meet our members

I was born in Wellington and am still a big fan of the windy city, though I’ve been in Marlborough since 1968, a memorable year, with the sinking of the Wahine and the birth of a second child.

I believe I was always singing, though there was no music in the house. It wasn’t till an aunt put the pressure on my father to have me taught, that I had some piano lessons. 

My college choir was my first experience of choral singing, and then I accidently joined a night school class for choral singing and found that it was, in fact, the chorus of ‘opera technique’ at the Wellington Technical College. I learned heaps, was in lots of shows and met husband Bob there. I took some singing lessons, too, with a wonderful old lady who had in her younger days sung with Richard Tauber! A highlight was singing in the chorus with the NZ Opera Company.

Bob took a job at Seddon School and from there it was a gradual involvement with Repertory, where I met Viv Grigg who was my ‘Jill’ in ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. Then came Blenheim Operatic (now Musical Theatre) and eventually the Choral Society, now Marlborough SIngers. We had to take turns at taking part until the children were old enough not to need a baby sitter. I’ve lost count of how long I have been treasurer!

I had a rare trip away last year, and a highlight was listening to five gorgeous Russian men singing a capella in the Cathedral of Sts Peter and Paul in St Petersburg. I brought a CD home and they often sing me to sleep.

I’m sure I’d be an unhappy person if I couldn’t sing (or play golf – my second vice.)

  I have been singing in a choir of some sort since I was about six years old, which makes it 50 years so far … School choirs, church choirs, university groups, choral societies, a community choir and a cathedral choir: some of these took their work very seriously and I was stretched to keep up; others were more fun and inclusive in orientation. 

Being busy parenting teenagers and running a business, I came to Marlborough looking for a choir that could be sufficiently accommodating and flexible to meet the reality of my working life which means I am not always able to attend. I am grateful that the Marlborough Singers offer that.

I enjoy the variety of music we sing, the light opera, musical and show numbers a welcome breadth to what was for me a predominantly sacred choral English church music upbringing. I particularly like that we make great music in a community setting, collaborating with the local orchestra and brass band and welcoming singers whatever their experience, confidence and ability. I am grateful also that in Robert, our director, we have someone from whom I continue to learn. 

No matter how busy, tired or stressed I might be feeling, attending choir rehearsal is one of the few times when my mind is fully focused on something else and it is a welcome and necessary catharsis. 

I have been fortunate to sing in many British cathedrals and London’s finest concert halls, but right now the Marlborough Singers and the ASB Theatre are just right! 

  Before I was 13, I was committed to Sunday afternoon sight-reading sessions with my father, who had played woodwind in the Auckland Civic theatre in the days of silent movies. Pianists, quote, are no use unless they can sight read! I also began to accompany my flautist brother in broadcasts, competitions and concerts.

On the bus to varsity (I began a Mus.B in the 7th form) I met a young man who later became a vet – and my husband. After several years in Northland, Royce’s microbiology studies took us to live in Manchester, UK, and later to the Trudeau Medical Research Institute in Saranac Lake, NY. 

Manchester was a challenge with three Kiwis and a ‘Pom’ under four. No smokeless zones then: the children’s noses ran black and you would wake to listen to the birds … coughing! Five years later, when we arrived in upstate New York, a piano was delivered on a sledge to our apartment so I could practise and perform with a range of accomplished musicians. Sometimes, I had to dig my car out of the snow after rehearsals/concerts. 

Back in NZ I did the last of four piano/singing diplomas, added another daughter to the family then returned to secondary teaching. On retiring to Blenheim I enjoyed directing the Marlborough Choral Society for several concerts and accompanied the MGC senior choir for 18 years. The Pacific Basin choral festivals in Hawaii and others were highlights. It just so happened that one night while the girls’ choir was singing in the concert hall of the Sydney Opera House, our daughter Deirdre (a full-time mezzo-soprano with Opera Australia) was on stage in the adjacent opera theatre. We missed each other’s performances! Sadly, several years ago, Dee had a serious fall and didn’t survive major head injuries. In my heart, I still play for her when I play for you. Wonderful therapy! 

I am blessed with eight grandchildren whose careers and performances around the world help to keep life interesting.

 I have been involved with singing in a choir from the time I was 13, a Welsh tradition. The big incentive to join the school choir was the opportunity to meet with the boys from the strictly segregated school next door. I progressed from the school choir and joined different groups as I moved around with the family in the south of Britain. My travels allowed me to participate in concerts performed in churches, cathedrals and even the Albert Hall in London. 

1990 produced a big change in my life. I arrived in Blenheim on a teacher exchange and have been involved for most of the years since then with the Blenheim Choral Society . However, the exploring bug bit again. The opportunity came for another job exchange to the Northern Territories of Australia and to the remote town of Nuhlunbuy on the Gulf of Carpenteria, which had only 12km of tarmac and then red dust, and two rivers to cross, which were only navigable in the months of June and July. We explored along the top of Australia, through the Kakadu to Darwin and then across to Broome in Western Australia. Within 18 months of returning from Australia we were off on another adventure, this time to eastern China and the town of Changzhou, which is close to Suzhou and Shanghai in the Yangtze delta. An amazing three years saw us using the great train system to travel to Beijing in the north, Kashgar to the west and Kunming to the south. 

I am now retired from teaching and, along with the choir, spend my time on a number of volunteer activities, confining my most recent travels to a solo tour right around the North Island with my 4WD, a tent and a bicycle. 

I’m from the 1950’s post-war generation, born into a New Zealand that had very modest cultural expectations. However, my parents always valued music: my mother collected children’s songs and sang to us, and my father was involved in school choirs throughout his career. At high school we had a wonderful music mistress, Kathleen Osborne, who opened our eyes to a new world and had us performing Britten’s ‘Christmas Cantata’ and the like in the town hall every Christmas with the big Christchurch choirs. 

Later, I was part of the young idealistic movement that aimed to live self-sufficiently on the land. Consequently, as we didn’t have any money, this meant living in isolated places where land was cheaper. I had seven children and I hunted out all sorts of songs and sang to them all the time; and wherever we lived, I always managed to find a singing group to join, driving long distances to get the chance. This meant contact with like-minded people; we were all isolated and always used to say that the groups were what stopped us all from going mad! I made lifelong friendships and had so much fun.  

Now I live in Marlborough and am enjoying belonging to a choir again. I’ve got to know more new good friends, and I know just how very, very lucky we are to have Robert. Fingers crossed, I’m hoping to be singing in the choir for a long time to come.

Hello fellow choristers. Although I'm a born and bred ‘Jaffa’, my husband and I saw the light and came to the Mainland many years ago (1988 to be exact). I'm a registered nurse and a registered homeopath and nowadays I combine my skills and knowledge in my own homeopathic practice, seeing people in their own homes.  

We originally came south to sail and eventually did, taking two young children on a four-and-a-half year ‘cruise’ (a complete misnomer – it's damned hard and often scary work) in NZ and the south-west Pacific Islands, including Australia, where we also worked while we continued to live on the boat (a 43 foot Harley Fijian yacht). Along the way, I worked and extended my deep interest in cooking, so upon returning to Blenheim I re-trained as a chef and worked in this field, part time, as well.  

Until 10 years ago I had absolutely no musical background. Then my best friend introduced me to a community choir, which I'm still singing with (the newly re-grouped and lovely Creative Voice choir).  

In 2012, Best Friend also introduced me to Marlborough Singers, where I've been also joyously singing ever since. I don't know how I lived without singing – it's up there with breathing. I go to every song workshop/opportunity I can afford, including joining fellow song friends Jacquelene Sandford and Elaine Harmer for last year's Teapot Valley residential summer school.   

Thank you so much to our lovely director(s), accompanists and all those involved who allow for the choir to be. 

I am a born and bred Marlburian. I have always enjoyed singing, but am not that confident; I have spent more time acting on stage than singing.  So I was delighted when a friend invited me to attend the Marlborough Singers, saying that there was no audition. 

Herewith my late choral singing career has been launched. My early choral singing career was with St Christopher’s Sunday School Choir, Redwoodtown School choir (inaugural choir for the primary school music festivals) and Marlborough Girls' College choir.

I remember a musical childhood. My grandparents played the piano and violin when we visited, my mother played the piano, and I remember visiting friends’ places where we had a good sing-song around the family piano. Alas I managed only eight piano lessons before going the speech and drama way. My mother said I sang flat. She was probably right, but now with the friendly assistance of fellow choir members and YouTube I reckon I am on the improve. I have ‘quantity rather than quality’, but am working on it. It is a rewarding challenge.  

Research shows that singing in a choir exercises the brain, improves breathing, boosts immune function, and boosts our sense of happiness and wellbeing by making us feel more positive. What more can you ask for? Sing on.