Whanganui Male Choir 125th jubilee concert with Wellington Male Voice choir

Abigail Livesay conducted the Wanganui Male Voice Choir at the Central Baptist Church, on December 4, 2016. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui Male Choir will celebrate its 125th jubilee and its 283rd performance in concert with the Wellington Male Voice Choir.

The concert has been titled Night & Day and a range of song titles is to be performed.

The Whanganui Male Choir, currently with 20 choristers, performed its first concert on September 22, 1898, and this December is celebrating its 125th jubilee. The choir has never been in recess during this time and over the preceding 125 years has performed at least twice a year - except for Covid-19 affected 2020 - plus one or two extra concerts in between. It is now the third-oldest performing choir in New Zealand.

David Tipi continues his music director role with the choir, and for this concert is supported by the very accomplished Lisa Boessenkool as accompanist. Watch out for his two solos Regesa A Mi and Fields of Gold, after which he will be joined by good friend William Pati singing the duet Time To Say Goodbye.

The main guest artist will be the Wellington Male Voice Choir which has sung with Whanganui Male Choir twice before. They are in their 62nd year. Wellington Male Voice Choir is led by Mark Stamper who hails from South Carolina, USA.

He is well qualified as a choral director and in addition has a Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance. Mark arrived in New Zealand in 2015 and was appointed musical director in 2019. The accompanist for the Wellington Male Voice Choir is Liam Fury LTCL (Distinction), a freelance piano teacher and musician.

The concert promises to provide a varied repertoire of songs. Whanganui Male Choir will open the concert with four songs – Oh, What A Beautiful Morning, Banana Boat Song, Get Me To The Church On Time and Hine E Hine.

This will be followed by the Wellington Male Voice Choir singing Festive Alleluia, Red Is The Rose, For The Fallen and The Awakening. Whanganui will return with another five songs after David Tipi and William Pati have sung their three songs, followed by Wellington with four Christmas-themed songs. The two choirs will round out the concert by joining together and singing O Come All Ye Faithful.

■ Saturday, December 2, 2.30pm at Central Baptist Church, 285 Wicksteed St, Whanganui.