Macleans recently performed with four talented choirs: Aria, Aria Junior, Macleans Knights and the auditioned Macleans College Chorale at the Big Sing, the annual choir festival run by the New Zealand choir federation. With performances across 3 days at the Auckland town hall, participants were able to share their hard work learning pieces to outside school choirs, some having their first taste at performing at such a reputable venue.
This year the Macleans College Chorale earned ‘Best Performance at Gala’ as well as being selected to go to the ‘Big Sing Finale’ continuing the choir’s impressive performance last year of getting choir gold at the world choir games.
Other choirs had a good run as well, showcasing incredible growth from their initial practices early in the year. With Eisteddfod now over, Knights and Aria will be disbanded to form the Spring Singers for Term 3 and 4, continuing with valuable insights gained from Big Sing.
Here are are some interviews from the people involved with Big Sing:
Mrs McNabb – Choir Director of Knights, Macleans College Chorale and Aria Junior:
You conduct (as well as direct) 3 choirs with varying age, vocal range and choral experience! What was your process for switching between the different groups?
I enjoy the challenge that each group poses, and love that they are all so different! One of the best parts of directing three different types of choirs (treble voice, lower voice and mixed voice), is that I get to explore and teach a variety of repertoire throughout the year. At Big Sing, my main goal is to support the singers to have a great experience on stage and to feel like they were successful.
What was your favourite experience at the 2025 Big Sing? Any stand-out performances that you would like to highlight?
I am a big nerd for choral music, so I love listening to the huge variety of choirs. My highlights are always when I can tell that the singers feel confident in the music, but also that they are communicating an emotion or story to the audience.
What kind of growth have you seen in your choirs as a result of Big Sing?
The Big Sing is a really unique event because the choirs not only perform, but also get to watch so many other performances as well. I think it helps the singers realise that they are part of a bigger community of musicians who love this craft, and that always makes them want to continue learning.
Looking towards the future, any big goals for your choirs at next year’s Big Sing?
My goals for The Big Sing are always the same: be confident in the music, know what you are singing about and tell your audience a story. I love when we can really connect to a piece of music and then share that and connect to the audience through a performance.
Choirs have had a steady increase in attendance, to new and prospecting singers, what do you think is the value of joining a choir?
Singing in a choir is one of the best things you can do for yourself! It is a great place to meet new people and be part of a community. Singing is great for your health: it lowers blood pressure and relieves stress. Because we make our music using text, you get to learn new languages and stories and history. Singing is also a skill that can be learned, so anyone can do it. Plus, it is heaps of fun 😊
Mingxuan He (Soprano) of Macleans College Aria Senior:
Aria senior is one of the biggest choir groups in the school, what is the best part of singing together with such a big group? What is the most challenging?
The best part of singing together for me is the anonymity. The illusion of safety in numbers and that your mistakes will be compensated by those around lulls you into a sense of security, allowing you to sing from your heart. The most challenging part? It can sometimes feel like you don’t know what you’re doing because you’re worried of your voice clashing with the bigger group. It takes courage to overcome this fear and join voices together as one.
What is the biggest piece of growth in your singing that you’ve seen in the prelude to your Big Sing performance?
Personally, I have observed a growth in singing skill due to the amount of practice that I get from all the rehearsals. One main way is that I’m beginning to learn to sing with the diaphragm. It is very difficult to improve your natural singing voice, and it requires a lot of persistence and effort to push past roadblocks compared to other instruments that I play such as the Piano. I think it’s worth it, since your voice is a part of your everyday life compared to solely being a preformative tool.
Why did you join the choir? What do you think is the value of singing?
I joined the choir because of a certain family member who will remain unnamed who has quite a bad singing voice but hums constantly. I wanted to be a role model to this person by improving my own singing voice through choir, and hopefully inspiring them to take steps to improve their singing. The value of singing to me? I think singing brings along that inherent happiness from expressing yourself, since you feel more connected when you sing together with people who you share this one interest with. It is a way for me to socialise and if anything, even alone there is some level of connectedness in knowing that this song is a part of someone else’s story.
Thank you to Mrs Swasbrook, our choral conductor for her wonderful guidance in Aria’s singing journey.
Senith Ranawaka (Bass) and Eric Yao (Tenor) of Macleans College Chorale
MCC got into the Big Sing Finale! What part of your performance did you feel most proud of?
Eric: The most important aspect of choir in my opinion is not individual skill/talent, but the cohesiveness and collaboration of every single singer within the group. The incredible, unified sound we produced all together as a choir could only be achieved by everyone giving their all while also listening and supporting one another on stage. In the pieces we performed, there was a clear sense of true interest and passion infused within our singing, elevating our story telling (choral music is a form of storytelling after all) and presence on stage.
Senith: My favourite piece we performed was Tate Le Fia Manatua. Pasifika pieces are always a joy to bring to life, as they offer more than one way to tell a story. They combine singing with choreography and are to be sung loud and proud. It is a fun departure from the conventional choral style, though it demands much more effort. Ending our set with that performance made me feel incredibly proud, and I was ecstatic to find out an anonymous VIP had selected us for the Gala performance award at the end of the day after we performed the piece again—but I wasn’t entirely surprised, as I believe everyone in MCC poured their heart into that piece.
Favourite outside school performance that you saw at Big Sing?
Eric: This year’s Big Sing was truly an amazing experience for everyone involved. There were many diverse performances of music from different styles, times, and cultures. While choirs like MCC, Choralation, and Saints Alive who have been among the top choirs in New Zealand for many years, the multitude of all comers choirs and newer, lesser known choirs were incredibly entertaining and admirable to listen and interact to; It shows the inclusivity and collaboration choral music is all about.
Senith: There are a few choirs that have developed a strong reputation in The Big Sing over the years, including Westlake Colleges’ Choralation, Kristin School’s Boystrous, and Dilworth School’s choirs, among many others, so it’s always exciting to hear what they have to perform. A performance that has stuck with me this year was an arrangement of Billy Joel’s “The Longest Time” sung by the Dilworth Foundation Singers. They had soloists and a harmonious barbershop, which sounded amazing.
Advice to anyone wanting to join MCC next year?
Eric: I highly recommend auditioning for MCC. MCC is not just about singing (although we are required to be good at it) it’s a tightly knit community built on a common passion and love for creating/sharing music. As for advice, don’t bend yourself to anyone else’s expectations or perception of your singing if you wish to truly shine as a musician. Music is about self expression, not pleasing the audience, and if this year’s Big Sing has taught us anything, the audience will only have as much fun as you do.
Senith: MCC is a family of voices that work well with each other while still being uniquely individual. I definitely agree with Eric in saying that you shouldn’t try to change the way you sing or do anything funky with your voice in your attempt to get in. The choir is built on a talented group of natural singers, and that’s at the core of making this an amazing group to sing in. With that being said, it’s always possible to improve your natural singing voice, and it’s important to understand that no one singer is perfect; we sing in a choir to support each other. Besides that, being in MCC has so much more to offer, including personal growth and fostering a love of the craft. We sing to tell a story, and everyone has a different interpretation of that. That’s what the audience wants to hear.
We would both like to say thank you so much to Mrs McNabb, Mr Harrison, and Mr Bevan for being instrumental in MCC’s success throughout the years. Up The Castle.
Thank you to Mrs McNabb, Mingxuan, Senith and Eric for their time spent in responding to some questions and sharing their experiences. Thank you to all the performers, directors and conductors as well assisting staff of the choirs for making it through and for assisting in, this leg of the singing journey. Big Sing is one of the most memorable choral events of the year, and if possible it is encouraged for everyone to attend the Gala performances, whether as a student performing with one of the school’s many choirs or in the audience to support the culture of singing within the College.
Written by Haran Thirumeni, Edited by Emma Li
Photography by Chiron Yung, Emma Li and Salvador Vantacich
