The mission and goals of the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir include:

• the nurture and development of talent;
• experiences which will result in a life-long love of music;
• an opportunity to excel both as a group and individually in musical achievements beyond those available through their schools;
• to develop a sense of self-confidence and poise through example, training and performance and a desire for excellence in choral singing;
• to enhance each choir member’s appreciation of our world’s rich musical and cultural heritage;
• to provide members with an opportunity to be of service to their community.

The Choir

The choir has been in existence since 1986, set up to provide a training ground for talented young secondary school singers. The support offered to members through the high calibre music team allows the choir to reach a level of excellence rarely achieved by school students in any field. 

Every two years, approximately 54 of New Zealand’s most promising young singers are selected via nationwide auditions to join the choir for a two year period. During their two year membership, the students gather each school holidays for rehearsals and public performances, at the end of which, funding permitting, the choir attends an international choir competition. In the recent past, the NZSSC has achieved many international awards:

• In 2010 at the International Choral Kathaumixw, Canada, the choir was awarded the People's Choice Award, first place in Adult Mixed Choir and second place in both Youth Choir and Folk and Cultural Traditions categories;
  
• In 2006 at the Hong Kong International Youth & Children’s Festival the choir gained top placing and title The World’s Choir against 20 international choirs;
• In 2006 at the World Choral Olympics in China, the choir won the title Champion Mixed Voice Youth Choir. Of the 148 choirs from 43 countries which competed, the NZSSC was one of only 8 gaining Championship Awards.
• In 2004 at the International Choral Kathaumixw, Canada, the choir gained 1st place Youth Choir, 1st place Adult Mixed Choir and 1st place Folk & Cultural Traditions, competing with 28 choirs from 14 different countries; the choir won more first place awards in that one year than any other choir in the history of the Kathaumixw.

It is the goal of the NZSSC’s Board of Trustees that the choir will be accessible to students of all ethnicities who have the necessary vocal and musical skills, and that no student will be precluded from membership for personal or family financial reasons.

History of the choir

The New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir began as a choral course for secondary students in the 1960's, with its first performance in 1967, with the Wesley Chapel Choir, in Wellington, under the musical direction of Malcolm Rickard.

In 1986 Dr Guy Jansen formed the first New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir as a training ground for the (then) New Zealand National Youth Choir. Since 1988 a new choir has been nationally auditioned every second year, and every choir has acquitted itself with distinction on national and international stages.The choir was formally established as a Charitable Trust in 1997.

In 1988 Roger Stevenson was appointed Musical Director, remaining with the choir until 2000. During this time he led tours on three occasions to Hawaii from which the choir returned with Gold Awards, twice to Australia, to Singapore in 1994 where NZSSC performed with the Singapore Youth Choir and for his final tour, in 2000, all the way across Canada (from Ottawa to Edmonton) at the invitation of the Canadian Government as part of the Millennium Celebrations.

Elise Bradley was appointed as Musical Director for the 2001-2002 choir and remained with the choir until 2007, when she took up the role of Artistic Director of the Toronto Children’s Chorus. In 2002, the choir took part in the Australian National Choral Association conference in Brisbane.

In 2004, the choir toured to the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene, Oregon, USA and then to the International Choral Kathaumixw in Powell River, British Columbia, Canada. In Canada the choir took three first place awards (Mixed Voice Adult Choir, Youth Choir and Folk & Cultural Traditions). In this, the 11th biennial Kathaumixw, NZSSC earned more awards than any other choir in any year of competition over the history of the competition, a record which still stands.

The 2005-2006 choir competed in the Hong Kong International Youth & Children’s Festival where it took the top award and won the title “The World’s Choir”. Following this the choir traveled to Xiamen, China, where it competed in the World Choir Games, gaining a Gold Award (Champion Mixed Voice Youth Choir) and a Silver Award (Folk and Ethnic Music). Significantly, 148 choirs performed during the first week of these ‘olympics’ and of these only 8 received championship awards.

During the inter-regnum of 2007-2008, Robert Wiremu took over the role of Artistic Director, leading the choir on its tour to Brazil and Argentina.  The choir participated in the Melodia 08! Music Festival and sang in Rio de Janeiro, Petropolis, Buenos Aires and La Plata.

Late in 2008, Andrew Withington was appointed Musical Director of the choir. The 2009-2010 choir toured to Canada, again achieving great success at the International Choral Kathaumixw. The choir won the Adult Mixed Voice competition and came second in both Youth Choir and Folk And Cultural Traditions competitions. A new award was created especially for the NZSSC, the People’s Choice Award, as a result of the way thousands of people at the Kathaumixw responded to their music, as evidenced by standing ovations at every concert, including some audiences of over 2000 people.