Our Gospel Choir has come away with the top award - a Tui - at the North Island's Big Sing Cadenza festival held in Rotorua this week!
The 25-member choir, led by Seumanu Simon Matafai and teacher of Music, Mrs Fredda Sorenson, was selected to participate in the upper North Island festival following their success at the Auckland Big Sing, where they won the award for the best performance of a Pasifika piece and were runner up for a choral art piece.
The Cadenza festival saw 12 top choirs from the upper North Island take part in two days of competition and group workshops, where they combined to rehearse massed choir pieces.
Along with the rest of the country, our Gospel Choir made arrangements to return home to Auckland as quickly as possible when the nationwide Level 4 lockdown was announced and the awards finale was cancelled. It was a calm and happy choir that found out en route to Auckland that they had been awarded a Tui Award for excellence – essentially putting them in the top three schools for the competition. This was a superb result for a hard working and talented group of students.
Adjudicator Timothy Wayne-Wright complimented the group on their "beautiful, powerful sound;" saying, "What a wonderful group! I loved listening to you and was very impressed with your power and tuning."
New Zealand Choral Federation's Events Manager Emma Billings said NZCF was delighted with the engagement and enthusiasm of the students and staff involved in the festival.
"We’re sad that we didn’t get to hold the Gala Concert or social events, but hope that the opportunity to perform together over the two days will provide positive memories for you and your students in these difficult times."
