Established in 1984, the Auckland Youth Choir is Auckland's finest mixed-voice youth choir and is widely respected both nationwide and internationally. Membership is by audition, and is open to young men and women 17 to 26 years of age. Several members are also present or past members of some of Auckland's most successful school choirs, proving that it is entirely possible to represent school and city equally well. Some members of the Choir are also present or past singers in other civic choirs and in the National Youth Choir.
The Choir is proud of the strong sense of fun and social unity that its singers bring to their art. It aims to reach the highest possible standards of choral excellence and musical integrity, performs a wide range of the choral repertoire, and seeks to reflect in its membership the wide ethnic and cultural diversity that makes the city of Auckland special.
It performs regularly in and around Auckland, sometimes in association with other choirs/orchestras, undertakes tours, broadcasts for TVNZ, Concert FM, Radio New Zealand and the Australian Broadcasting Company, and has made several recordings as well as featuring on a CD of New Zealand choral music.
The choir is involved in community events such as ANZAC Day services at the Auckland War Memorial Museum and each year combines with the Auckland Boys’ Choir, the Auckland Girls’ Choir and Aotea Youth Symphony Orchestra to sing in the “Celebration of Youth at Christmas” concert at the Holy Trinity Cathedral.
* Sydney 1993, where it won the NSW Open Choral Championship;
* Melbourne 1994, where it won the Open Competition of the Melbourne International Choral Festival;
* Wellington 1995, at the inaugural New Zealand Festival of Youth Choirs;
* Wellington 1998, performance of "Carmina Burana" with the National Youth Choir and National Youth Orchestra;
* Auckland 1999, performed with acclaim in shared recitals with the Toronto Children's Chorus and the National Youth Choir of Australia;
* Auckland 2001, performed with the highly acclaimed Jugendchor Gropiuslerchen aus Berlin (Berlin Youth Choir) at St Matthew's-in-the-City to an enthusiastic audience;
* Auckland 2002, performed at the launch of the Auckland Regional Council's new trains; performed at the Masonic Lodge of the Liberal Arts concert;
* Auckland 2003, performed as backing choir for Disney Productions NZ launch of travel packages to "Lion King" in Sydney; performed in an episode of "Mercy Peak"; performed at a UNESCO Conference for the 50th Anniversary of ASPnet;
* Auckland (St Patrick's Cathedral), Dargaville, Warkworth, Mangawhai, March 2004, performed the magnificent Vivaldi Gloria with the Auckland Youth Symphony
* Auckland 2004, with Texas Girls Choir at St Matthews-in-the-City
* Auckland 2004, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle on Waiheke and at St Luke's
* Auckland 2005, 21st Birthday celebration at Epsom Girls' Grammar, where we had our first concert in 1984
* Auckland 2006, two world premiers of David Hamilton pieces, and the annual "Youth Celebrates Christmas" concert shifts to Holy Trinity Cathedral and includes the Aotea Youth Symphony for the first time
* Wellington 2006, trip to Wellington to perform Faure’s “Requiem” with the Wellington Youth Choir
* Auckland 2007, sang in the NZSO’s 60th Anniversary gala performance of Mahler’s Symphony No.2 “The Resurrection”; combined with Wellington Youth Choir in Auckland to sing Franz Schubert’s “Mass in C Major”
* Auckland 2008, opening of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum; at the Silver Scrolls Awards Ceremony; presented two highly successful programmes
The Choir has received much praise from some of
the most respected choral and media institutions throughout the world:
"It is extremely rare to encounter a choir with the ability to inspire, to motivate, to move, to enchant its audience in the way this choir does..."
- Anne Williams, Director of Eltham East Choir, Melbourne, Australia
"The ensemble is clearly outstanding in its musicianship and discipline."
- Andre de Quadros, Advisor, International Federation for Choral Music
"The Choir's performances moved me deeply... the Auckland Youth Choir is among the finest I have ever heard."
- Jean Ashworth Bartle, Music Director, Toronto Children's Chorus
"Auckland [Youth Choir] made a good sound, maintained accurate intonation, and sang with animation and confidence... Auckland had the edge in precision... ending its performance to enthusiastic acclaim."
- Rosemary Collier, Wellington Evening Post
The Auckland Youth Choir is an Incorporated Society administered by a committee and is an affiliated member of the New Zealand Choral Federation (NZCF). A set of the Society's rules can be downloaded here in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format. The Choir is available to perform at commercial or community events. To enquire about availability contact the Administrator.