European Tour 2004

End of Tour - Photos from Europe

The full tour choir in Red Square, Moscow

Postjana Caves, Slovenia

Day 21 - Elated!

We have now been in Nova Gorizia, Slovenia, (half an hour from Gorizia, Italy) since last Monday 5th July. It is averaging 31 degrees Celsius during the day and 25 at night. We performed our three competition sections and one non-competitive section over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday evening we received our results of the first three, and to our delight we won 2 of the 3 sections! In the fourth section we came 4th of the choirs. Also a huge success for Anna Griffiths in receiving the prize for best new and unpublished work!! We were elated, which helped our performance of our non-competitive Maori repertoire on Thursday morning - it was even stronger and tighter, if that was really possible, and we bowled the audience over: we had them applauding during our performance instead of waiting until the conclusion! That evening we received the jury's and the audience prize for best performance in this section. Also Karen received the prize for the best conductor. We were all as high as kites with these successes, and brought the house down nearly literally with our final performance of I Te Timatanga.

Yesterday we had a fantastic day riding in gondolas and maxing out our credit cards on papier mache masks and murano glass in Venice. Tomorrow we travel on to St Petersburg, Russia.

- Jess Wells

Day 20 - TOWER New Zealand Youth Choir wins in Gorizia!

TOWER New Zealand Youth Choir have had huge success and achievement at the prestigious 43rd International Choral Competition in Gorizia, Italy (part of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing).

They gained the highest marks in the following competitive categories:

• Category 1
• Category II - 20th Century (1st equal with Cantemus, from Minsk, Belorussia)
• Category V - Traditional Maori repertoire
• Jury Prize
• Audience Prize
• Best Conductor at Competition
• Best Programme of highest artistic interest
• Best Performance of Unpublished Work (Anna Griffiths, Youth Choir member, "Okarito")

Karen and the choir are thrilled with their achievement, and now go on to prepare for their three concerts in Russia next week: two in St Petersburg and one in Moscow, before returning to New Zealand on Tuesday July 20th.

Day 16 - Ljubljana to Hungary

Since the last update we have arrived in Ljubljana and blown the locals away with our concert. The place was packed; people were even standing in the aisles! Then a trip to the beautiful Postoyna caves, where we sang undergruond in a natural cathedral. This was followed with a drive-by of Predjama Castle, built into a cliff which was originally owned by a robber Baron. Sopron (Hungary) was next, with day trips to Esterhazy Castle in Austria and Vienna. The festival in Hungary was interesting and again we had a rave reception from the audiences. We are all having a ball and improving with each performance.

- Jess Wells

Day 10 - Mail from Slovenia and Hungary

"Dear Choir!
Thank you that I could hear your fantastic and joyful production at Sopron. I'm very happy got acquainted with you. I hope to see you again.
With love:
Nagy Tímea from Sopron
(I'm sorry for my English....)"

"I was on your concert in Ljubljana yesterday and I was deeply impressed. Congratulation and thank you for wonderfull evening! One song was specially touched my heart. I think that title is Ave Maria (in New Zealand language). Singers were spread to whole church. My eyes were full of tears. Amazing song. I can not express this felling. It was heaven.

I wish you much success in your Europe tour. Sincerely,Joze Straziscar"

Day 2 - From Singapore to Slovenia

After touching down in 32 degree heat in Singapore, most of the choir hit the town...but not too much, before bed. The following day we explored Singapore in groups and managed somehow not to melt before our rehearsal and concert that evening. The audience loved us especially, with our opening number of Te Iwi E. Fighting off the usual fatigue of travel and combatting the excitement of where we were, the choir continued with a good performance, boding well for upping the ante each concert! Now in balmy Maribor, Slovenia, we are staying in a school hostel next the the River Drava. The countryside consists of rolling hills that lazily watch the city of buildings both quaint and grand. Tomorrow night we perform here and on Sunday travel by bus to Ljubljana

- Jess Wells.

Day 1 - Farewell Concert and Airport Departure

The choir arrived in Auckland on Friday June 18th to prepare for their Farewell Concert. A full day of rehearsal at Diocesan Junior Hall refreshed some people's memories about the pieces, and the afternoon was dedicated to polishing up the Maori waiata to performance level.

The Farewell Concert on Sunday was a great success, with a large audience pouring in to Baradene College to hear the repertoire Karen Grylls had chosen to take to Europe. The audience was enthusiastic and responsive, and leaped to their feet at the end of I Te Timatanga, the concert closer, to applaud and wish the choir well on their travels.

Monday morning at the airport was greeted with tears and hugs.

The choir sang Te Iwi E and Wairua Tapu as a goodbye to their supporters, family and friends.