2026 is a truly momentous year for the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir (NZSSC) as they celebrate their 40th anniversary. This remarkable milestone will be honoured with a special celebratory farewell concert that is both reflective and forward-looking, and will also bring together generations of singers in one unforgettable event. This concert will feature massed items with alumni, returning to the stage to perform alongside the current choir, and will celebrate the legacy, friendships, and shared musical journey that have defined NZSSC over four decades. It will be a truly special occasion – one that honours the past, celebrates the present, and sets the stage for what comes next.

Just two days after this special concert, the NZSSC will also embark on its 17th international tour, travelling to Singapore and Hong Kong to perform at two prestigious choral festivals. This exciting journey presents a powerful opportunity to showcase their artistry, share their stories, and represent the spirit of Aotearoa New Zealand on the international stage.

Since 1986, NZSSC has been more than a musical ensemble; it has been a cornerstone of community, connection, and cultural expression across Aotearoa. Generations of singers have come together through this choir, creating performances that inspire audiences, supported local events, and strengthened the bonds that unite us. Now, as we prepare to take this legacy onto the international stage, we have the opportunity to share not only our music but the spirit of our community with the world. Your support will help carry forward a tradition that has already touched so many lives, ensuring that our voices and the story of who we are continues to resonate far beyond our shores for many more years to come.

Touring internationally is a significant undertaking for the NZSSC, made possible through the generosity of supporters like you. As the choir celebrates 40 years of nurturing and showcasing exceptional young singers, please consider making a donation to our International Tour Fund along with your concert ticket purchase.

Your contribution will help these young musicians carry their voices, their stories, and the spirit of Aotearoa New Zealand to audiences around the world and will ensure this proud legacy continues to flourish.

Donations can be made via a pop-up window in the Patronbase ticketing cart.

Bringing their “infectious joy for music-making” to Te Waipounamu, for the first time since 2023, the internationally renowned New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir present a wide range of music from classical choral to gospel, jazz, and modern, plus waiata from Aotearoa and the Pacific.

This is your only chance to see the 2025-26 NZSSC perform in the South Island!

“The repertoire we sing in this choir is so diverse and fresh. It’s not choral music as you’d expect. The choir is one of the best sounding in Aotearoa, and we have so much fun performing the pieces. Anyone who sings in choirs or just for fun as a hobby should come and hear us perform”– 2023-24 NZSSC singer

Bring the whole family for an evening of choral excellence and entertainment!

This is a full length concert with interval.

Door Sales (cash/eftpos) available.

Bringing their “infectious joy for music-making” to Te Waipounamu, for the first time since 2023, the internationally renowned New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir present a wide range of music from classical choral to gospel, jazz, and modern, plus waiata from Aotearoa and the Pacific.

This is your only chance to see the 2025-26 NZSSC perform in the South Island!

“The repertoire we sing in this choir is so diverse and fresh. It’s not choral music as you’d expect. The choir is one of the best sounding in Aotearoa, and we have so much fun performing the pieces. Anyone who sings in choirs or just for fun as a hobby should come and hear us perform”– 2023-24 NZSSC singer

Bring the whole family for an evening of choral excellence and entertainment!

Door Sales (cash/eftpos) available.

Bringing their “infectious joy for music-making” to Te Waipounamu, for the first time since 2023, the internationally renowned New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir present a wide range of music from classical choral to gospel, jazz, and modern, plus waiata from Aotearoa and the Pacific.

This is your only chance to see the 2025-26 NZSSC perform in the South Island!

“The repertoire we sing in this choir is so diverse and fresh. It’s not choral music as you’d expect. The choir is one of the best sounding in Aotearoa, and we have so much fun performing the pieces. Anyone who sings in choirs or just for fun as a hobby should come and hear us perform”– 2023-24 NZSSC singer

Bring the whole family for an evening of choral excellence and entertainment!

We’re so excited to be performing at the Māngere markets on Saturday 24th Feb, 2026!

Capping off an intensive week of rehearsals and concerts, join us in the Markets for a fun, low key and stress free morning of music and fun!

Be serenaded by our impressive choral repertoire as you select from local and handcrafted goods. What a morning!

No fees, free entry!

Hamilton!

The best teen singers in NZ are coming to your back yard, performing for one night only in the gorgeous Gallagher Academy COncert Chamber at Waikato University!

Join us for an evening of choral classics, including fresh contemporary arrangements, waiata, pese, jazz and western canon.

Bring the whole family for an incredible evening of choral magic!

Bringing their “infectious joy for music-making” to Waiheke Island, the internationally renowned New Zealand Secondary Schools Choir present a wide range of music from classical choral to gospel, jazz, modern, and music from Aotearoa and the Pacific.

This is your chance to see their first concert performance of 2026!

“The repertoire we sing in this choir is so diverse and fresh. It’s not choral music as you’d expect. The choir is one of the best sounding in Aotearoa, and we have so much fun performing the pieces. Anyone who sings in choirs or just for fun as a hobby should come and hear us perform”– 2023-24 NZSSC singer

Bring the whole family for an evening of choral excellence and entertainment!

A choral performance celebrating Mahuru Māori

We’re in for another treat this Mahuru Māori at the National Library. Last year, Te Rōpū Rangatahi Waiata o Aotearoa The New Zealand Youth Choir gave a public concert to celebrate this special month, and now the teina — The New Zealand Secondary Students’ choir (NZSSC) — will appear for a public performance as their tuakana did, performing waiata to celebrate te ātaahua hoki o te reo tūturu o Aotearoa.

Bring your hoa, your colleagues and your whānau kia whakanuia ēnei rangatahi me te reo rangatira — this concert is not to be missed!

Nau mai te katoa! Everyone is welcome!

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.

Bringing their “infectious joy for music-making” to Wellington’s Kāpiti Coast, the internationally renowned New Zealand Secondary Schools Choir present a wide range of music from classical choral to gospel, jazz, modern, and music from Aotearoa and the Pacific.

This is your chance to see their first full-length concert performance of 2025!

“The repertoire we sing in this choir is so diverse and fresh. It’s not choral music as you’d expect. The choir is one of the best sounding in Aotearoa, and we have so much fun performing the pieces. Anyone who sings in choirs or just for fun as a hobby should come and hear us perform”– 2023-24 NZSSC singer

Bring the whole family for an evening of choral excellence and entertainment!

Join NZSSC in their second course of their cycle!

Our singers will be working hard across the week to reach new heights of choral excellence, culminating in an open rehearsal and showcase!

Low key and stress free, you can see our young singers in an informal performance opportunity, and gain insight to the workings of this national choral training organisation.

The open rehearsal will begin at 5pm, followed by a showcase of music at 5:30pm 

Free entry (Koha appreciated)

Join our newest cycle of NZSSC in their first open rehearsal of the year!

Our 56 singers from across the motu will arrive in Wellington, and spend a whole week rehearsing together!

The NZ Secondary Student’s Choir is an internationally acclaimed choir, and we have no doubt that this cycle will continue to reach new heights with their singing!

Join us for a laid-back, open rehearsal, and watch our new cohort tackle some challenging repertoire, waiata, pese, you name it!

Free entry, koha appreciated

Each NZSSC cycle culminates in an international tour.

In 2024 the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir will be touring CHINA

See them off at their international tour Farewell Concert in early July, and see how much our singers have grown over the past cycle!

This concert is one night only so don’t miss out!

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL

TICKETS JUST $18 (plus booking fees)

Ends June 5th!