Members of Aorere College Choir called back into service By: Alice Lonsdale-Cooper The red carpet is rolled out, black-suited men and women in evening wear emerge from gleaming vehicles for a night of glamour. Meanwhile, in a room just a few hundred metres away, a group of young singers warm up their voices, unfazed by the arrival of the exclusive audience they are about to perform to. The event is the opening of a car firm's showroom in Newmarket and the performers are the Graduate Choir from Aorere. The story of the choir shows how a simple idea combined with a lot of talent can be a huge success. Aorere College marketing and event manager Shirley Symon says the choir started earlier this year, basically out of demand. Towards the end of 2000, the Aorere College Choir was getting a lot of requests to perform at functions. Because students were too busy preparing for end-of-year exams, they had to turn many down. At the same time former students, some of whom had gone on to join the New Zealand Youth Choir, the Tower Youth Choir of New Zealand, and the New Zealand Youth Choir, were calling for a locally based choir. The school's head of music, Terence Maskell, decided the graduate choir was the answer. He selected past and present Aorere college choir students as well as inviting some Auckland Youth Choir singers to join. The result is a mixed voice choir of 27 singers who have been rehearsing for about 15 weeks. Their debut performance at the National Business Review Awards opened doors for them. Invitations to perform at the Adult Learners Week Prizegiving and, more recently, the car firm opening where rising star Hayley Westenra was also part of the entertainment followed. This month they perform at the chief judges conference and the Auckland City Council's Carols by Candlelight. The choir has performances booked to next October. Choir member and former Manukau Young Faces award winner Albert Mataafa says parto f the choir's appeal is it's varied repertoire, from early English pieces to contemporary songs written by a New Zealand composer. Mr Mataafa says although there is a huge amoutn of talent in the choir, what sets it apart is the way the variety of vocal sound blends. Fellow member Melissa Absolum is one of several members who also sing in the National Youth Choir but also says there is something special about the Graduate Choir from Aorere. "We get on really well and there are always people cracking jokes and lots of laughs but we know when we have to get serious," says Ms Absolum. She admits it is a bit nerve-wracking performing at major events but says nothing beats the feeling you get when you lo9ok into the people's eyes and see the choir moves them in some way. Mr Maskell says the "sky's the limit" in terms of where the graduate choir can go. He is now travelling through the United States on a Woolf Fisher Trust Fellowship, a travel scholarship awarded to post-primary teachers. He has chosen to extend his trip to travel through Europe and says it is a chance for him to look into some touring prospects. |
| top |