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Kia Ora

Welcome to the Bay of Islands Singers’ website. We are a mixed-voice community choir of around 60 singers. Though based at the Turner Centre in Kerikeri, rehearsing on Mondays from 6.30 to 9.00pm, we attract members from as far aﬁeld as the Hokianga, Doubtless Bay and Opua. The choir embraces singers of all ages, stages and walks of life. What unites us is our love of singing and the desire to bring the best of the classical and contemporary choral repertoire to audiences in Kerikeri and throughout the Far North. New members are always welcome. If you are interested in joining the choir please Contact Us.

Most of our performances are accompanied by musical ensembles and often feature talented young and established soloists. Three concerts in the year are costly to put on, and we are grateful to our various financial Supporters to allow us these opportunities to perform. The choir has built up a library of music over the years and this is available for hire to other choral groups.

Our upcoming concerts section includes full details of our next performance and information about our past concerts, which illustrates the broad range of music we perform. You will also find photos of past performances.

Rehearsal Accompanist – Bay of Islands Singers, Kerikeri

The Bay of Islands Singers are seeking an experienced rehearsal accompanist for their weekly Monday rehearsals.

The accompanist would be required to commit to Monday evening rehearsals (6.30pm to 9.00pm) and four Saturday daytime workshops.

Monday rehearsals are held at the Turner Centre Events Centre, Kerikeri.

The choir year runs from the beginning of February to early December with a three week mid-term break.

You will work closely with our Musical Director, John Jackets.

There is a rehearsal fee for each Monday and workshop plus a travel allowance if required.

Please contact the Choir President Janet Huddleston or Musical Director John Jackets for further information

2025 Concert Schedule

Next Concert

May 25^th 2.30pm Turner Centre Auditorium

GLORIA !

Here’s an opportunity to hear two popular choral works, a baroque masterpiece by Vivaldi and a mass from the romantic era by Franz Schubert.

No concert would be complete without some Bach so we have the Sinfonia from his Cantata BWV29 with its stunning organ part and solo arias from his Magnificat.

Combining Samuel Barber’s much-loved Adagio for Strings with his choral arrangement, Agnus Dei makes for a wonderfully rich piece of music

and the concert ends with Mozart’s joyous Regina coeli in celebration of the Virgin Mary.

Vivaldi -: Gloria

Bach Interlude -: From Cantata BWV 29 and his Magnificat

Schubert -: Mass in G

Barber -: Agnus Dei / Adagio

Mozart -: Regina coeli

Soloists – Tania Priebs; Claudia Evans; Scott Bezett; Jarvis Dams

Guest orchestra – Leader Emily Allen with Michael Bell Organ

Conductor – John Jackets

For tickets, please Click Here

Concert Reviews

2023 Autumn Concert

Bay of Islands Singers – “A Cracker of a Concert” 26 November 2023

Including the first performance of a new work by Michael Bell – Come, Christmas Child

The Bay of Islands Singers final concert of the year lived up to its title with an eclectic variety of music from the glories of Gabrieli to the flair of My Fair Lady.There were firm favourites, O Holy Night and Bach’s Cantata Wachet auf and some less familiar pieces including Sogno di Volare by Christopher Tin from the video game Civilization VI which was a particular favourite.

There was excitement with the first performance of Come, Christmas Child : A New Zealand Mass composed by Auckland organist and musician Michael Bell. Michael is a regular performer with BOI Singers and the choir relished the opportunity to learn and sing this new work. Around 30 minutes long, it is a setting of Christian texts by NZ authors including Joy Cowley and Shirley Murray and was completed in 2021.

Conductor John Jackets writes “performing a newly composed work is something special. It presents all kinds of challenges but its rewards can be immense. This was certainly the case with Michael’s new piece. Working on the score first with the choir and then the orchestra and then its actual performance I realised that this really is a very fine piece which deserves to become a part of the NZ choral repertoire. I encourage other choirs to consider performing it.”

The concert soloists Henrietta Reid, Michael Burch and Jarvis Dams were in fine voice and the 24 piece orchestra had fun with the ever popular Sleigh Ride and Radetsky March – with audience participation!

The concert was a musical success which the large audience in the Turner Centre auditorium acknowledged enthusiastically.

2021 Autumn Concert – Carmina Burana

18 APRIL 2021 – Concert review by John Russell

John Jackets has done it again! Time after time he demands more and more from the Bay of Island Singers of which he is their Musical Director. As always, the choir worked hard to achieve what was possibly its most stirring and best performance ever. The Singers were supported brilliantly by musicians from all over the North Island along with the extraordinarily talented baritone, Malcolm Leitch, from Christchurch.

Their exciting programme ranged from the ‘pianissimo’ to the ‘fortissimo’ beginning with the beautiful and haunting folksong, ‘Dirait-on’ by the American composer, Morten Lauridsen This was followed by ‘The Rose’, by Norwegian-born Ola Gjeilo with two pianos, played by Rosemary Barnes and Michael Bell, accompanying the choir in this sweet and gentle melody conjuring up thoughts of a warm wave washing over the listener. Next up, the ‘Seal Lullaby’ by American composer Eric Whitacre to a poem by Rudyard Kipling was movingly rendered by the choir.

The first half was rounded off beautifully with a performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ ‘Five Mystical Songs’ for Choir and Baritone solo accompanied by organist Michael Bell.

After the interval, the excited audience returned to a superb rendition of Carl Orff’s ever-popular Carmina Burana, with text, occasionally profane, in medieval Latin and German. Beginning and ending with the almost brutish ‘O Fortuna’, this truly stirring cantata of lusty, wild, even boorish ostinati saw the Bay of Islands Singers, along with soloist Malcolm Leitch accompanied by an army of percussionists and two grand pianos, thrill and inspire the audience to a noisy and prolonged standing ovation.

Spring Concert: Fauré, Finzi and Festive Favourites

Sunday 29 November, 2020

Despite Covid 19 delaying the Bay of Island Singers first concert of the year, the choir out-performed its past matchless presentations proffering yet another eagerly anticipated performance to a packed auditorium in the Turner Centre Kerikeri. In the words of John Jackets, their Musical Director, this concert was ‘a celebration of the joy of making music together’

The three fine soloists, Elizabeth Mandeno, soprano, Jarvis Dams, baritone, and Michael Burch, tenor, added their professional talents to the choir’s exquisiteness thereby ensuring that the magnificence of the human voice and spirit enthralled us all throughout the concert. The choir and soloists were further embellished by a magnificent 23-piece orchestra. The entire ensemble was directed by Kerikeri’s own John Jackets QSM who also kept the audience informed and amused with anecdotes about the programme.

The concert opened with Fauré’s ‘Requiem’. Fauré himself, declared that ‘art and music existed to elevate mankind as far as possible above everyday existence’ and to this aim, the choir and audience truly did him proud.

The second half began with Haydn’s Te Deum one of his most popular choral works, and followed by a rare performance of Gerald Finzi’s ‘In Terra Pax-Christmas Scene’, The audience was swiftly enamoured by the ensemble’s superb performance of this relatively obscure work which will undoubtedly ensure that the music of Finzi will be remembered in Kerikeri for a long time to come.

A short orchestral masterpiece, ‘Sleigh Ride’ by Leroy Anderson, had miracles being worked by the percussionists and filled the audience with nostalgia and mirth.

Gustav Holst wrote ‘Christmas Day: Choral Fantasia on Old Carols’ in 1910 for his students at Morley College. The fantasia includes beautifully written settings of a variety of classic Christmas Carols enthusiastically and memorably performed by the choir and orchestra.

French composer Adolphe Adam’s ever popular ‘O Holy Night’ marking the birth of Jesus as humanity’s redeemer was lovingly rendered by the choir, soloists and orchestra and delighted the audience.

Finally, what choral performance would be complete without the rousing anthem ‘Zadok the Priest’ by Handel. The audience was enraptured by the choir’s presentation of this work and awarded two curtain recalls demonstrating its appreciation and gratitude for the incomparable excellence of conductor John Jackets, the Bay of Islands Singers, soloists and orchestra.

From a concert review by John Russell