CULTURE Choral Music
CHAPEL CHOIR While there have been many
developing with the Puanaki wha¯nau, our College waiata. With no singing in the Chapel, we managed to support our new Chaplain by having both the Choir and Schola Cantorum singing in the courtyard behind the Chapel and, through technology, effectively stream their singing into the various services. This was our way of navigating the dilemma of trying to maintain the integrity of music within our regular services. While we were unable to have Congregational singing with the full school for most of Term 1, the Choir presented a Maundy Thursday and end-of-term online service for the school. The Chaplain crafted a moving service to lead us into Easter, which was enhanced by the Choir’s two head trebles, Oscar Stove and Marcello Ferguson, singing with choral backing the moving Pie Jesu from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem . In Term 2, there was a sense of normality, with limited full-school participation in Congers, but with
our first full school Sunday Evening service on 29 May. This was a special occasion to celebrate coming back together. Despite masks and the stress of the unknown, it was great to get back into the routine of Sunday services. Sunday 12 August was a significant event in the Choir and Chapel’s programme, where we honoured the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Bunting created by Rev’d Cameron Pickering’s junior Religious Education classes in the foyer of the Chapel added to the occasion. The Rev’d Peter Beck preached superbly, and the Choir was able to pull out all stops with the brass and timpani accompanying the hymns and the Choir singing Rutter’s difficult Wells Jubilate . BIG SING The annual Big Sing competition was another significant milestone for the Chapel Choir and Schola Cantorum. The adjudicator, Auckland composer David Hamilton,
interruptions to our regular musical activities in 2022, we can indeed be proud that we have had a successful number of major music events in which the performance standards have not only lifted, but so too has the number of students engaged in musical activities within the school. Out of all these interruptions, we have learnt to develop patience and resilience, and to appreciate the need to deal with events in the moment, and not worry about those events being cancelled. Some 88 boys started the year in the Chapel Choir, with our largest intake of treble voices for several years. Due to Ministry of Education guidelines, rehearsals took place outdoors in the Upham courtyard, and with the hot, balmy evenings, an open-air environment was fully appreciated. The courtyard’s natural amphitheatre atmosphere was a great aid to rehearsals and allowed the Choir to get under way building repertoire and
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