Young choral composers shine

ON SONG: Wairarapa College choristers have excelled at the Big Sing Secondary Schools Choir Festival in Wellington. Pictured are the winning choirs Armonia Dolce and Primi Voci and, from left front, Elena Smith-Beech, 16, and Peter Dew, 17, who wrote the winning choral compositions, and Russian exchange student Anastasia Zabludovskaya. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

Wairarapa College choral singers this year scaled new heights of achievement at the annual Wellington regional Big Sing Secondary Schools Choir Festival.

Wairarapa College head of music Ivan Patterson said the college choirs Armonia Dolce and Primi Voci each walked away with an Award Certificate for student compositions.

The latter also won an Award Certificate in the classical composition category at the two-day event at the Michael Fowler Centre in the capital last week.

Mr Patterson said Year 12 student Elena Smith-Beech, 16, had penned the winning composition She for Armonia Dolce - directed by assistant music teacher Lucy Wise - and Year 13 student Peter Dew, 17, had written Chanson Avec Paroles for Primi Voci, which Mr Patterson directed.

Mr Patterson, helped with translations by Russian exchange student Anastasia Zabludovskaya, arranged the winning Category 2 composition from Tchaikovsky titled Crown of Roses that was performed by Primi Voci.

He said there were about 60 students involved with the Cantate choir at the school and "this is a notable year for our choristers - who sing very well - and our best result from the Big Sing since I've been here."

Mr Patterson said choristers had been alongside choirs from Onslow College - the only schools in the greater Wellington region to take Award Certificates for student compositions in each of the past four years of the festival.

However this year was the first time Wairarapa College had seized a double victory in the student composition category.

Mr Patterson said the top choirs in the country would be named on June 21 for the 2014 Big Sing finale that will run at the Auckland Town Hall from August 21 to 23.

"This is incredibly difficult for a co-ed school of under 2500 pupils to get into. But we hold out hope."

The Rathkeale College/St Matthew's Collegiate School Viva Camerata choir, directed by Kiewiet Van Deventer, took a Category 3 - other styles of music award with Amovolovolo.