Join Chiron Music Academy for a week of music making at our ENSEMBLE FESTIVAL!

Monday 3 – Friday 7 July ‘23
King’s College | Golf Avenue, Otahuhu, Auckland 1640

Ensembles include:
String Orchestra
Flute Ensemble
Guitar Ensemble
Kodály
Chiron Choir

$420. Ensembles | including Choir
$300. Choir only
Fees + GST

TO REGISTER EMAIL info@chirongroup.nz 

Ensemble Festival Gala Concert

Friday 7 July | 5:00pm
St Lukes Community Centre

Join us for a final concert at the end of the Ensemble Festival - a chance for students and staff to showcase the great work they have done throughout the week, with performances from each of the ensembles.

String Orchestra

Kali Halapua earned her Bachelor of Music from the University of Auckland and has performed in many musical genres on both the violin and viola. After returning from Montreal, where she lived for 15 years performing and teaching, she has now based herself in New Zealand. Her interest in conducting started with a community orchestra she created in Gaspe, Quebec, and continued into youth ensembles with Sistema inspired programs in Montreal and Tāmaki Makaurau. Last year's conducting highlights included participating in the Bach Musica NZ Conducting Workshop, Orchestras Central Conducting Workshop, Creative NZ Pacifika Conductors Masterclass with the NZSO and conducting a Tongan hymn with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra side-by-side with Sistema Aotearoa. 2023 sees her participating in the NZSO Conducting Fellowship and a new engagement as conductor for the Chiron Music Academy String Ensembles.

Flute Esemble

Mrs Grace Liu, who took the first place honour in flute major to admit in the School of Music in Zurich, Switzerland and then had great influences from Zurich principal flute Maria Goldschmidt and well-known flute professor Mario Ancillotti also from other masters such as Sir James Galway, Felix Reggli, Aurele Nicolet, Peter Lukas Graff etc. with great honour. Mrs Grace Liu has taken the role of principal flute, played numerous classical symphonies, conducted several concerts in Europe and worked with a number of well-known conductors in Lugano Conservatory Youth Symphony Orchestra, such as Giorfio Bernasoni and Denis Fedeli. In the year 2010, Mrs Grace Liu worked with the well-known Switzerland pianist Ulrich Koela to conduct her own recital and participated in a modernist works ‘nine flute concert’ with live recording in Lugano Broadcast Music Hall.

As well as being Chiron’s Head of Woodwind, Mrs Grace Liu also teachers flute at the University of Auckland School of Music.

Flute Ensemble

Alvin Peng is an Auckland-based flautist with a wide range of performing and teaching skills. In 2018 he was the first person in ABRSM history to achieve a perfect full mark in their ARSM examination. He won first place in woodwind instrumental classes for the APMA competitions in 2016 and 2018 and the SAPACS in 2017.

An avid performer, Alvin has performed with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra in a special “up close with the APO” concert. Internationally, he has played for many renounced international artists and performed in many historic venues in London, Vienna, Luxembourg, and Sydney.

Alvin is pursuing post-graduate studies at the University of Auckland, studying under Kathryn Moorhead and Grace Liu. He enjoys passing on his teaching and experience to his students at the CMA.

Guitar Ensemble

Daniel Ortiz gained his Bachelor of Music (Honours) at Javeriana University, Colombia. He then went on to study Suzuki pedagogy and music production. Daniel has over ten years of experience teaching guitar. He taught guitar performance and music theory at El Bosque University, guiding college students through a general understanding of music as a profession. In 2013, Daniel received a Graduate Diploma in Business from AUT while assisting recording and composition projects at Harmonic Studio. He continues to sharpen his performance, teaching, and composition skills as the Guitar Programme Coordinator at CMA.

Kodály

Laura Gu is one of Chiron’s piano teachers and Kodály department staff, she has been a practitioner and advocate for developing the Kodály method in New Zealand and within our schools. She has received training and mentorship from respected Kodály pedagogues Lucinda Geoghegan and Jason Boron from The Cuskelly College of Music in Brisbane, Australia where she received her certification as a Kodály teacher.  

Since 2020, Laura has also participated in annual courses from the Liszt Academy's Kodály Institute based in Hungary, working with tutors Lajos Rozmán and Yasmin Folini. In areas of piano teaching, she has trained in creative piano pedagogy form Zenezen, taken by Anikó Novák & Katalin Körtvés.  

Laura has taught the Kodály method both in group classes and in one-on-one piano lesson settings, with more than 10 years of piano teaching experience. She had formerly studied in China and New Zealand, gaining a masters qualification in piano and composition. 

Chiron Choir

Elise Bradley is a passionate musician, award-winning conductor, and internationally respected educator, adjudicator and clinician, Elise served for many years as the Head of Department Music at Westlake Girls’ High School in Auckland, New Zealand. She founded and conducted the school’s renowned treble choir, Key Cygnetures from 1991-2007, and directed the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir from 2001-2007, both of which won numerous national and international awards. She was also a soloist and member of New Zealand’s National Chamber Choir, Voices New Zealand from 1998 - 2010. In January 2018, Ms. Bradley was named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM), an honour awarded in recognition of her services to Music. 

Elise repatriated home to New Zealand at the end of 2021, after 141⁄2 years as the Artistic Director of the Toronto Children’s Chorus. During her tenure, the Chorus recorded professionally, commissioned Canadian compositions, collaborated with numerous international and national artists, and represented Toronto on nine international and four national tours. She also produced a virtual recording for the ACDA National Conference in 2021 and for the Hong Kong World Choral Festival in 2022. The Chorus is internationally recognized for the high standard of its performances, and for its challenging repertoire which spans diverse cultures, languages, and traditions. Its latest CD, Sounzscapes: From Our Lands, directed by Elise Bradley, was named the most Outstanding Choral Recording by Choral Canada in 2014. 

In addition to her work as Artistic Director of the Toronto Children’s Chorus, Ms. Bradley received many invitations to conduct, adjudicate choirs, and present at conferences around the globe, including recently the 11th World Symposium on Choral Music (Spain), Dozan wa Awtar (Jordan), the inaugural New Zealand National Children’s Choir (Auckland, NZ), the IFCM World Choral Expo (Macau), Gondwana Voices (Australia), Orientale Concentus (Singapore), Crystal Children’s Choir (United States), Carnegie Hall, (United States) Hong Kong Inter-School Choral Festival (China), and Europa Cantat Junior (Lithuania). 

Since her return to New Zealand, Elise has co-founded the company "Choral DirectioNZ" and the New Zealand Children’s Choral Academy, and has completed a number of Kodály Music Certificates in preparation for her return to the primary music classroom as part of the Creatives in Schools initiatives. She is currently the Music Director of the Hamilton Civic Choir, Nota Bella Junior Choir at Westlake Girls' High School, Ficino Primary Choirs and she conducts the Chiron Choir for the Chiron Music Academy. 

Ms. Bradley is dedicated to inspiring young singers through the study of the choral art, and to helping build not only their musical abilities, but also their self-confidence and life skills. Through music, she believes that they also learn about leadership and responsibility while experiencing the special joys and friendships that participation in the choir provides. 

Chiron Choir

Rachel Fuller studied piano in Christchurch with Rosemary Miller Stott and then with Dierdre Irons at the University of Canterbury as well as cello with Alexander Ivashkin. She went on to gain her Masters in Piano Accompaniment from the Royal Academy of Music in London. Rachel lived in London for 18 years, building her career in the UK and Europe as a vocal accompanist, répétiteur, vocal coach and piano teacher. Rachel has worked at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, at Opera Kristiansund and Opera Nordfjord in Norway, and also with leading British opera companies including Diva Opera, Opera della Luna and London Opera Players. She has accompanied some of the world’s finest singers including tenors Keith Lewis and Simon O’Neill. She has been a regular accompanist and coach for the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation.

Rachel is currently a Professional Teaching Fellow at the University of Auckland where she teaches collaborative piano, is a vocal coach and accompanist. As an accomplished chamber musician and cellist, she has collaborated with cellists Ramón Jaffé, Edith Salzmann as well as violinists Leo Phillips and APO concertmaster Andrew Beer. Rachel was Musical Director for Toi Toi Opera’s 2022 production in Christchurch and will work with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Chorus in 2023.