Last week over three days (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) the Christchurch Girls’ High School / Te Kura o Hine Waiora auditioned choir Cantrices competed against the nation’s top 24 choirs in The Big Sing’s National Finale.

In past years the event has been held in different cities across the country, however this year it was held here in Christchurch at the Town Hall! It was the first time it has been held in our city since the earthquakes. 

To get to this point, Cantrices had to compete against over 250 choirs from 10 different regions to earn a spot in the Finale which is a huge accomplishment that we are enormously proud of. Overall, over 10,000 students took part! Big Sing is one of the biggest inter-school competitions in New Zealand.

After three full days of rehearsing, performing, and listening to some of the best choirs in the country, Cantrices were awarded bronze for their performances. 

In our first session we performed two songs, Terre Neuve, a french piece describing Canada and the environment featuring body percussion such as claps and stomps. This was performed alongside The Lamb, an english language piece, by New Zealand composer Tecwyn Evans. Typically choirs must perform at least one piece of choral art music, originally written for a choir and one New Zealand or Pasifika work. In our second session we performed Las Amarillas, a Mexican flamenco-inspired folk song that also included complex body percussion. This was performed alongside Loch Lomond, a traditional Scottish Folk song.

We found this an incredible opportunity which enabled us to meet like minded students from all across New Zealand and elsewhere and we were also given the opportunity to watch the New Zealand Secondary Schools Choir, which was amazing! It allowed us to learn from their performance and skill. Ultimately Big Sing Finale 2022 was an incredible experience and Cantrices are looking forward to their next Big Sing adventures in 2023!

Te Reo Composition Success

The Big Sing Finale also marked a special moment for Estella Wallace, whose award-winning choral piece ‘Ka Mate Te Reo I Te Reaka Kotahi” saw its first public performance during the Gala Concert on Saturday night. 

Estella’s piece has been picked up by Radio New Zealand, who will be broadcasting it nationally during Te Wiki O Te Reo Maori.

Estella with fellow composer William Squire, receiving their awards at the Town Hall.