Guest conductor Ben Parry conducts The Forest Sing under the Redwoods Sails yesterday. Photo / Andrew Warner
Guest conductor Ben Parry conducts The Forest Sing under the Redwoods Sails yesterday. Photo / Andrew Warner
Singers old and young with vocal ranges across the scale sang their hearts out among the Redwoods yesterday, as the forest transformed into a music venue.
The Forest Sing was the signature event for this year's Sing Aotearoa, New Zealand's premier choral festival, and also featured the world premiere ofA Traveller's Prayer: Ka u ki Matanuku, which was written especially for the gathering.
The event featured songs from Rim D Paul, who accompanied the combined choirs on guitar for Ko Te Komako and Maku. As well as featuring as a guest conductor during the festival, he said he had also learned new techniques to apply to the Rotorua Maori Choir.
"The weekend has been marvellous," he said. "We're having a good time and learning a lot about the application of choral techniques. I'm not a trained singer myself and I do have my limitations, but this has helped broaden my range."
The Forest Sing was conducted by international guest conductor Ben Parry and featured 150 voices. Festival singers had been divided into two streams of challenging part music, which required a reasonable standard of sight-reading, and rhythmical songs from a range of cultures which could be learned more quickly. The two streams combined for The Forest Sing.
"I've done lots of open air but not in a Redwoods forest. This whole weekend has been great, everyone is very enthusiastic. There's a good feeling of ensemble singing together. It's nice we've got these two streams."
The festival closes today, with the final concert at 11.30am. There have been performances from the Rotorua District Choir, the North Shore Children's Choir, GALS (Gay and Lesbian Singers) and the Rotorua Maori Choir.
