Southern Consort of Voices is an

SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...

adult mixed voice choir, based in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Southern Consort was first set up in Dunedin in 1980 by Professor Jack Speirs. As the conductor of the Southern Consort, he introduced audiences to a new palette of choral sounds, bringing contemporary music back from Europe by composers such as

John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious works. Among his best known works are '' The Lamb'' (1982), ''The Protecting Veil'' (1988), and '' Song ...

, Arvo Pärt, and

James MacMillan Sir James Loy MacMillan, (born 16 July 1959) is a Scottish classical composer and conductor. Early life MacMillan was born at Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, but lived in the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock until 1977. His father is James MacMi ...

. Through the choir, conductor Spiers also championed many New Zealand composers, including several composers-in-residence at

Otago University , 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 ...

, and supported a number of students in learning the art of conducting. In addition, there have been many joint ventures or partnerships between the University of Otago Music Department and Southern Consort, a tradition that has continued over the last decade. Since Jack Speirs's time, subsequent conductors included Holly Mathieson (2000-1), Andrew Crooks (2002), Maureen Smith (2003–2006) and current director Daniel Kelly (2006–present). The choir's patron is

Honor McKellar Winifred Honor McKellar (born 10 November 1920) is a New Zealand former mezzo-soprano opera singer and singing teacher, and was the first full-time lecturer in singing at the University of Otago in Dunedin. Her students have included Jonathan ...

. The choir celebrated its 30th anniversary in June 2010. The choir is SATB mixed voice, and takes on new members by audition. It performs as many as half a dozen concerts per year, and rehearsals are weekly, on Mondays.

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{{authority control New Zealand choirs Musical groups established in 1980