NZ Youth Choir Teach The World To Sing
New Zealand Youth Choir members could be forgiven for feeling out of breath, after a whirlwind, three-week tour that saw
them sing to full houses in four countries. Visiting Singapore, South Korea, China and Australia, the tour ended with a
live simultaneous broadcast across Australia and New Zealand. Earlier the NZYC sang a moving commemoration of the ANZACs
in Canberra’s War Memorial, and raised New Zealand’s profile even further at the World Expo in Shanghai. Interest in New
Zealand was already high in Shanghai, with the New Zealand Expo Pavilion voted one of the “must see” attractions of the
Shanghai Expo.
Other highlights of the tour included performances with Australia’s Gondwana Voices, and Seoul’s World Vision Korean
Children’s Choir. Founded 50 years ago from orphans of the Korean war as a “voice for the voiceless”, the Korean choir’s
story was a moving and triumphant one. Choir member Laura Caygill says there were “teary eyes aplenty” when they met and
heard them. “Their discipline, joy, and musicianship were simply first class.”
The Korean children in turn were impressed by the NZYC’s tremendous kapa haka perfomance, leaping to their feet and
demanding an encore. Ms Caygill commented that wherever the choir went, people seemed fascinated by their poi. “They
get the idea when we start performing,” she said.
In Seoul, the choir also performed for the NZ Embassy, mingling with VIP guest John Key afterwards.
The choir’s stay in Singapore included a visit to the Bukit Panjang Government High School where they were welcomed by
their choir’s rendition of “Tutira Mai Nga Iwi” and a haka. “It was a wonderful gesture and clearly there was much
excitement about our visit,” says NZYC chief exectutive Barbara George. “When the choir sang its kapa haka pieces,
particularly the ones with the haka and poi, the kids went wild. This was the New Zealand they were expecting to see and
they weren’t disappointed!”
The choir’s repertoire extended far beyond kappa haka to cover a world-spanning selection of masterpieces from the
Middle Ages to the present.
The NZYC returned on July 17 and for many, the final performance in Sydney was their last with the choir. “Once we
return to New Zealand, auditions will be held and a new choir formed,” George says. “But I am pleased to say that this
tour has been such a great experience that just about all of those who are still of eligible age (under 25) want to
re-audition. The experience they will bring and what they will share with the newcomers, cannot be underestimated.”
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