Fifty may be the new 40 for those young at heart but for a volunteer organisation it’s a milestone worth singing about.
Founded in 1976, the Taupō Choral Society staged its first concert in the Taupo-nui-a-Tia College hall, performing Handel’s Messiah, and it has continued to perform ever since.
This year the group is again singing excerpts from the Messiah in a special 50th jubilee concert, Taupō Choral Solid Gold, on Sunday, November 15 – though likely to be in St Andrew’s Anglican Church.
Taupō Choral Society committee member Vince Wright says excitement at celebrating a half century in existence is growing among the choristers.
“We are very fortunate to have David Hamilton, who's a very famous New Zealand composer and conductor actually directing us during the show, and he's even written a special piece of music... That'll be the first time it's ever been sung.”
As well as the premiere performance of this newly commissioned piece, the concert will include selections from the society’s many past concerts.
These will be ones that have stood out over the years, says Wright.
“The Messiah is obviously very special, and the choir's done that several times… But we've got Anthem from Chess, for example, so we're picking pieces that will appeal to a really general audience and have been ones that our choir members have really enjoyed singing…
“I think our all-time favourite, given that David's there, is another piece that he composed called The Musical Director, which is a bit of a spoof about the role of… ‘I'm trying to conduct the choir’, and we're really looking forward to singing that.”
As well as guest musical director and patron Hamilton, whose mother was a founding member of Taupō Choral, the concert will feature guest soloist soprano Morag Aitchison.
The choir of 25 to 30 local singers is also likely to be bolstered by past members who have moved out of town to other centres around the North Island.
“We're hoping that they'll come back, if not for the choir, the performance itself, but at least to be part of the audience.”
Rehearsals for Solid Gold have already begun at St Paul's Church, Rifle Range Road (Wednesdays 7.15pm) and the group are on the lookout for extra singers and would welcome any past members or wannabe future members to be part of their special celebration.
“The more people we can have along, particularly past members, but anybody who wants to join us we would be really thankful for.”
The first practice welcomed back four past members who had been busy with other commitments, says Wright.
“They've come back especially for this performance. We're really grateful to them… Some of the music's challenging, so we need a bit of practice, of course.”
For those wanting to get involved, experience singing in a choir is helpful but not essential.
Taupō Choral can be contacted via its Facebook page or at [email protected]
