About the Wellington Community Choir
Philosophy
As members of the Wellington Community Choir we believe that singing is our birthright.
For thousands of years all over the world, people have sung - to express joy, celebration and grief, to accompany work and devotion, to aid healing - without worrying about having a "good" voice or "getting it right". Song has always been a part of life, and a way of binding the community together. We aim to cultivate the understanding that vocalising and singing joyfully together is natural and open to all, regardless of previous musical ability or experience.
Music making can be an enormously powerful experience, and this can be witnessed through the many wonderful musical traditions around the world. By sharing the music of different cultures at rehearsals and in performance, we celebrate diversity and promote singing and music making as a liberating and creative experience.
Our Rehearsals
Rehearsals are held every Wednesday night during school term time.
Doors open at 6.45, warm-up exercises start at 7pm, and we finish at 9pm, with a break in the middle.
Our Venue
Rehearsals are held in the hall at the Wesley Church Complex, 75 Taranaki St.
Who we are
We are proud to be a community choir that welcomes all people at any stage throughout the year.
There is no requirement to 'read' music, we do not hold auditions and neither are there any formal joining procedures (if you can walk through the door you are in the choir).
We often have at least 150 people singing together on Wednesday evenings.
We do not sing competitively, but for the joy of singing. We give performances at various community venues and events in Wellington and we also put on evening concerts.
We are a friendly and supportive community and have a lot of fun.
Our Music
We sing music from, or inspired by, different choral traditions from the world's cultures, including New Zealand Aotearoa.
The choir is grouped into 4 main sections; soprano (high female), alto (mid female), tenor (low female, high male) and bass (low male). Please feel free to experiment and find for yourself which group best suits your voice. You are allowed to move!
Our Musical Director
Our Musical Director is Julian Raphael
Julian is a leading exponent and teacher of world music and a passionate advocate of music making for all. As well as directing the Wellington Community Choir and the Children's choir he regularly leads Global Vocal, African drumming and drum-circle workshops in schools and colleges. Julian is director of Community Music Junction, an organisation committed to the promotion of intercultural participatory music.
Our Finances
Like all choirs and similar groups, we have operating overheads that need to be paid for. The fees that we charge covers the cost of the venue hire, director fees for practises and performances throughout the term, and other expenses. We also support the Wellington Community Children's Choir that runs on Thursday afternoons in Newtown.
Fees can be paid in one of two ways as follows:
If you come on an infrequent basis then you can pay casually each week that you attend. The rate is $5 (waged) or $4 (unwaged).
If you are a regular participant, you can get a discount by paying $40 (Waged) or $30 (unwaged) for the entire term. Please pay this within the first three weeks of the term. NB there is no refund for missed sessions. We encourage this method of payment as it demonstrates commitment to the choir and reduces the administration duties.
Please see our Treasurer Liz King, or Deputy Treasurer Rose O'Connor to settle your account.
Parking
Whilst we are at practice on Wednesday nights we are privileged to have permission to park our cars within the rear carpark adjacent to the church hall. The front carpark adjacent to Taranaki Street, and the small car parking area between the hall and the church are reserved for other users of the church’s facilities. Do not park there.
Please allow sufficient time to park elsewhere if the rear car park is full by the time you arrive.
Our Resources
Songs are taught by ear with words projected onto a screen.
Song words will appear on the website and can be downloaded and printed for personal use.
Sheet music may be provided to choir members on request.
Communications
All Choir Members have a name badge, which they are encouraged to wear.
Your name badge can be picked up from the table before practice commences (or at the break if you arrive late).
Please return your name badge after practice to the box located by the entry door.
We maintain a secure email address database that is used to send out choir notices, or to advise of kindred choral activities that are likely to be of interest to our choir's membership. We appreciate and respect choir members' willingness to provide us with their email addresses and undertake to use 'Blind Copy' addressing, (to prevent your email address from being seen by other recipients), and to not send out bulk emails for any other purpose.
Please advise any email address updates to .
Organisation
We don't have a formal organising committee as such, however there are a small number of Choir Members who comprise the 'Core Group' who volunteer to manage the administration and contribute to the general fellowship and spirit found in this choir.
Members of the Core Group are identified by pink name badges. Please contact them if you have any queries or suggestions.
From time to time we may make requests for members of the choir to volunteer to undertake a specific task. You are encouraged to do what you can for your community.