K-Town Singers - The Voice Festival.  This year has been a big year for the Kaiapoi High School choir.

We had been practising hard all year for the annual Voices Festival, held at St Margaret’s College, and we were so excited to perform outside of school for the first time as a whole choir. Part of our performance practice included giving a small performance to the staff...eeck, nerve-racking! However, the staff loved us and it was great being able to demonstrate just how much raw talent we have in our school. It was also a great opportunity to see how well we worked as group when it came down to the real thing. We did really well and received two excellence awards, so it was all worth it!!

Choir welcomes a whole range of ages and abilities, from Year 9 to Year 13, meaning that we get to meet people from all year levels. We also have a range of voices: bass, for the really low voices, tenors, altos, both of which are middle ground, and soprano, the really high singers.

However, choir is not just about singing and trying to sound good. We also do lots of technical work, such as learning how to breathe and sing at the same time, which is actually possible. We learn how to sing from our stomachs using our diaphragms and stomach muscles, which helps to create a louder sound and also saves your vocal cords from getting all croaky. Choir is also a good way to practise singing in a large group, which is harder than you’d think. We all have to learn how to listen to each other and sound like one voice. For people who love to sing but hate singing solo, choir is good way to go. You gain confidence in your own singing abilities and are supported by a huge group of people, so even if you hit a wrong note, nobody’s going to hear you anyway.

All in all, choir is just a fun way to spend your Friday lunchtimes. Everybody’s really friendly and Mrs Sue-Tang is an excellent teacher. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an experienced vocalist or a newbie, choir is great for developing all sorts of new skills. For more info, just talk to Mrs Sue-Tang or one of the choir members or show up in A13 on a Friday. Hopefully next year will be just as exciting as this year, with some new faces and fresh voices.

K-Town Singers 2016 include:

Left to right: Leyton Wright, Erica Van Meer, Ben Jarrett, Sasha Kerrigan, Finlay Mably, Kayci McGrath, Jamie Neeson-Pene, Stacey Sanders, Charlie Pene, Ruth Palitog, Paige Colombus