The Big Sing - Wellington Regionals

Bringing together Wellington's secondary school choirs in one of the region's preeminent music venues: that is the simple premise behind The Big Sing - Wellington Regionals, but it is one that has been wowing audiences for the last three decades. This year’s event looks set to continue that amazing legacy with more than 1500 performers signed up across 42 choirs.

The Big Sing is held across New Zealand but has achieved a special status in Wellington, with strong community support and a festival-like atmosphere amongst the entrants. Each choir will present three pieces in a 10-minute bracket during daytime sessions, including an art song and one with New Zealand or Pasifika origins. From those sets, they will select one item to perform as part of the evening's blockbuster Gala concert. These categories are purposefully left broad enough for each school to bring their own style to what they present. This proved to be the case in 2019 with amazingly diverse repertoire presented from choral interpretations of modern musicals, through to motets that have been sung for centuries.

At the conclusion of each day’s proceedings, this year's Adjudicator (renowned choral conductor and musician Rachael Griffiths-Hughes) will have the task of awarding category prizes in an increasingly deep pool of talent. This will include awards for overall winners of each category, and special categories recognising the best overall student accompaniment, student-directed choir, and performance of a student composition.

The event will also be used to find the 24 finalists for the national The Big Sing Finale later this year. In 2019 four Wellington choirs were selected: Blue Notes from Tawa College, Queen Margaret College Chorale, Teal Voices from Wellington Girls' College, and Wellington College Chorale. Each went on to secure Bronze, Silver or Gold awards in the Finale. The 2020 event was put on ice due to the onset of Covid-19.

The wider public are encouraged to come along and support these talented choristers as they start what will hopefully be lifelong passions. The day sessions' tickets will be available on the door. The evening gala concerts' tickets can be purchased from Ticketmaster.