TBS 2012 Dates
| THE BIG SING REGIONAL FESTIVALS 2012 | |
| Registration opens February 10 and closes March 18, 2012 | |
| Late closing April 3, 2012 | |
| By Area, Region and Date | Regional Coordinator |
| NORTHERN AREA | |
| Auckland | Catherine Blomfield |
| Auckland Town Hall | cath.blomfield@actrix.co.nz |
| Mon-Wed 11–13 June 2012 | |
| Northland | Margaret Williams |
| Whangarei Forum North | mewsic@xtra.co.nz |
| Thurs 14 June 2012 | |
| Waikato/B.O.P | Jeremy Whimster |
| Bethlehem Col Perf Arts Ctr (tbc) | jvwhim@actrix.co.nz |
| Tauranga | |
| Fri 15 Jun 2012 | |
| CENTRAL AREA | |
| East Coast | Glenys Kempshall |
| Opera House, Hastings | mikeandglen@xtra.co.nz |
| Wed 30 May 2012 | |
| Wellington | Elizabeth Crayford |
| Wellington Town Hall | ecrayford@clear.net.nz |
| Wed/Thu 6/7 June 2012 | |
| Manawatu/Wanganui | Stanley Barnes |
| Regent Theatre, Palmerston North | stanb@xnet.co.nz |
| Wed 13 Jun 2012 (tbc) | |
| Taranaki | Gabrielle Barr |
| City West Church | jim.gabrielle@clear.net.nz |
| Poplar Grove, New Plymouth | |
| Thu 14 Jun 2012 | |
| SOUTHERN AREA | |
| Canterbury | Ravil Atlas |
| St Mark’s Presbyterian Church, Avonhead | ravilatlas@yahoo.com |
| CBS Arena – Gala Concert | |
| 30/31 May 2012 | |
| Nelson/Marlborough | Robin Randall |
| Church of the Nativity | robinr@mgc.school.nz |
| Blenheim | |
| Wed 6 Jun 2012 | |
| Otago/South Canterbury | Carole Randall |
| Regent Theatre | c.randall@xtra.co.nz |
| Wed 13 Jun 2012 | |
| Southland | Di Lenihan |
| First Church, Tay St | plenihan@kinect.co.nz |
| Invercargill | |
| Thurs 14 Jun 2012 | |
| National Finale | Elizabeth Crayford |
| Wellington Town Hall | ecrayford@clear.net.nz |
| Thu 16 – Sat 18 August, 2012 | |
Your thoughts please
What did you think of The Big Sing ‘experience’ 2011?
What would you change for the future?
What have you heard your friends whinge about TBS and thought “why are you telling me this? Tell someone who cares!“
Who cares? The New Zealand Choral Federation, that’s who. Take any aspect of the Big Sing and let us know what you think– what’s good, what needs changing, and your suggestions if you got ‘em. We’re all set for 2012 but your suggestions will be considered for 2013 and beyond.
Leave a comment here or email: ecrayford@clear.net.nz by Saturday 12 November, 2011.
Tell everyone you know– we want to hear from them!
TBS Finale on Radio NZ Concert
The 2011 Big Sing National Finale will be broadcast on Radio New Zealand Concert as a series of nine programmes in Young New Zealand, 8pm on Sunday nights from Sunday the 23rd of October.
There will be a programme from each of the eight sessions, featuring the interviews that have been recorded with a member of each choir. The Gala Concert will be broadcast as the last Young New Zealand for 2011 on December the 18th at 8pm.
Details on how to tune in are on the Radio New Zealand website: radionz.co.nz.
Sweet Sixteen perform at Rugby World Cup Opening
The Sweet Sixteen of Aorere College, Auckland, were invited to sing “All Lit Up” by Don McGlashan at the height of the Rugby World Cup Opening Ceremony at the Viaduct in Auckland. The choir rehearsed the piece at Aorere College and then with Don McGlashan prior to recording at Neil Finn’s studio in Ponsonby. The Director of the Sweet Sixteen, Douglas Nyce, states “I believe the song may have at least a triple meaning: as a personal love song, as a metaphor for the fireworks and as a metaphor for fans of the All Blacks.”
Choreography was provided by Mike Mizrahi, the Creative Director of the RWC opening.
The Sweet Sixteen was involved in pre-videoing on the top of the HSBC carpark at 1 Queen Street on the Saturday prior, then the performance in red robes on the Friday night the 9th at 8pm. The entire piece composed by McGlashan was more than 11 minutes long and was performed by various artists including the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra and several soloists performing at the Cloud. This was broadcast live to an estimated world-wide audience of 50-100 million.
RWC Choirs in Action
There will lots of Big Singers amongst the Rugby World Cup Choirs singing the national anthems at the games.
Are you one of them?! Let us know what it’s like!
Watch the Close Up special here . . . >
Road to the Big Sing: Finale Episode
Catch the final episode of Road to the Big Sing on Tagata Pasifika:
Thursday 10:45pm on TV1
After almost 5 months of filming, endless rehearsals, school yard dramas, intense performances, nerves and loads of singing…the Road to the Big Sing Finale half hour special is screening tonight!
The Sweet Sixteen and Front Row choirs from Aorere College travel to Wellington for the Big Sing National Finale, but do they have what it takes to win gold?
I hope this episode is as much fun to watch as it was to make!
Thank you all for supporting this series! Please spread the word!
Here’s the previous episode. You’ll find links to all the episodes in the comments section.
Episode 6: The Moment of Truth
Watch Edited Finale Videos Right Now!
If you missed it live (or even if you didn’t) you can relive the excitement of The Big Sing Finale 2011 online.
The brilliant techie team have edited the sessions up into each choir’s performance, so it’s as simple as clicking on the choir you want to watch and . . . well, then watching.
If you are having issues let us know. Here are a few things to try first:
- refresh the web page (Crtl-R or Crtl-F5 depending on your browser)
- If you do download it, watch the file in VLC (videolan.org). Avoid Quicktime like the plague, unless you have an Apple, but even then prefer VLC. On windows 7 it will play in the default player.
15,000 views in 27 countries of TBS Finale online
If you watched The Big Sing Finale video online, you were amongst thousands of people doing the same thing over the course of the 3-day festival.
We got just under 15,000 views. 94% (around 14,000) of our audience was in New Zealand, but we were viewed in at least 26 other countries as well. Around 200 watched in the UK and Aus, and just over 100 in the USA.
The gala concert was by far the most viewed, with the evening sessions being more popular than the day sessions.– Murray Cameron
Kudos to the awesome tech team who made the streaming so seemless and reliable! Clearly, thousands of us got to enjoy the festival even though we couldn’t make it to Wellington.
The edited coverage will be up on R2 (same site as the web streaming) on Monday for everyone to enjoy all over again.
“Auckland choirs team up to hit top note”–TVNZ News
TV One News features The Big Sing Finale in Wellington Town Hall.
Hear this year’s Platinum Award-winning choir, Choralation, of Westlake Girls’ and Boys’ High Schools.
Plus hear clips and quotes from several other choirs.
TBS Finale Awards 2011
CHORALATION WINS PLATINUM!
For the THIRD year in a row, Choralation of Westlake Boys’ & Girls’ High School has earned the top prize– the Platinum Award– at The Big Sing Finale.
The awards were announced at the end of the Gala Concert, after all choirs had presented wonderful performances of one piece each.
The New Zealand Choral Federation is pleased to announce the full list of awards from this year’s Big Sing Finale. Congratulations to all choirs involved for their superb performances.
The Big Sing Finale Awards 2011:
PLATINUM
Choralation–Westlake Girls’ & Boys’ High Schools
GOLD
Bel Canto–Burnside High School
Choralation–Westlake Girls’ & Boys’ High Schools
Craighead Chorale– Craighead Diocesan School
SILVER
Bella Voce– Marlborough Girls’ College
Bellissimo– Whangaparaoa College
Euphony–Kristin School
King’s Voices– King’s College
Macleans College Choir–Macleans College
Resolutions– Rangi Ruru Girls’ School
SOS– Rangitoto College
Teal Voices– Wellington Girls’ College
Voicemale– Westlake Boys’ High School
BRONZE
Barock– Otago Boys’ & Girls’ High School
Front Row–Aorere College
Otago Boys’ High School Choir 2011– Otago Boys’ High School
St Cecilia Singers– Diocesan School for Girls
Southern Hesperides– Otago Girls’ High School
The Sweet Sixteen– Aorere College
AUAHI KORE AWARD
The Sweet Sixteen– Aorere College
HUTT VALLEY TROPHY
Bel Canto–Burnside High School– for their performance of “The Lamb”
YOUTH AMBASSADORS AWARD
Bellissimo– Whangaparaoa College
GUEST CHOIR AWARD
Bella– Freyberg High School
Crescendos–Middleton Grange School
Stella Collegians– Nelson College for Girls/Nelson College
Petra Voce–St Peter’s School, Cambridge
