Voices New Zealand Presents Autumn Landscapes

Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir
Conducted by Dr Karen Grylls

Featuring works by New Zealand and international composers including Brahms, Rossini, David Griffiths and Helen Fisher.

New Zealand’s finest chamber choir, Voices New Zealand, is performing in Dunedin and Wanaka as they prepare for a prestigious international tour later this year.

Appropriately for an April concert, one of the centrepieces of the Dunedin concert is “Autumn Landscapes” by Veljo Tormis.

If the name doesn’t ring a bell, audiences familiar with Music Director Karen Grylls are used to that. Grylls has a gift for finding what’s resonating with audiences from all corners of the globe, whether it’s a new work hot off the press or a freshly rediscovered masterpiece from the distant past.

Tormis is an Estonian composer who describes himself as being inspired by words; many of his songs stem from the ancient folk songs of Estonian and other Balto-Finnic peoples.

Another brilliant find for the programme is American composer Eric Whitacre. Noted for his ethereally beautiful choral compositions, Whitacre’s first album “Cloudburst” topped the classical charts and was nominated for a Grammy. Voices New Zealand will perform Whitacre’s “Lux Aurumque”, a piece made famous by a Youtube “Virtual Choir” performance seen by a million viewers within 60 days.

More traditional items on the programme include two works from Brahms’ “Fünfe Gesange”, and Rossini’s “Cantemus”.

The choir prides itself on its promotion of New Zealand music, and this concert is no exception. As well as the opening karanga and Helen Fisher’s “Pounamu” for taonga puoro, the choir performs excerpts from David Griffiths’ “Five Landscapes”, a setting of poems by Charles Brasch.

The uniquely New Zealand flavour of the choir has proved highly popular internationally. Voices New Zealand has been invited to represent the country in August at the 9th World Symposium of Choral Music in Argentina.

Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir was formed in 1998 by the New Zealand Youth Choir Board, with Dr Karen Grylls as its first and only Artistic Director. As a nationally selected choir of the highest calibre, Voices, which includes some former members of the New Zealand Youth Choir, provides a chamber choir, flexible in size, and capable of performing a wide repertoire.

Koha towards the choir's tour expenses gratefully accepted.

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