Cantare, our premier treble choir of 42 singers, have just returned from an international tour to Malaysia and Indonesia. The staff team included Fiona Wilson (Musical Director of Cantare), Rachel Carson (Tour manager), James Harrison (vocal consultant) and Yun-Pai Hsu (pianist).
Departing Auckland during the second week of the July school holidays, Cantare landed in Kuala Lumpur. On their first day of sightseeing, they visited the King’s Palace, National Mosque, and Independence Spare and enjoyed the views from the top of the Kuala Lumpur Tower. In the evening, the choir enjoyed a choral clinic with Chi Hoe Mak, one of the conductors at the Young Choral Academy. Chi Hoe taught them two Malaysian folk songs and then worked on some of their competition music.
Cantare toured around Royal Selangor the next day, where pewter objects are crafted and sold. The choir loved participating in the ‘School of Hard Knocks’, where they crafted ice cream bowls from a flat square of pewter.
The choir then visited the Batu Caves, climbing 272 steps up to the ancient Hindu temples at the top of the cliff. They spent the afternoon at the Young Choral Academy, joined by three choirs – Gaudeamus, VOKA and the Intermediate Choir for a cultural exchange workshop. Each choir performed a piece, and then Mrs Wilson taught the Malaysian choirs Hine e Hine and Chi Hoe taught Cantare a third Malaysian piece. Later that evening, Cantare shared a concert with the Intermediate Choir in a fantastic venue called the Glass Space. The two cultural songs from the workshop finished off a tremendous concert.
We spent our last sightseeing day in Kuala Lumpur shopping at the Sunway Mall next to our hotel. In the afternoon, everyone cooled off at the Sunway Lagoon Water Park – a welcome relief to the 38-degree heat and humidity!
The next day, Cantare travelled to Denpasar, Bali, where the Bali International Choir Festival was to be held. The Festival’s first day began with a soundcheck in the vast auditorium, followed by a clinic with one of the adjudicators, TJ Harper. TJ is an Associate Professor at Loyola Marymount University in California. He was full of energy, enthusiasm and encouragement as he worked with Cantare on their competition pieces. The singers appreciated his advice and enjoyed his sense of humour. The day finished with the official festival opening. This included a colourful Parade of Nations. Each choir paraded two representatives in cultural dress, and choristers Vydella Tamihana and Hannah Kay looked stunning wearing our WGHS Kapa Haka uniform.
The following day, Cantare visited the Bajra Sandhi Monument and enjoyed some time in the mall before rehearsal at the hotel. In the evening, Cantare performed in a Friendship concert at another fantastic venue, which concluded with a dance party on stage with all the singers!
Cantare competed in the Open division – Teenage Choir and Sacred Music on the first competition day. After competing, we had a cultural exchange with the Smepsa choir – another teenage choir from Indonesia. This was a wonderful time, sharing music and culture from each other’s countries and making many friendships. The busy day finished with another Friendship concert, this time on Kuta Beach. Cantare performed an action waiata and an action Malaysian piece, which was a favourite with the crowd. We learned that our performances had qualified for the Champion division, which meant we were going to the next level of competition the following day. Similarly to the previous day, Cantare performed new music in two categories: Teenage Choir and Sacred Music. Everyone was happy with the performance and celebrated at an Italian restaurant for dinner.
The final day at the Festival started with the Awards Ceremony. Cantare was thrilled to receive two trophies for winning their categories in the Open Division. Then, the choir was rewarded again in the Championship division, winning the Teenage Choir category (score of 92.83) and coming a close second (by .06 of a mark!) in the Sacred Music category (score of 90.48). This put Cantare through to the final round held in the afternoon – the Grand Prix – where the winning choirs from each category competed for the grand prix. Cantare performed superbly and came close to winning, although this accolade went to the Women’s Choir of Korea.
The Festival finished with an extravagant closing ceremony in the form of a musical, with three of the children’s choirs singing, dancing and acting. Then, all the Festival choirs enjoyed a farewell dinner outside the venue, which included traditional Balinese dancing, singing and fire-dancing.
The last day of the tour included visiting the Neka Art Museum, a huge complex of traditional and contemporary Balinese paintings and sculptures. Then Cantare visited Saraswati temple, which encompasses a beautiful water garden, before hitting the markets at Ubud.
Then, it was time to head to Denpasar airport and begin the long journey home. It has been a most remarkable experience for Cantare and the staff – meeting new people from around the world, enjoying learning about new cultures, and achieving great musical success on an international stage has made this tour a lifetime trip.
