Next Concert - Concert 1
Bruckner Great Mass in F Minor
The mighty Austrian composer Anton Bruckner left behind one of the most loved Romantic choral works with his last Great Mass in F Minor. We are indeed proud to present this work with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and a magnificent quartet of soloists, including husband and wife team Amanda Winfield and Ravil Atlas in their Auckland debut. In the first half of the concert John Wells will thrill with the power of the restored Town Hall organ, Bruckner’s favourite instrument.
Sunday 20 May
Auckland Town Hall
5:00 pm
Bookings at The Edge.
Download Flyer
(File Size: 214kb)
Concert 2
Like his Requiem, Mozart’s Great Mass was left unfinished at his death. Imbued with influences from Bach and Handel, the music has a sense of pomp and solemnity not apparent in his earlier settings of the Mass text. For this concert Auckland Choral welcomes back Ursula Langmayr from Vienna who delighted everyone in 2010’s Messiah. Greatly anticipated is a brand new work by one of New Zealand’s most widely performed composers, David Hamilton, who has composed a new work especially for soprano Langmayr and Auckland Choral titled The Necessary Rain.
Saturday 25 August
Auckland Town Hall
7:30 pm
Bookings at The Edge.
Concert 3
Returning to the ambient, carried sounds of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell, Auckland Choral presents a concert of contrasting music. Bach’s Magnificat shows him in jubilant mood and writing music of great joy and splendour, utilising an unusually large baroque orchestra. Contrasting this masterpiece are two works from popular contemporary British composers: James Macmillan and John Tavener — the latter’s Song for Athene made famous through its use at the funeral of Princess Diana. Haydn’s Te Deum makes a rousing end to this concert of sacred masterpieces.
Saturday 10 November
Holy Trinity Cathedral
7:30 pm
Bookings at Eventfinder.
Concert 4
No Christmas season is complete until Auckland Choral has presented its annual performances of Handel’s great oratorio Messiah. Come and hear some of the greatest music of all time telling the greatest story of all time. We welcome back from Holland Baroque specialist Lauren Armishaw, last heard with Auckland Choral in Bach’s B minor Mass. Alto soloist Kate Spence and David Griffiths, bass, are firm favourites with Auckland audiences, and we are pleased to welcome from the United States tenor soloist Dana Wilson for his first performance in New Zealand.
Monday 17 December
Tuesday 18 December
Auckland Town Hall
7:30 pm
Bookings at
The Edge.
Previous Concerts
Season Preview Concert
ENTRY BY DONATION/KOHA
Come and enjoy a sample of the delights that Auckland Choral has on its menu this year. This hour-long concert will be an enjoyable mix of many different styles of music, just like a kaleidoscope, which in Greek implies the words ‘beauty’ and ‘shape’, creating colourful patterns. Alongside excerpts from favourites by Bach, Vivaldi and Mozart you will find some musical surprises. Following our tradition to include tasty morsels from other cultures on our musical journey, you will hear the thrilling sound of taiko drummers as well as folksongs from China and Japan. We will all unite and end the concert with Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” from our perennial Christmas favourite Messiah.
Sunday 26 February
Auckland Town Hall
5:00 pm
Download Flyer
(File Size: 260kb)
11 March 2012
Season 2012 Preview: Kaleidoscope Concert - Photos on the Way...
Thank you so much for your support at our Season 2012 Preview Concert, it was an amazing event. Photos from the Concert will be ready soon so check back soon. Make sure you Subscribe to our amazing 2012 Season and enjoy all the benefits of becoming a subscriber!
11 February 2012
Auckland Choral's Young Singers Programme
We want you! Are you a student in Year 12 or 13 and interested in singing a major choral work with Auckland Choral? Come and join us for the Auckland Choral Young Singers Programme. Our choir is offering up to 16 places at each concert for young singers who are in Year 12 and 13 at secondary school. Come and find out for yourself what fun and excitement it can be to be on stage with a large choir, singing with an accomplished conductor and a fine orchestra in front of a big audience - and learning a whole new set of skills on the way! More....
3 February 2012
Auckland Choral Involved in Auckland Town Hall Centenary Concert
Auckland Choral were honoured to be invited by Auckland City Council to perform at the Town Hall Centenary Concert on 14 December 2011. It was a concert full of variety to showcase the Music and the Arts in Auckland. More....
5
January 2012
Introducing: Pauline Logger-de Roos, our New Administration Manager
Pauline Logger-de Roos has recently joined Auckland Choral as the new Administration Manager. She's very much looking forward to getting stuck in and getting to know everyone, especially after having experienced behind-the-scenes of her first Auckland Choral Messiah last December. Pauline has worked in the arts for a number of years now. While studying in the Netherlands at the Royal Conservatory and Utrecht University, she worked in the Residentie Orkest artistic planning department and the Vredenburg Utrecht marketing department. She returned home to New Zealand in 2005 and worked for the Manukau Symphony Orchestra and NBR New Zealand Opera in marketing and concert planning and fundraising roles. Pauline also plays the flute in The Harbourside Trio with a violinist and cellist, and is a core player in Waitakere Orchestra. She's very passionate about the arts! She lives in Waitakere with her husband and two young sons.
3
January 2012
Young Auckland Choral Member Selected for New Zealand Youth Choir
Young Auckland Choral singer, Cameron Casey, tenor (pictured), was recently selected for the New Zealand Youth Choir. Cameron has been a member of the Auckland Choral Society for two years and says the vocal coaching, knowledge and experience gained through performing with Auckland Choral has been invaluable. He also met his singing teacher, recently retired tenor soloist Kenneth Cornish, through Auckland Choral, who says Cameron will represent New Zealand well. Cameron, (along with a number of other Auckland Choral singers), was also selected to sing with the NZCF Anthem Choirs for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. All the members of Auckland Choral congratulate Cameron on his selection and look forward to following Cameron's progress. Well done, Cameron!
21 December 2011
Arts and Literature: Carmina Burana - NZ Herald by William Dart
It was a hands-on year for music director Eckehard Stier and principal guest conductor Roy Goodman. Stier notched up two more magnificent Mahlers and a thrilling Shostakovich Tenth, while Goodman inspired Auckland Choral to its very best in October's Carmina Burana. More....
16 December 2011
Review: Handel's Messiah at Auckland Town Hall, NZ Herald by William Dart
Auckland Choral's annual Messiah deserves a firm place on our musical calendar - to remind us of the unmatched power of Handel's oratorio. Charles Jennens, who fashioned its words, called the work "a fine entertainment". This description came to mind in the first phrases of the Overture when conductor Brian Kay had Pipers Sinfonia summon up a sense of almost theatrical anticipation on Monday night's concert. Kay is a words man, and Jennens was done full justice on the choral side, from the bouncing optimism of And the Glory to the intense sorrows of Surely He hath borne our griefs. Here, as elsewhere, John Wells crowned the chorusing with one of his grand, dramatic entrances on the Town Hall organ. More....
6 December 2011
Brian Kay Interview on Concert FM
Brian Kay, our Guest Conductor for our Messiah Concerts was recently interviewed on Concert FM. If you missed the interview click here to go to the News and Events Page to have a listen.
NBR Magazine Preview: Messiah Across the Land
John Daly-Peoples, Friday 2 December 2011
As well as Santa parades in the lead up to Christmas,
performances of Handel’s Messiah, bringing the inspiring
seasonal classic to life, are being held throughout the country. In
Auckland, the Pipers Sinfonia and Auckland Choral will be under the
direction of guest British conductor Brian Kay, with soprano
Katherine Wiles, tenor Keith Lewis, counter tenor Dean Sky Lucas and
bass David Morriss.
More....
8 October 2011
Review: Orff Carmina Burana at Auckland Town Hall, NZ Herald by William Dart
One of the dependable joys of Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra concerts over the past few seasons has been Roy Goodman's voyaging through the Beethoven symphonies. On Thursday, the principal guest conductor offered the Eighth to start the orchestra's Choral Masterpieces, firing the audience for the hedonistic main bill - Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Under Goodman's baton, Beethoven's favourite symphony was unstinting in its revelry. More....
Listen to Dean Sky-Lucas' review of Carmina Burana also on the Reviews Page.
