Karen Lesley Grylls (born 9 July 1951) is a New Zealand choral conductor. She is an associate professor in choral conducting at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

and founder of

Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir was formed in 1998. It is a semi-professional mixed chamber choir consisting of a core of 16 to 24 members with additional singers who can be engaged should they be required for specific repertoire. It is governe ...

Early life and education

Grylls was born in

Pahiatua , image_skyline = Market day pahiatua 1st dec 2007 1.JPG , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shi ...

on 9 July 1951. As her father worked for the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, the family moved around the country during her childhood. She was educated at

Napier Girls' High School Napier Girls' High School is a state secondary school on Clyde Road, Napier, New Zealand. It is one of the oldest schools in New Zealand for girls, and has a current school roll of about 1000. History In July 1883 plans were submitted to the b ...

, Hokitika High School, and Central Southland College, where she was

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, '' ...

in 1968. Grylls completed

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of prescr ...

degrees at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

in 1973, followed by a Diploma of Teaching from the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

in 1974. In 1980, she gained a Master of Music degree at the University of Auckland. She then gained a Master of Music in choral conducting in 1983 and a PhD in 1993, both from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. The title of her doctoral thesis was ''The aggregate re-ordered: a paradigm for Stravinsky's Requiem canticles''.

Career

From 1989 to 2011, Grylls conducted the

New Zealand Youth Choir The New Zealand Youth Choir is a mixed choir consisting of around 50 singers, auditioned nationally every 3 years from around New Zealand. The choir accepts members aged between 18 and 25 at the time of audition, and places will generally be offe ...

. In 1992, the Youth Choir won the Silver Rose Bowl award at the international choral competition

Let the Peoples Sing ''Let the Peoples Sing'' (known until 1964 as ''Let the People Sing'') is an international choral competition currently organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The final, encompassing three categories and around ten choirs, is offer ...

. She founded the Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir in 1998. In 2011, she became artistic director of Toronto's Exultate Chamber Choir for two years. Since 1986, Grylls has been a lecturer in music at the University of Auckland, rising to become an associate professor in 2000. Grylls has been a judge at numerous international choral competitions and festivals.

Honours and awards

In the 1999 New Year Honours, Grylls was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

, for services to choral music. She received an Auckland University Distinguished Teaching Award in music in 1996 for excellence in teaching. In 2006, she received a KBB Citation for Services to New Zealand Music from the

Composers Association of New Zealand The Composers Association of New Zealand (CANZ), established in 1974, after an initial meeting of composers was organised by David Farquhar. Farquhar was the association's first president. It is a body that lobbies for the interests of New Zealand ...

Selected works

References

External links

Interview on RNZ, 24 June 2010

Interview on RNZ, 6 July 2019
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grylls, Karen 1951 births Living people People from Pahiatua People educated at Napier Girls' High School People educated at Westland High School, Hokitika People educated at Central Southland College University of Otago alumni University of Auckland alumni University of Auckland faculty New Zealand choral conductors Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit University of Washington alumni University of Canterbury alumni New Zealand women academics Women conductors (music)