Soprano to join male choir for Sunday concert

Mezzo-Soprano Cecily Shaw will perform with the Wanganui Male Choir at the Central Baptist Church. Photo / Stuart Munro

Mezzo-soprano Cecily Shaw was rehearsing with accompanist Abigail Livesay at Whanganui's Central Baptist Church this week.

She will be performing with the Wanganui Male Choir at their Choruses from Operas & Shows concert this Sunday.

The programme will include three brackets of the choir performing songs by composers such as Wagner, Weber and Gilbert and Sullivan and Shaw will perform two solo brackets from composers such as Mozart, Bellini, Handel and Gluck.

She will join the choir for the final segment to perform Bizet's Seguidilla and Habanera from Carmen and Gypsies Chorus from Verdi's Il Trovatore.

The Wanganui Male Choir currently has 27 members and they have never been in recess since first forming as the Liedertafal Choir in 1898, making them the second oldest choir in New Zealand.

The choir usually perform at least two concerts each year and have a long-standing dedication to encouraging young artists by inviting them to perform at their concerts.

Shaw, who is working towards a master of music at the University of Waikato, was also a student at Wanganui Opera Week this year.

"I met some of the choristers from the Male Choir and was invited to perform at this concert," she says.

"My parents live in Marton so I come to Whanganui fairly often but it is always nice to get the chance to perform here."

The choir were saddened by the death of their former musical director, Judy Barrett, early last year and have got used to working with current director Margaret Thompson who accompanied them on an Australian tour.

Abigail Livesay, who was both accompanist and director with the choir for a time, was replaced by Caitlin Arthur but she has returned to accompany Shaw for the Sunday concert.

Choruses from Operas & Shows: Central Baptist Church, Wicksteed St, Sunday, July 1 at 2.30pm. Door sales $20 adults, students free.