Auckland Choral

Last updated

Auckland Choral
Choir
Auckland Choral - Town Hall pic large.png
Performing with Auckland Philharmonia at the Auckland Town Hall, 2015
Former name
  • Auckland Choral Society
OriginFounded 1855; incorporated society established 1914
Founded1855;169 years ago (1855)
Music director Uwe Grodd
Headquarters Auckland, New Zealand
Affiliation New Zealand Choral Federation
Associated groups
Website www.aucklandchoral.com
Auckland Choral logo.png

Auckland Choral (formally the Auckland Choral Society Incorporated) is a symphonic choir based in Auckland, New Zealand. It is New Zealand's oldest surviving arts organisation, and Auckland's only symphonic-scale choir, founded in 1855 and established as an incorporated society in 1914. [1] [2] Auckland Choral celebrated its 150th anniversary in November 2005 with a choral piece written especially for the choir by New Zealand composer David Hamilton. [3] [4] In 2015, Auckland Choral celebrated its 160th anniversary. The choir's current music director is Professor Uwe Grodd.

Contents

Auckland Choral profile

Conductor Uwe Grodd with Auckland Choral Auckland Choral - singing pic.jpg
Conductor Uwe Grodd with Auckland Choral

Auckland Choral is a symphonic-scale choir of 100+ voices. It is Auckland's oldest and most prominent choir, and continues to play a significant role in Auckland's arts scene today. [5] Its members are wide-ranging in age and cultural and professional background. Members rehearse weekly throughout the year and the choir regularly accepts new members following a thorough audition process. The current music director is Professor Uwe Grodd. The current assistant music director is Elizabeth Lau.

Auckland Choral sings a wide variety of works from the choral canon. Notable recent performances include Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Paul Winter's Missa Gaia and Handel's Israel in Egypt.

Auckland Choral sings in locations around Auckland, including the Auckland Town Hall and the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell. The choir frequently collaborates with orchestras from the Auckland region, including the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Piper's Sinfonia.

Auckland Choral and Handel's Messiah

The choir is well known for its annual Christmas performances of Handel's Messiah. In 2018, Auckland Choral will mark the milestone of 100 consecutive annual Christmas performances of Messiah. Auckland Choral sang its first full performance of Messiah on 17 December 1857 at the Mechanics’ Institute Hall in Auckland. This is believed to have been the first performance of the oratorio in Australasia. Auckland Choral's initial run of consecutive annual performances was interrupted only in 1918, when the outbreak of the 1918 flu pandemic in New Zealand led to a prohibition on public gatherings.

Auckland Choral Foundation

In 2007, the Auckland Choral Foundation was established as a charitable trust to ensure the long-term success of Auckland Choral, by providing capital growth and income to support its operation and activities. [6]

Related Research Articles

The BBC Symphony Chorus is a British amateur chorus based in London. It is the dedicated chorus for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, though it performs with other national and international orchestras.

Scratch <i>Messiah</i>

A Scratch Messiah, People's Messiah, Come Sing Messiah, Sing-it-yourself Messiah, Do-it-yourself Messiah, or Sing along Messiah is an informal performance of Handel's Messiah in which the audience serves as the unrehearsed chorus, often supported by a carefully prepared core group. Orchestra and soloists are usually professionals, though their services are often donated for charity benefits. The "scratch" name derives from the idea of cooking or building from scratch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radcliffe Choral Society</span> Choral ensemble

The Radcliffe Choral Society(RCS) is a 60-voice treble choral ensemble at Harvard University. Founded in 1899, it is one of the country's oldest soprano-alto choruses and one of its most prominent collegiate choirs. With the tenor-bass Harvard Glee Club and the mixed-voice Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, it is one of the Harvard Choruses. All three groups are led by Harvard Director of Choral Activities Andrew Clark. The RCS Resident Conductor is Meg Weckworth. RCS tours domestically every year and travels internationally every four years.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is Australia’s largest choral organisation. It presents its own annual concert series in the Sydney Opera House the City Recital Hall, and other venues in New South Wales, as well as serving as chorus for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Uwe Grodd is a German conductor and flautist, currently living in Auckland.

Eugene Concert Choir is a choral masterworks organization in Eugene, Oregon, that consists of three performing ensembles: the 100-voice Eugene Concert Choir (ECC), the 36-voice chamber choir Eugene Vocal Arts (EVA), and the associated professional chamber orchestra Eugene Concert Orchestra.

David Blair Hamilton is a New Zealand composer and teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City Choir Dunedin</span> Choir in Dunedin, New Zealand

City Choir Dunedin is an auditioned mixed-voice choir in Dunedin, New Zealand. It accepts singers of all age groups from the wider Dunedin community and performs large-scale classical choral works. The choir's membership grew from an initial 45 to around 120 as of 2012. The Choir is a member of the New Zealand Choral Federation, which was formed in 1985 to promote high quality choral singing in New Zealand.

Saint Peter's Singers (SPS) is a chamber choir associated with Leeds Minster, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England that celebrated during the Season 2017/2018 the fortieth anniversary of the choir's formation by Harry Fearnley in 1977. An anniversary concert took place at Leeds Minster on Sunday 25 June 2017 with the National Festival Orchestra and soloists Kristina James, Joanna Gamble, Paul Dutton and Quentin Brown. Further anniversary year events included Bach Cantatas and Music for Christmas at Fulneck Church in August and December respectively, Handel Coronation Anthems at Holy Trinity, Boar Lane as part of the Leeds Handel Festival in September and a tour of East Anglia in October. In November at Leeds Town Hall, the Singers participated in Herbert Howells's masterpiece Hymnus Paradisi with Leeds Philharmonic Chorus and Leeds College of Music Chorale under the direction of Dr David Hill with the Orchestra of Opera North. 2018 began with a concert of Sacred Choral Masterworks at Leeds Town Hall in February and Bach's Mass in B minor at Leeds Minster on Good Friday 2018 in memory of long-serving member Jan Holdstock. The final concert of the current season takes place at Leeds Minster on Sunday 24 June at Leeds Minster at 5.30. At this event will be presented the first performance of a new work from composer Philip Moore commissioned for the Singers' 40th anniversary – the motet Tu es Petrus – along with music by E W Naylor, Arvo Part, Sir Hubert Parry, Judith Bingham and Maurice Durufle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Dunedin Male Choir</span> Male choir in New Zealand

The Royal Dunedin Male Choir is one of New Zealand's oldest male choirs. Their repertoire includes popular tunes, hymns, operatic choruses, folk songs and traditional melodies. The Choir undertakes fee-paying and charity engagements throughout the Otago, Southland and South Canterbury regions of New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bath Bach Choir</span> UK classical music choir

Bath Bach Choir, formerly The City of Bath Bach Choir (CBBC), is based in Bath, Somerset, England, and is a registered charity. Founded in 1946 by Cuthbert Bates, who also became a founding father of the Bath Bach Festival in 1950, the choir's original aim was to promote the music of Johann Sebastian Bach via periodic music festivals. Bates – an amateur musician with a great love and understanding of this composer's works – was also the CBBC's principal conductor and continued in this role until his sudden death, in April 1980. This untimely exit pre-empted his planned retirement concert performance of J. S. Bach's Mass in B minor, scheduled for July of the same year, and effectively ended the first period of the choir's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canberra Choral Society</span> Choir in Canberra

The Canberra Choral Society (CCS) is an auditioned symphonic choir in Canberra, Australia. The choir is known both for traditional choral repertoire, and new music.

The Choral Arts Society of Washington is a major choral organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1965 by Norman Scribner, it is regarded as one of the premier symphonic choruses in the United States. The Choral Arts Society of Washington consists of three vocal ensembles; the Choral Arts Chorus, the Choral Arts Chamber Singers, and the Choral Arts Youth Choir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Choral Society</span> Musical artist

Bristol Choral Society is a large mixed-voiced choir based in Bristol, England, founded in 1889. Currently conducted by Hilary Campbell, it has around 140 auditioned members. The choir stages at least three concerts annually at the Bristol Beacon in Bristol with professional orchestras and soloists, and another annually at Bristol Cathedral in addition to other performances and broadcasts in Bristol and further afield.

The Bearsden Choir is a choir of 120 mixed adult voices based in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1968 and performs both sacred and secular classical choral works. The singer Jamie MacDougall is its Honorary President.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Christchurch</span> Church in Christchurch, New Zealand

The St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, or St Mary's Church, is a Catholic church located on Manchester Street in Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingston Choral Society</span> UK choir started in 1949

Kingston Choral Society is a large mixed-voice choir based in Kingston upon Thames in the UK. Originating in 1949, the choir in 2016 had around 140 auditioned members. It stages four concerts each year with professional musicians and soloists. Most of these concerts are held at All Saints Church, Kingston upon Thames, at St Andrew's Church, Surbiton, or at Cadogan Hall in central London.

<i>Foundling Hospital Anthem</i>

The Foundling Hospital Anthem, also known by its longer title "Blessed are they that considereth the poor" [sic], is a choral anthem composed by George Frideric Handel in 1749. It was written for the Foundling Hospital in London and was first performed in the chapel there. Handel wrote two versions, one for choir only and one for choir and soloists. Composed 10 years before his death, it was Handel's last piece of English church music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris Choral Society</span>

The Paris Choral Society is an auditioned amateur choir based at the American Cathedral in Paris, France.

St Albans Bach Choir is an amateur choir based in the English cathedral city of St Albans. Since its founding in 1924 it has performed a wide range of choral music including but by no means limited to the great Bach masterpieces. It strives for the highest possible standards of music making, employing soloists of the highest calibre and professional orchestras. Performances are normally held in St Albans Cathedral. Currently, the Musical Director is Andrew Lucas, Master of the Music at the Cathedral.

References

  1. Simpson, Adrienne (2005). Hallelujahs & History: Auckland Choral 1855-2005. Auckland Choral.
  2. "Auckland Choral Society Incorporated". NZBN Register. New Zealand: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment . Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  3. Dart, William (2 November 2005). "Auckland Choral at Missa Pacifica". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 12 January 2009.
  4. "Missa Pacifica". Sounz. 2005. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
  5. "About Us". Auckland Choral. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  6. "Charity Summary: Auckland Choral Foundation". Charities Register. New Zealand: Department of Internal Affairs . Retrieved 19 January 2024. (reconstituted from the Auckland Choral Society Trust Board, 2007–2015)