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Festival Singers is a Wellington-based community choir with a 32 year history and practice of seeking to work alongside the Christian church. This includes singing in local church services and providing music for weddings, funerals and other events.

Our public concerts include large classical works – oratorios, cantatas and masses, as well as smaller pieces from all over the world. We also choose to support local composers and expose exciting new repertoire by regularly performing New Zealand compositions. In 2007 we recorded and released a CD of New Zealand music featuring Irish folk band, piano accordion and soloists called Spirited People. Music by Jonathan Berkahn and Colin Gibson was especially featured, also New Zealand poetry.

Musical Director
Rosemary Russell has been the Director of Festival Singers since 2003. She gained her LRSM on piano with Rae de Lisle and a B.A. in music from Canterbury University. She currently teaches music at Queen Margaret College in both the primary and secondary areas and is involved with several choirs there.

Rosemary was a founding member of the Festival Singers and the vocal ensemble, Bel Canto under Guy Jansen and currently sings with the St Paul’s Chorale under Michael Fulcher at the Wellington Cathedral. She has been accompanist for the Wellington Youth Choir with Roger Stevenson and is accompanist for the Nelson Summer School again in January 2009 with Mike Brewer and Ebbe Munk.

Regularly composing shows with students, writing songs for soloists and choirs and encouraging young composers, Rosemary supports New Zealand composers with the choir’s programming. She also networks with other Wellington composers.

Rosemary has participated in and helped organise several of the International Choral Conducting workshops and summer schools around New Zealand working with Rodney Eichenberger, Jerry Blackstone and Chris Kiver.

Rosemary is part of a group exploring creative and meaningful worship practices for churches. She regularly leads worship and plays piano at her home church in Titahi Bay.

Other interests include swimming for fitness, gardening to beat the coastal winds, playing with her twin grandsons and keeping up with husband John and their three adult daughters.

Jonathan Berkahn
Jonathan is Director of Music at St Barnabas Anglican Church, Khandallah. He studied organ and harpsichord at Victoria University with Douglas Mews. He has an Honours degree in performance, and has recently completed his PhD in music history. He is the accompanist for the Festival Singers of Wellington, and enjoys performing Celtic music at Molly Malone’s Irish Bar. He composes church music for congregational and choir use in his church, including settings of the NZ Prayer Book services.

Festival Singers:

• Has lively, fun rehearsals and workshops

• Gives performances that communicate

• Has a diverse, quality repertoire

• Celebrates New Zealand compositions

• Performs in public, and in churches

• Is friendly, with many social events.

Rehearsals are on Mondays 7.00pm –9.00pm at Queen Margaret College, Hobson Street, Thorndon

The choir is registered under the Charities Act 2005. Donations made to the choir are tax-deductible in New Zealand.

Copyright Festival Singers 2009