Wednesday was a massive day for a number of OB’s boys. The Big Sing competition saw 25 choirs from around Otago and South Canterbury perform a repertoire of three songs.

Otago Boys’ was represented in three choirs: the OBHS Boys’ Choir, the OBHS/OGHS Combined Choir, and the combined Pasifika choir, The Cultural Chords. 

The day started with the choirs meeting at 7:30am for a warm up at Otago Girls’ and finished at9:30pm after the Gala concert in the Town Hall. It was an exhausting, but rewarding day, and the boys represented the school extremely well.

We were very pleased with the results, with the Boys’ Choir and Cultural Chords receiving commended awards, and the combined choir receiving one of the highly commended awards as well as winning the classical category.

All of the boys worked so hard for months leading up to The Big Sing. It is a massive commitment, especially seeing that many of them have been involved in production, sports, interschools, as well as keeping on top of their school work.

Choir provides an opportunity for seniors and juniors to work and compete together, and a chance for the senior boys to develop their leadership skills. We have been fortunate to have such a positive group of boys who have supported each other all year. I would also like to thank Mr Shields, Mr Taufua and Lani Alo for all their work with the choirs, and a special thanks to Mr Ben Madden and Miss Olivia Pike for their massive commitment, encouragement, and expertise.

With a number of Year 13’s in the choir this year, some of whom are in their fifth year in the choir, it was wonderful for them to finish on a high note. We now wait to see if we will qualify for The Big Sing Finale, or the newly created Cadenza competition.