Voicemale, the 61 member choir conducted by Mr David Squire, spent a successful five days in Wellington for The Big Sing National Finale last week. The boys worked really hard, presenting three public concerts and two recitals in the competition. There were 23 other choirs from around New Zealand competing, so it was also a good chance to interact with singers from other parts of the country.
After many, many hours of practice all year it was great to see the choir give their best efforts when it really mattered. One of the highlights was performing a powerful “Festival Gloria”, written by Craig Courtney and accompanied by members from the NZSO, whose superb musicianship inspired Voicemale immensely.
Two crowd favourites were the fun “Coffee in a Cardboard Cup” (complete with Starbucks cups!) and “Howler Monkey”, a work written especially for Voicemale by Westlake old boy Robbie Ellis.
The week culminated in a Gala concert on the Saturday evening where Voicemale were awarded a Gold Award, putting them amongst the top 6 choirs in the country. Thanks must go to their conductor David Squire, accompanist Sheryl Clarke, and the support crew of Warwick Robinson, Hayley Barker and Julian Latimer for making sure everyone was in the right place at the right time, looking smart and ready to sing!
