The Hamilton Civic Choir will present a free concert in the iconic Hamilton Gardens on Sunday March 20th, starting at 3 pm.  This is the third year that the choir has presented this type of concert, in which the choir takes its’ audience on a musical journey through the Paradise gardens; it is becoming a tradition much enjoyed by both singers and listeners.     Please bring a portable chair if you prefer to be seated while listening.

This year the Civic Choir will perform a wide variety of music ranging from simple folk songs and spirituals to more complex choral arrangements, both old and new.   The group will start the show near the Pavilion with Toto’s 1980’s hit “Africa”, and then set off into the gardens with the audience following along.  The choir will sing several well-known songs in the English Flower Garden, including “Lay a Garland”  and “The Willow Song”; then everyone will move on to the American garden for traditional Spirituals and contemporary compositions.  The Italian garden will be filled with the beautiful sounds of early music by Palestrina and di Lasso, and then the choir will more perform some modern arrangements of maori and pacific songs in Te Parapara, the Maori garden.  Finally, the Tudor garden will be the ideal setting for madrigals and songs of that period, before the complete contrast of “Lullaby of Birdland” to end the show.

This amazing range of music has been chosen by the Civic Choir’s new Musical Director, Tim Carpenter. Tim is a local lad, born and raised in the Waikato in a family full of musicians and singers.  He was educated at St. Peter’s Collegiate, and is a former chorister and organ scholar at St. Peter’s Cathedral.  He studied cello performance in the Department of Music at The University of Waikato, and after graduating with B. Mus transferred to Auckland University, completing an Honours degree in organ performance in 2014.  This year he is studying for a Masters degree in orchestral conducting, as well as working as Director of the Symphony programme at St. Kentigern College and as Assistant Director of Bach Musica, and singing in the choir at Holy Trinity Cathedral.  Tim has sung in the National Youth choir, and conducted many orchestras in NZ and overseas, including the Auckland Philharmonia, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.  Civic Choir Chairperson Sally Rosenberg says the choir is very fortunate to have secured the services of this promising young conductor and multi-talented musician for its 2016 programme.

The Hamilton Civic Choir is one of the city’s longest established community choirs, with a proud record of excellence in performance.   The group will perform three more concerts this year, including some with full orchestral accompaniment, and welcomes enquiries from singers who would like to consider joining the choir.