It is really special being part of a choir! Even more so when you get to travel to Wales and represent New Zealand as a performing choir at the 70^th Llangollen Eisteddfod.

We made so many memories which will last a lifetime. 

Our choir arrived in Wales on Sunday 3^rd July and by Monday morning we were on a bus heading to Chirk Castle to perform a 30 minute pop-up concert in a lovely courtyard where we had an appreciative audience. They particularly enjoyed “You’ll never Walk Alone” and “Skyfall”

Tuesday and off to Liverpool!  IMAGINE singing at the Beatles Experience Museum – ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE and we could certainly feel that from the audience! It seemed like only YESTERDAY that we were home in New Zealand.

On Wednesday we headed to the ruins of Conwy Castle and climbed up to a splendid setting for our concert. It was so memorable singing with people around us and lining the parapets adding to the atmosphere.

Thursdays pop-up concert was at Powis Castle in the beautiful Orangerie gardens, with people being drawn by our singing and joining others already listening. Lovely surroundings and acoustics drew the best from our choir who lifted their voices joyfully! “All the Things you are” and “Riversong” were popular.

On Friday our concert in the Daily Mail Theatre was a great success with the audience gleefully joining in with our Beatles Medley.

Friday was a highlight for us all. At 2pm we practiced in a local church with three other choirs – from America, Canada and Australia to prepare for Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus to be sung on the grand stage that night.

At 4pm we joined the Parade of Nations marching through the village of Llangollen with thousands of people lining the streets five deep in places! They cheered as we walked by singing Pokarekare Ana, the National Anthem and Te Karakihi – complete with actions. This was very exciting and we were filmed on Welsh TV with Bruce Murray being interviewed as well. 22 countries participated in the Eisteddfod and the colourful costumes, the amazing singing we heard over the course of the week, especially at the evening concerts was unforgettable!

As the grand finale to Friday evening’s concert we had the joy of singing the Hallelujah Chorus on the main Eisteddfod stage in front of 4000 people. An amazing experience!

Saturday morning and our final pop up in the Daily Mail Theatre. Again we had an appreciative audience who rocked out with us as we performed our Jersey Boys medley.

The fundraising we did before we left New Zealand enabled the group to visit many wonderful sights in Wales in addition to the locations where we performed.

The City of Auckland Singers were treated with respect and wonderful hospitality while in Wales and we were proud to wear our black New Zealand Polo shirts which were kindly donated by the Thames Music Group after we performed in Thames in May.

Singing is an art form which needs no translation, and being among people from other countries who love to sing as much as we do was an incredibly life-changing experience.

For our final concert this year we plan to go out with a bang on November the 5^th – you might even hear the Sky Fall! We have a couple of crackers in our choir and a few sparklers too! So come along and guess which ones they are!  Put this date in your diary and we will publish further details later.

See Wales 2016 Pictures - Page