The New Zealand Choral Federation (NZCF) presents Choral Connections, a concert featuring two of New Zealand’s finest youth choirs – the acclaimed New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir, directed by Sue Densem, and the Aotearoa Academy Choir, directed by Rowan Johnston and Elise Bradley.
Set in the soaring acoustics of Wellington’s Cathedral of St Paul, this public concert forms the centrepiece of NZCF’s Choral Connect convention – a bi-annual professional development conference that brings together choral directors from around the country.
At the end of the concert, conference delegates with join with the two youth choirs to form a massed choir of over 150 voices to sing under the direction of international choral clinician Dr Pearl Shankuan.
New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir
Aotearoa’s national choir for secondary school students, NZSSC gathers during school holidays to rehearse and perform across the motu. Each two-year cycle culminates in an international tour: in July 2024, the choir travelled to China, where they took part in the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre Chorus Exchange, the Chorus and Conducting Art Conference in Hangzhou, and the China International Chorus Festival in Beijing.
NZSSC is directed by Sue Densem, alongside Assistant Conductor and Accompanist Brent Stewart and Assistant Conductor and Vocal Consultant Ben Madden.
Aotearoa New Zealand Academy Choir
The Academy Choir was established as a pipeline for talented singers from across Aotearoa who are aspiring to join NZSSC or the NZ Youth Choir. In 2024, the Academy Choir received a Gold Diploma at the World Choir Games in Auckland.
The Aotearoa Academy Choir is co-directed by Elise Bradley and Rowan Johnston.
Dr Pearl Shangkuan is a highly sought-after conductor, lecturer and clinician who has led performances and workshops on six continents. She is the National President-elect of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the chorus director of the Grand Rapids Symphony and Professor Emerita of Music at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She has conducted several times at Carnegie Hall and other major concert halls in the US. Her guest conducting engagements regularly take her to Europe, Asia, and across North America.
