said it would be great to connect with young singers in Dunedin, enjoy music-making with them and hopefully recruit some new members into the Dunedin Children’s Choir.
The choir, which was founded three years ago, meets weekly on Wednesday’s after school during the year, and is divided into junior and senior choirs.
A choir for boys going through voice changes is also planned for this year.
The choir learns music ranging from classical to popular and movie songs.
"We have a great time singing together and working towards a couple of performances each year," Manowitz said.
Last year, the choir was also invited to perform with City Choir Dunedin in its Zimbe! Come Sing the Songs of Africa concert and Opera Otago in its show "Pot Luck — An Operatic Feast".
For more information and to enrol for the Summer Sing 2026 programme, email dunedinchildrenschoir@gmail.com
