[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the choir]   I love my job, I really do. I just need soMe space and a bunch of people and we will make beautiful music together.   Photo by Heather Jennings &...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the choir]   Most of the people who coMe to my singing workshops are in their 50s and pretty much all of them have a story to tell about the tiMe soMeone told the...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the choir]   Have you noticed how the living dead always have husky laboured breathing?   Photo by theogeo   I’m beginning to worry that zombies ...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the choir]   A friend of mine asked the other day: “How do you find songs? And how do you do vocal arrangeMents of them?”   Photo by Jorge Fr...

World première performance given by Auckland Symphony Orchestra, The Graduate choir New Zealand and Holy Trinity Cathedral choir directed by Peter Thomas. Organist: Philip Smith. Holy Trinity Cathedral, Auckland, 10 March 2018. Composer's website: https:/...  moreWorld première performance given by Auckland Symphony Orchestra, The Graduate choir New Zealand and Holy Trinity Cathedral choir directed by Peter Thomas. Organist: Philip Smith. Holy Trinity Cathedral, Auckland, 10 March 2018. Composer's website: https://www.chrisartley.com  

Regarded as one of the finest masterpieces of all Western Music, this passion setting brings to music the text of Matthew 26 and 27 concerning the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. The evangelist tells the story, arias convey the inner feelings of us h...  moreRegarded as one of the finest masterpieces of all Western Music, this passion setting brings to music the text of Matthew 26 and 27 concerning the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. The evangelist tells the story, arias convey the inner feelings of us humans as we gaze upon the Golgotha scene and choruses and chorales reflect on our own place in the drama. Bach's incredible work of art stands alone in its complete telling of the crucifixion story in a manner which stirs and moves the soul of the perforMer and listener. This is a mountaintop experience not to be missed.  less

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the choir]   Most choirs charge their singers to be a Member (‘subs’). The amount can vary a lot from choir to choir.     What’s ...

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the choir]   We’ve all seen it: a timid, slouched, nervous person approaches the microphone. We expect disaster. They open their mouth and the most amazing, beauti...

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the choir]   I was running a one-day workshop a while back and it seeMed to Me that the whole thing wasn’t gelling. People seeMed uninspired, energy was low, and i...

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the choir]   A few years ago I spent two weeks travelling through the Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. I was really looking forward to hearing plenty of tr...