The Street Requiem: In honour of homeless people who died on the streets

Corazon Miller

29 Nov, 2017 12:45 AM3 mins to read

GALS Choir who are celebrating 25 years with a performance at the Auckland Town Hall next week. / Video by Dean Purcell

On Tuesday evening the Auckland City Town Hall will be filled with the solemn sound of the musical tribute to members of the street community who died this year.

More than 160 Auckland singers, including members of the Gay and Lesbian Singers [GALS] and the Auckland Street Choir will be on stage as part of the New Zealand premiere of The Street Requiem.

The requiem, part of the GALS 25th anniversary celebrations, would also see members of the Stellar Singers, Voxpo, the North Shore chorale, Viva Voce and Jubilation perform on stage in commemoration of those who passed away this year.

At least two homeless people are believed to have died on the street this year; Keith Darryl Johnson who was found on a bench outside St Peter's Anglican Church cemetery in July and another man was found dead a fortnight later outside the Manurewa Methodist Church.

GALS choir chair Howard Blackwell said the requiem was about paying tribute to those who had died, and was also the choir's way of marking its 25th anniversary in a way that would benefit others.

"There is suffering, even in places like Auckland, which is one of the best cities to live in in the world.

"People who are homeless face bias and discrimination and have mental health issues, which leads to a lot of suffering."

Members of the GALS Choir rehearsing at the Pitt Street Methodist Church. Photo / Dean Purcell

The proceeds from the concert would be going to the Auckland City Mission, Lifewise and Rainbow Youth - organisations that all do work supporting the city's homeless.

Blackwell said it was special to welcome members of the Auckland street choir, some of whom had a lived street experience to the stage for the requiem.

"They are really good and it will be an honour to share a stage with them next week."

Choir member David Reeves said The Street Requiem was a great way to mark GALS' 25 years.

"We felt 25 years was an important milestone to mark ... and we wanted to give back to the community."

The Street Requiem is part of a global movement that premiered in Melbourne on June 7, 2014.

It's the brainchild of Australian conductor Jonathon Welch who composed the music together with Kathleen McGuire and Andy Payne.

Welch's aim was to "bring a sense of peace, remembrance and hope to communities struggling to come to terms with street violence, war and a loss of safety on our streets".

Since its debut the requiem has been on some of the world's largest stages, including at New York's Carnegie Hall in 2016 where a number of opera and Broadway stars performed.

GALS had its beginnings as a choir in 1992 at the Hero Party on Auckland's Prince's wharf, when New Zealand choreographer Michael Parmenter needed a choir for one of his works.

Since then it has grown into a fully-fledged choir with a membership of around sixty people, and covers a large repertoire of music that it has performed in festivals around the world - Sydney, Melbourne, Amsterdam, Chicago, Cologne and Dublin and in 2018, Munich.