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Voices New Zealand was formed in 1998 under Dr Karen Grylls as a nationally selected chamber choir of the highest calibre. Voices New Zealand, which includes some former members of the New Zealand Youth Choir, provides a chamber choir, flexible in size, and capable of performing a wide repertoire.

The choir made its début at the 1998 New Zealand Festival in a recital with the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra and Keith Lewis, and then later in the year won gold and silver awards at the Tolosa International Choral Competition in the Basque region of Spain. In March 1999, they performed the Fauré Requiem and Poulenc’s Gloria with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. In 2000 they appeared at the New Zealand Festival in a solo recital and with the NZSO in Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice. Their participation in the International Chamber Music Festival led to collaboration with the prestigious Aradia Ensemble from Canada, resulting in the completion of a world première recording of the Vanhal Masses for Naxos. The recording was released to great critical acclaim in 2001. The choir was resident at the International Summer School for Conductors in Auckland in 2001, and then represented New Zealand at the first Asia South Pacific Symposium on Choral Music in Singapore, where they undertook workshops, masterclasses and gave the closing concert.

In March 2002 they undertook a sell-out solo recital at the New Zealand Festival, and appeared alongside the New Zealand Youth Choir, soloists and the NZSO in the closing concert of the Festival. Later that year TOWER Voices appeared alongside the Youth Choir and the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir – the first time that the three national choirs have sung together. The occasion was Mahler’s 2nd Symphony with the Auckland Philharmonia. In December 2002 TOWER Voices New Zealand completed a very successful tour to four South Island centres, presenting a programme of Christmas music.

In January 2003 the choir recorded Hummel’s Missa Solemnis in C and Te Deum for Naxos. See the reviews section for the outstanding critical reception of this recording. In October 2003 the choir presented highly-acclaimed concerts in Auckland, Hamilton and Napier, and in February 2004 recorded a CD of their Christmas repertoire which was released in November 2004 to critical acclaim.

In October 2004 the choir participated in the Otago Festival of the Arts, and concluded the year with recording a CD which will featured New Zealand repertoire and composers - including two pieces commissioned especially for the choir with the assistance of Creative New Zealand. This CD recently won Best Classical Album at the 2006 NZ Music Awards. CD Order Form

In May 2005 the choir represented New Zealand at the 9th International Chamber Choir Competition in Marktoberdorf, Germany.

Voices New Zealand were invited to perform at the prestigious Icon Awards in July 2005 as an acknowledgement of the work of Peter Godfrey, who received an Icon Award, and was a former conductor of the New Zealand National Youth Choir.

In addition to performing at the New Zealand International Arts Festival in March 2006, the choir also participated in the NZSO Mozart Festival and performed in Christchurch with Christchurch City Choir.

In March 2007 Voices New Zealand held a workshop with students at Aorere College in Auckland. Voices worked with the school's choirs and set up a mentoring programme for promising vocal students. This was a pilot project and proved to be very successful. In August 2007 the choir performed at the Taranaki Arts Festival and in October the choir performed a concert at the Nelson Arts Festival.

In 2008 Voices New Zealand performed a programme entitled 'The Poet' at both the NZ International Arts Festival and the Erupt Taupo Arts Festival. This concert featured both Voices NZ and the NZ String Quartet presenting the first NZ performances of a newly commissioned piece called "The Poet', composed by Jenny McLeod and based on poems by Janet Frame.

In 2009 Voices NZ Chamber Choir will tour to Kapiti, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Christchurch, Rotorua and Tauranga and perform works by NZ and international composers.