Sing New Zealand: The story of choral music in Aotearoa
(Paperback)
Publishing Details
Sing New Zealand: The story of choral music in Aotearoa
By (Author) Guy Jansen
Massey University Press
Massey University Press
14th November 2019
New Zealand
Classifications
General
Non Fiction
782.50993
Physical Properties
Paperback
384
Width 168mm, Height 240mm, Spine 2mm
8560g
Description
New Zealanders love to sing together. Thousands of us sing in hundreds of choirs throughout the country, making it our most popular and participated in performing art. Most of us have sung in school choirs, or participated in national competitions such as the Big Sing, and increasingly people are joining choirs as adults, recognising the benefits to wellbeing and the sheer pleasure of making music together. But the story of choirs in New Zealand is not just one of enthusiastic participation, it is also about striving for excellence, and achieving it. And it's not just about our great soloists finding international acclaim; national choirs such the Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir and the New Zealand Youth Choir have won international awards, and many others tour overseas. This didn't happen by chance. So what was needed for New Zealanders to succeed at this demanding, precision art form, and who were the key people involved Author Guy Jansen was one of them; the world's first national youth choir, the National Youth Choir of New Zealand, was just one of his initiatives. In Sing New Zealand he describes choral music's trajectory from the enthusiastic amateur efforts of the nineteenth-century to today's internationally renowned national choirs.
Reviews
Clarissa Dunn reviews Sing New Zealand: The story of choral music in Aotearoa by Guy E. Jansen on Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan. Listen to it on RNZ
Author Bio
In 2011 the late Dr Guy Jansen (1935-2019) was awarded a MNZM for services to music. A music educator and choral musician, in 1979 he founded the New Zealand Youth Choir (reputed to be the first national youth choir in the world) and was its Musical Director. He also founded the New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir, and pioneered training in choral conducting. Dr Jansen formed the Festival Singers and Bel Canto, and served as Chair of the New Zealand Choral Federation.
