The New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir (NZSSC) is a national choir of New Zealand that consists of around 50 singers selected from full-time secondary school students every two years. Between auditions, each new choir meets around six times to learn new repertoire,

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

both

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

and

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

parts of New Zealand, provide choral

workshops Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

for schools and tour internationally. The choir has received international attention and critical acclaim from overseas audiences but limited publicity in New Zealand itself. Their repertoire, although widely varied in

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

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and language, specifically emphasises

works Works may refer to: People * Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach * John D. Works (1847–1928), California senator and judge * Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician Albums * ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album), a Pi ...

by New Zealand composers and music from

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

and other Polynesian cultures. Performances by the choir regularly include commissioned works showcasing these uniquely New Zealand traditions.

History

The New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir roots started in a

choral A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

course for secondary school students in the 1960s with the first performance as a choir of its kind in 1967 under the musical direction of Malcolm Rickard. The choir was formalised and named in 1986 by Dr

Guy Jansen Guy Elwyn Jansen (27 May 1935 – 27 May 2019) was a New Zealand music educator and choral musician. Early life and family Born in Carterton, New Zealand, Carterton on 27 May 1935, Jansen was educated at Horowhenua College. In 1960, he married ...

primarily as a training ground for the (formerly) New Zealand National Youth Choir however, two years later, Roger Stevenson took musical directorship, turning the choir into a separate entity with the New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir becoming a charitable trust in 1997. Late in 2000, the choir appointed Elise Bradley as

Musical Director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

. For each NZSSC that she directed, Elise Bradley appointed a professional

tutor Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

ing team to assist her and also took on conducting trainees, most notably of whom was Andrew Withington who would become musical director of the choir in 2009. The appointment of tutors by the musical director has since continued, contributing greatly to the unique nature of each new choir. In 2004, the choir performed in the

Oregon Bach Festival Oregon Bach Festival (OBF) is an annual celebration of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and his musical legacy, held in Eugene, Oregon, United States, in late June and early July. About the festival The festival's programming is three-fold. It ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, USA. The NZSSC then toured Canada, taking three first-place awards ( Mixed Voice Youth Choir, Youth Choir and Folk & Cultural Traditions) at the International Choral Kathaumixw in Powell River. In this, the 11th biennial competition, the NZSSC earned more awards than any other choir in any year of competition over the history of the competition; a record which still stands. The 2005–2006 choir competed in the Hong Kong International Youth & Children's Choir Festival where it took the top award, "The World’s Choir"

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and directly following this the choir travelled to

Xiamen Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...

, China where it competed in the

World Choir Games The World Choir Games (formerly named the Choir Olympics) is the largest global choral festival and competition. Organised by the Interkultur Foundation for choirs from all over the world, regardless of their country of origin, race, genre of mu ...

, gaining a Gold Award and Champion in the Mixed Youth Choir category and a Silver Award in the Folklore a cappella category. Elise Bradley resigned as musical director of the NZSSC in the beginning of 2007 in order to take up the position of

Artistic Director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

of the

Toronto Children's Chorus The Toronto Children's Chorus (TCC) is a children's choir based in Toronto. It was founded in 1978 by Jean Ashworth Bartle. The group has close to 350 members aged 6 to 18. History In 1982, the choir won first prize at the International Eisteddf ...

. As a past member and long-standing tutor of the choir, Robert Wiremu agreed to take on a temporary position as the musical director in late 2007 and led their successful participation in a non-competitive

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tour. In 2009, Andrew Withington was appointed as the musical director of the NZSSC.

Awards (incomplete)

Discography (incomplete)

Albums

* 1993/94 New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir (1994) * Sing We Triumphant (1999) * Pastime with Plums and Pizzazz (2002) * Whisper You All the Way Home (2004) * 2005/06 New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir: Choral Champions (2006) * New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir – On Tour 2008 (2008) * NZ Secondary Students' Choir 2009/2010 In Concert * World on a String: A Choral Celebration (2014)

DVDs

*Biennial Recordings for ''Praise Be''

External links

The New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir's Official Website

References

"About the New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir"
retrieved on 14 April 2009.
"2006 Hong Kong International Youth & Children’s Choir Festival Competition Result"
retrieved on 14 April 2009.

retrieved on 14 April 2009.
"World Choir Games Competition Category 5: Mixed Youth Choirs"
retrieved on 15 April 2009.
"World Choir Games Competition Category 24: Folklore a cappella"
retrieved on 15 April 2009.
"Recording – Sing we triumphant;NZSSC at SOUNZ"
retrieved on 15 April 2009.
"Recording – New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir – On Tour 2008 at SOUNZ"
retrieved on 15 April 2009.
"Recording – 2005/06 New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir: Choral Champions at SOUNZ"
retrieved on 15 April 2009.
"Recording – 1993/94 New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir at SOUNZ"
retrieved on 15 April 2009.
"Recording – Whisper You All the Way Home at SOUNZ"
retrieved on 16 April 2009. {{authority control National choirs New Zealand choirs Youth choirs Musical groups established in 1967