Well done, every single one of you. Your performance on Friday night of Mozart's Requiem lifted this listener and I’m sure many others to a place above and beyond the unsettled world we are living in. As your director, Chalium Poppy has doubtlessly drummed into you, it is more than getting notes right…

The program was certainly a celebration of praise and joy, and much appreciated by the audience, who gave a standing ovation at the conclusion of the concert. Conductor Chalium Poppy conducted the orchestra and choir with great gusto and enthusiasm…

This was the first time I had heard Handel's Messiah. I was so overwhelmed with the excellence of the production. The orchestra and the soloists were superb. However it was the choir that was the star of the show!

The conductor, skilled and incredibly precise, managed to…

NZ's first live performance of classical music since Covid reached our shores in 2020. Handel’s sacred Oratorio Israel in Egypt was first performed in 1739, some three years before his Messiah. Israel in Egypt, with its dramatic opening, with a warm full-bodied sound in the lovely acoustic of the cathedral…

When Muslims greet each other, they don’t say ‘good morning’ or ‘hello. They say as salaam alaykum – peace be upon you. When they part, they say ma’a salaama – wishing that all may go with peace. The peace of our Muslim friends, neighbours, and fellow New Zealanders was shattered on Friday 15 March. As Muslims in Christchurch gathered to pray in peace, hatred and violence were poured out against them…