Maestro seeks best voices

Chalium Poppy tried to lay low when he  arrived in Mount Maunganui last June.
Exhausted from a schedule of heavy touring in Canada, the professional musician decided to take it easy for a couple of months.
But when he opened his mouth to join in with the congregation at St Peter's Church singing hymns, the secret was out - a musical heavyweight was in town.
"Someone heard me singing a hymn, and the phone started ringing, the  emails started coming in. People found me," the Englishman says.
Since then, Poppy's made his mark on the classical music scene in Tauranga and the Mount.
He quickly became the organist at St Peter's, and, in December, took over as the director of the Oriana Singers.
But his latest project is to establish a chamber choir based at the Mount, dedicated to "really superb performance of period music".
The choir, called Scholars Pro Musica, will explore lesser-known repertoire.
"I've always been a bit of an advocate of composers that time forgot," Poppy says.
"I'm confident to say that the Mount or Tauranga will never have heard these composers."
The choir will consist of about 20 voices. While Poppy has found about half of those, he is taking expressions of interest to fill the other half.
While Tauranga already has its Civic Choir, the chamber choir will have a different focus.
Songs performed by the chamber choir would be "completely inappropriate" for a choir the size of the 70-strong Civic Choir, which focuses on "mainstream choral works".
And the Oriana Choir, which has traditionally done "lighter" music, will retain its own niche, although Poppy wants to explore "more serious music" with the singers.
When it comes to the chamber choir, the standard will no doubt be high. Admission to the choir will be at Poppy's discretion, and he admits he has high expectations and standards.
It's his goal to improve the quality of classical music on offer in Tauranga.
"There's music around, but what I want to do is raise the bar in terms of the musical excellence.
"That's what's going to distinguish the chamber choir from the rest - the level of excellence demanded of them."
Poppy was stunned, he says, by the lack of arts culture in Tauranga.
"It's the fifth-largest city in the country, and when I arrived here I was shocked at the limited artistic and music community for a city of this size.
"It's very disproportionate, in my humble opinion."
He set out trying to fill "musical niches" in the community, and says he has been "constantly badgered" to start a chamber choir.
Poppy admits his arrival on the Tauranga music scene has made waves in some parts of the community.
"A huge problem I encounter here, is an attitude among the musicians, especially singers, that you can't do that because someone else does it."
Poppy, who also conducts choral evensong at St Peter's Church, has been a  chorister since the age of four, and an organist since his early teens.
He studied in Austria, where he obtained a masters degree in church music.
He then became a professional musician, working in Europe and Canada, where he met his Kiwi partner Michael.
While he is no longer earning the money associated with being a professional musician in North America, he's still making a crust out of music.
Apart from his conducting and singing work, he also teaches music lessons in voice, piano and organ.
"I'm certainly not making the amount of money I made in North America. They do not pay musicians the same here.
"But there comes a time in your life, particularly if you are an artist, when you have to decide if it's for the love of the art, or the money.
"If it's for the money ... you should become a doctor or lawyer."
While Tauranga might not have the same great music halls as Europe or North America, Poppy loves it here.
He's already hatching long-term plans to enrich the musical community in the Bay.
He would love to see a conservatory of music in Tauranga, so young musicians no longer need to travel to Hamilton.
And he would love to see an operatic company in Tauranga.
"I know they are lofty goals, and I don't know how I am going to accomplish them, but I will," he says with confidence.
Poppy describes himself as impatient, impetuous, and brimming with ideas.
"If you find yourself in a community where you feel there's something you can offer, I think there's an obligation or a responsibility to make it happen. That's how I felt about living here."
People are drawn to choirs for many reasons, Poppy says, be it for the spirituality, an enjoyment of singing, or a feeling of community.
Poppy is a "purist" when it comes to music.
"When I work with a choir, we have an obligation to recreate the music as close to what the composer intended as possible - when you can come away from a performance and say 'that was exactly how Mozart wold have wanted it done'."
To contact Chalium Poppy about the chamber music choir, email him at chaliumpoppy@hotmail.com or phone 021 396 440.