The programme includes popular classical and musical theatre songs from operas like La Boheme and shows like Phantom of the Opera.
The MCs for this concert are local Waipawa M&D people Dean Allsop and Jemma Nesbit.
"Jemma's enthusiasm to take on the role of MC with Dean is the same enthusiasm our young singers have for performing, and audiences enjoy the youthful energy of Singing School," says Helen.
The singers performed recently at Summer in the Park in Hastings and include young people who are starting out on their music career and aim to be at the Singing School NZ in the future. Other singers are more experienced and have already benefited from the high quality teaching at the school.
One of these past students is soprano Larissa Kent, who has recently been accepted into the chorus of Opera NZ. Central Hawke's Bay singers are Sam Draper who performed recently in Cinderella, and Jenny Cross (Dobson) who has been studying classical singing for four years.
Singing School NZ is a national school that has been a gateway for many professional and amateur performers in its 40 years based in Hawke's Bay, including Simon O'Neill, Deborah Wai Kapohe, Jonathan Abernethy, and 2018 Lexus Song winner Joel Amosa.
The 2021 school will be the 30th to be held and will be back at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) in Napier which is the major sponsor providing the modern campus facilities.
The Singing School trustees were determined to offer a school despite Covid, but the pandemic forced a practical move from the usual summer school timing to a winter school from July 3–10. The programme offers students personal lessons, group classes, technical workshops and performances, as well as advice on career development.
Developing the programme for the school have been artistic directors Christine Douglas from Sydney's Pacific Opera and Mark W Dorrell, a Wellington-based musical theatre director.
Many highly regarded tutors will be taking classes including Mark Dorrell, Frances Wilson, tenor Robert Tucker and Jennifer Ward-Lealand.
Singing School New Zealand
Te Wānanga Toi Waiata
When: July 3-10, 2021
Where: Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), Napier, Hawke's Bay
What: Intensive national residential school held every two years offering high quality tutoring for emerging talent classical and musical theatre students. This is the only cross-genre school of its kind in Australasia. Singing School NZ rebranded in 2021, formerly NZ Singing School.
