Lucy Houtas has an impressive musical CV. Long before she met and married Deanos Houtas, and in due course became wife of the vicar of St Saviour's Anglican Church in Kaitaia, Lucy Victory was making her mark on London's West End, behind and on the stage.
That decade of professionalexperience, time spent as a chorister, a pantomime player and the lead (only) vocalist in a 12-piece soul/funk band that played the London clubs and once toured Taiwan (she says now that she can't imagine what her father was thinking of, letting her do that), not to mention her music studies at school, made her the natural choice for the lead role when someone had the bright idea to form a choir at the Kaitaia church.
As the second practice session loomed she wasn't bursting with confidence - "I've been in choirs but I've never run one," she said - but once it began she slipped into the role like a hand into a glove.
The idea is that the choir will contribute three carols at Kaitaia's Christmas carnival next month, perhaps more than three if the early promise of talent doesn't turn out to be a mirage, with longer-term thoughts now turning to re-forming the choir that once sang at St Saviour's services every Sunday.
The first practice attracted 10 potential choristers, only two of them men, but Lucy was working on that, ranging from teenagers to octogenarians. And word was getting around, she said, so she was hoping for more.
It was hardly surprising to discover that Lucy herself has a stunning voice, which she might have inherited from her opera singer father, although it tended to be lighter fare he slipped into the cassette deck in the car. Dire Straits was popular (with Dad at least), as was Joe Cocker.
There will be none of that sort of thing at Kaitaia's Christmas carnival on December 7, but the early signs are that the choir will make quite a contribution. And it's not too late to join. Practice sessions take place at St Saviour's every Saturday, 11am to 12.30pm, all voices very welcome.
