Tauranga’s Coreen Gray celebrates 100 years

Audrey Coreen Gray - known as Coreen - is celebrating her 100th birthday with plenty of singing - much to the delight of those blessed to know her.

“It’s incredible,” said -Gray, who reached the century mark in Tauranga on Wednesday. “I never thought I’d make it to 100.”

Born in Yorkshire on August 21, 1924, Gray moved to Blackpool where she started playing piano around the age of 5.

She said she did not remember why her parents had a piano.

“I was in Blackpool right through the war years; it was a busy place with around 95,000 Royal Air Force [personnel] billeted there. I did a lot of concert work for the forces.

“There was a war on so I couldn’t go to the Royal College of Music, particularly if you were of call-up age,” she said.

After gaining a Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music and Associate of the Royal College of Music, Gray was a soloist for the BBC and taught music in various English schools and in the Channel Islands.

She sang in the Leeds Festival Choir in 1951, describing it as a wonderful experience learning under contralto Kathleen Ferrier and baritone Roy Henderson.

In 1961 she boarded the Rangitane for New Zealand, narrowly missing being killed en route by a malfunctioning rocket reportedly fired from Cape Canaveral. She started teaching music at Auckland’s St Cuthbert’s College and became a New Zealand Music Competition adjudicator.

Coreen Gray playing piano at her 100th birthday celebration at Bayswater. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford.

“I met my husband Malcolm here in New Zealand in the headmaster’s study at King’s College after a performance of Messiah in 1962. We married in 1964.”

Her husband Malcolm Gray, who had been a pupil at King’s College, returned as a schoolmaster there.

“We moved to Tauranga when Malcolm retired from teaching,” said Gray, who after marrying also taught at King’s College.

Gray joined the Pāpāmoa Beach Women’s Institute in 1981 and served as president. She was secretary of the Tauranga Federation for two terms and in 1986 was the guest vocalist at the 1986 Women’s Institute Conference in Wellington. She helped establish the Tauranga Women’s Institute choir in 1993, of which she was choir mistress and conductor.

In 1985, Gray joined the Tauranga community choir Oriana Singers, leading the group until 1996 and remaining a member for 29 years. A long-standing accompanist, pianist, and singer, she has taught music, sung, accompanied, and conducted for all her adult life. She was awarded life membership of the Oriana Singers in 2015 in recognition of her contribution to the choir and became its patron in 2016.

A member of the New Zealand Choral Federation, she founded the Bay of Plenty branch and is a life member of the Choral Federation. She was a vocalist and accompanist with the Tauranga Civic Choir for 10 years and was made a life member in 2013.

“I’ve been married but no family,” said Gray, who said she had no living relatives in England.

“I’m permanent here in New Zealand.”

The centenarian received congratulatory cards from the King and Queen, the Prime Minister, the Governor-General, and the minister for seniors - a role she admited she didn’t even know existed.

In 2020, Gray was honoured with a Queen’s Service Medal for her contributions to choral music.

Tauranga Civic Choir performing at Coreen Gray’s birthday celebration on Saturday, August 17. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford.

“That was quite unexpected too. It was such an honour, especially when there are so many others who also deserve recognition.”

Music has been a constant source of joy for Gray throughout her life. She had a hunch that the celebration held on Saturday at Bayswater Village, where she resides, would feature some musical elements.

Upon entering an auditorium filled with applause, Gray was invited by former Tauranga Mayor and MC Greg Brownless to perform. She took her place at the grand piano and delighted the audience with a rendition of I Could Have Danced All Night.

The event continued with an hour of performances by some of Tauranga’s top classical singers, including Wendy Coster, Friederike Andre, Regan McFarlane, Nigel Drake, Richard German, Elizabeth Gawler, Hilda Bester, and Christine Leaf. Their repertoire included works by Mozart, Offenbach, Richard Strauss, Leo Delibes, Engelbert Humperdinck, Arthur Somerville, and Giacomo Rossini.

The Tauranga Civic Choir, conducted by Jeremy Whimster, performed He Honore and a selection of traditional Scottish songs. Gray has been an integral part of the choir for 10 years, earning life membership in 2013.

She has volunteered as a singing instructor for people with dementia at Bayswater Retirement Village, as well as working with general residents to stage musical productions four times a year. She has also taught a singing group through the University of the Third Age, been a member of Registered Music Teachers New Zealand, an organist at St Mary’s Anglican Church in Mount Maunganui, and a member and past conductor of the Te Puke Lyceum Choir.

Kate Graeme of Forest & Bird and Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford took to the stage to offer their congratulations.

“Forest & Bird started its life around the same time as Coreen, and both are going strong. Coreen has been a huge supporter, and her husband Malcolm was the first chair of Te Puke Forest & Bird branch when it began and they both were very supportive members of the branch for many years,” said Graeme.

“What a wonderful celebration of Coreen’s remarkable life,” said Rutherford. “It’s fantastic to be here at Bayswater for such a great turnout and to witness Coreen play piano and sing. What a wonderful voice she’s got.”

Coreen Gray celebrating 100 years at Bayswater. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford.

Tom also lodged a notice of motion in Parliament on Wednesday “that this House acknowledge Coreen Gray QSM from the Bay of Plenty on her 100th birthday.”

The most memorable moment of the celebration on Saturday was the surprise appearance of pre-recorded video messages from Deborah Wai Kapohe and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

Gray fondly recalled judging the young Te Kanawa at a singing competition in Te Awamutu in the late-1960s.

“I was new to New Zealand and was adjudicating competitions. I awarded Kiri three first prizes, and it’s amazing to see her achieve international fame. She was just a young girl then and I will never forget how impressed I was with her voice.”

Having lived at Bayswater for 24 years and recently moving into their care home, Gray continued to find joy in music.

“I just love it,” she said. “Music is one of the great joys of life.”

- SunLive