Along with the other Burnside High School choirs, Bel Canto’s aim for this year was to focus less on competition and more on community activities.

Bel Canto is an auditioned senior female choir which consisted of 40 girls this year, led by choral conductor extraordinaire Ms Sue Densem.

The choir began the year by preparing four pieces to perform at the Sing South Concert and on the South Island Choir Tour. As well as our own repertoire, we also prepared a 38 minute massed item to sing with Senior Chorale and Malestrom. This massed item was “Requiem in D Minor, Op 48” by Gabriel Fauré, and was conducted by Ravil Atlas.

This was a very special opportunity for the three choirs as we had never performed such a large-scaled piece before.

Though the South Island Choir Tour was the main project of this year, we still had many more performances to do. Our next performance was at the Voices Festival, where we got to show off our contemporary side. This was the first time that Bel Canto has participated in this festival as we don’t usually perform contemporary music. It was definitely an experience for the girls and we were delighted to win “Best Hair-ography” for our performance of “Mister Sandman” by The Chordettes arr. Bertha Bradley.

Bel Canto also got the chance to perform at the Christchurch Arts Festival in the Polar Opposites Concert which was hosted by professional choir Atlas Voices. One of the pieces we performed was “One Finnished, Swedish Moment” by Soila Sariola and it was one of the girls’ favourites this year as the lyrics didn't contain any real words, making it a challenging piece for us. We also got to perform “Requiem for the Living” by Dan Forrest along with Senior Chorale and Atlas Voices. This was the New Zealand premier of this stunningly composed 40 minute long piece, and it was an absolute honour to have been able to perform it under the guidance of Ravil Atlas.

Bel Canto’s next performance was at Choral Extravaganza where we performed “Mister Sandman” once again, and “The Snow” by Edward Elgar. We completed the year by performing at the Year 11 and 12 Prizegiving, where we performed two pieces.

One of them was a very emotional performance for the girls, especially the Year 13 students. This was “The Blessing” by Katie Moran Bart, a piece that Bel Canto has sung every year since the formation of this choir several years ago.

Overall, it was an excellent and successful year for Bel Canto. It has been an absolute privilege to lead this amazing group of girls with my co-leader Izzy Backhouse.

Choir isn’t always about singing, it’s also about the bond between the members, and I think it is safe to say that all of us have formed very close friendships with everyone. I will definitely miss being a part of this choir and I’m sure the other year 13 girls can relate to this.

I would like to say a big thank you to Ms Densem for all the time, hard work, and dedication she has put into Bel Canto. Her love and passion for this choir is astounding and she is a true inspiration to us all. I would also like to thank Justine Lee for being such a reliable accompanist for the past three years of Bel Canto.

Karen Kuek, Bel Canto Leader 2017