2023 Summer School Programmes

We invite you to complete the Application Form for the 2023 CMA Summer School and NZ Voice Programmes.

If you require any further information in addition to this application form, please email info@chirongroup.nz

Applications close Friday 9 December 2022.

CMA | Chiron Music Academy and the NZ Voice Programme are excited to announce its Summer School for 2023!

Taking place at our state-of-the-art Chiron Rock School facilities and St Cuthbert's Performing Arts Centre, this year's Summer School will allow students to work with some of New Zealand's finest teachers across various instruments and music initiatives.

We have many programmes on offer, including the addition of separate Choir and Kodály Programmes, as well as the opportunity for young vocalists to join the NZ Voice Programme.

Programmes & Fees

Chiron Summer School
* For students aged 9 & over
Enrolment includes Chiron Choir Programme + Kodály Programme
Dates: Monday 16 - Sunday 22 January
Fee: $1,700 (includes daily lunch + BBQ event)

Chiron Choir Programme
* Open to students and parents not enrolled in Summer School
Dates: Monday 16 - Sunday 22 January
Fee: $200

Chiron Kodály Programme
* Open to students aged 10 years & younger not enrolled in Summer School
Dates: Thursday 19 - Sunday 22 January
Fee: $200

NZ Voice Programme
* For students aged 16 & over
A 5-day intensive course for singers wishing to further their acoustic vocal sound (Classical, Folk Song, Legit Musical Theatre, or similar).

All voice types and abilities are welcome!

The course includes technical solo vocal training, linguistics and ensemble training, as well as performance opportunities during the week.

Training is also available to pianists who wish to further their collaborative skills in vocal accompaniment.

Dates: Monday 16 - Friday 20 January
Fee: $1,040 (includes daily lunch + BBQ event)

Observers are also welcome at the NZ Voice Programme and can purchase tickets at a cost of $80 per day from www.humanitix.com

2023 Programme Teachers

VIOLIN
Donald Armstrong - New Zealand Symphony Orchestra - Associate Concertmaster
Stephen Larsen - The University of Auckland & Chiron Group NZ

FLUTE
Bridget Douglas - New Zealand Symphony Orchestra - Principal Flute
Grace Liu - The University of Auckland & Chiron Group NZ

PIANO
Rae de Lisle - Chiron Group NZ
Richard Liu - The University of Auckland & Chiron Group NZ

CELLO
James Tennant - The University of Auckland & NZ Chamber Soloists
James Bush - Chiron Group NZ

KODÁLY PROGRAMME
Laura Gu - Chiron Group NZ

VOICE PROGRAMME
Catrin Johnson - The University of Auckland
Rachel Fuller - The University of Auckland

CHOIR PROGRAMME
Elise Bradley - Artistic Director, New Zealand Children’s Choral Academy & Choral DirectioNZ
Robert Wiremu - The University of Auckland (Choir Collaborative Pianist)

COLLABORATIVE PIANIST
Sarah Watkins - The University of Auckland & former pianist of NZTrio

Get to know our Teachers

Donald Armstrong is Associate Concertmaster of the NZSO. He was formerly Music Director of the NZ Chamber Orchestra, Principal Second Violin of the Tivoli Sinfoniorkester in Denmark and Co-Concertmaster of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice in France. He studied in New York and Boston with teachers including Josef Gingold and Masuko Ushioda, and chamber music with Louis Krasner, Eugene Lehner and Laurence Lesser.

He performs regularly in New Zealand with his own chamber group, the Amici Ensemble. Donald is interested in preserving and advancing New Zealand’s musical heritage. He has taught as an artist teacher at the New Zealand School of Music and he teaches, coaches and encourages young instrumentalists.

He plays a violin by Nicolo Gagliano of 1754.

Bridget Douglas (NZ) is Section Principal Flute of the NZSO and an Artist Teacher in Flute at the New Zealand School of Music – Te Kōkī. She graduated from Victoria and Otago Universities before travelling to the USA for postgraduate study with the assistance of a Fulbright Graduate Award. While in New York Bridget won the New York Flute Club and Artists International Competitions resulting in debut recitals at Carnegie and CAMI Halls.

Bridget mentors young musicians throughout NZ and is passionate about collaborative ways of making music. She is a founding member of the contemporary music ensemble Stroma and enjoys playing a diverse range of chamber music.

Bridget is actively involved in performing and commissioning NZ composers to create music that is unique to Aotearoa. She has released several CDs of both New Zealand and international music, three of which were shortlisted for Best Classical Album by the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards. In 2020 she was awarded the CANZ (Composers Association of NZ) KBB Citation for Services to NZ Music.

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 Music, Mrs Grace Liu recently accepted a position as Professor of Flute at the University of Auckland School of Music.

Dr Rae de Lisle, following 8 years of study and performing in London Rae became one of New Zealand’s foremost concert pianists, touring regularly for Chamber Music New Zealand, playing concertos with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and recording for radio and television.

Rae’s teaching has produced many outstanding young pianists, including prizewinners in the Sydney International Piano Competition, the Lev Vlassenko Australasian Piano Competition, the Bradshaw and Buono Competition in New York, and the Perrenoud Foundation International Piano Competition. Her students have won all the major piano competitions in New Zealand. She received an Excellence in Teaching Award from the University in 2011.

Rae is Artistic Director of the Wallace National Piano Competition and the Wallace International Piano Festival. She was on the jury for the 2012 Dublin International Piano Competition and the 2009 Singapore National Piano Competition and has been adjudicator many times for the NZCT School Chamber Music Contest. In 2011 she received the Marie Vandervart Award for outstanding service and commitment to fostering the love of chamber music in New Zealand.

Rae’s PhD research into focal dystonia, the most devastating of musician’s injuries, has resulted in specific concepts about instrumental retraining which led to presentations and keynote speeches throughout the world. She is now working on a book focusing on the development of injury preventative piano technique at every level, from the beginner to the advanced pianist.

In 2016 Rae was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to music.

Born in Taiwan, Richard Liu graduated with a MMus with First Class Honours in Piano Performance at the University of Auckland and a MMus in Accompanying at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London with a full bursary. He studied under Bryan Sayer, Rae de Lisle, Sarah Watkins, Donald Bowick, Susan Tomes, Graham Johnson, Eugene Asti and Robin Bowman. After returning from his studies in London, he worked in various different roles as an artistic teacher in piano performance, artistic teacher in-studio piano pedagogy, voice coach, staff accompanist, and assistant to various teaching studios at the University of Auckland.

He has collaborated with various organisations including Auckland Choral, Voices New Zealand, University Singers, New Zealand Opera, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Opus Orchestra, Waitakere Orchestra, Queenstown Violin Summer School and Westlake Girls High School. He was a tutor for the former University of Auckland Academy of Music and the Pettman National Academy. He now coordinates the piano program at Albany School of Music & Remuera Music Academy, as well as adjudicating regional competitions, and examining for NZMEB.

Past and Present student success include KBB National Secondary Chamber Music Prize, student selected for the National Young Musician of the Year, Wallace National Junior Piano Competition finalist, regional competition prizes, students gaining overall top mark in ABRSM exam, gaining entrance to piano performance program at the University of Auckland, Manhattan School of Music, Royal Welsh Academy of Music & Drama, Sydney Conservatoire and Singapore Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.

Cellist, James Tennant, has enjoyed an esteemed and lively career as a concert cellist, chamber musician, teacher and arts instigator throughout many continents of the world, nevertheless, he calls New Zealand home.
 
James’ main artistic inspirations through the years have been William Pleeth, Arthur Rubinstein, Gidon Kremer, Natalia Makarova and Bruce Lee, all who have played an important role in developing his artistic vision. As a cellist, James has studied with William Pleeth and Jerome Jelinek while enjoying master classes with Janos Starker, Gregor Piatigorsky and Leonard Rose.  He graduated with Distinction from the Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Michigan, and during these years performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under such inspirational conductors as Klaus Tennstedt, Fruhbeck de Burgos and Leonard Bernstein, and for pocket money he recorded with all the Motown greats of the 70’s.
 
James has performed numerous concertos with the Auckland Philharmonia, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Colombia, Orquesta de Cali and the Dunedin Sinfonia among others.  And he has shared the concert stage performing chamber music with leading musicians Piers Lane, Karin Adam, Dene Olding, Patricia Wright, Alexa Still, Michael Houstoun and the New Zealand String Quartet.

As a chamber musician, James was a founding member of the Trio Mozart, Vivo String Quartet, Ogen Trio and the New Zealand Chamber Soloists and has performed regularly with pianist Katherine Austin as the Tennant-Austin Duo.
 
James has conducted orchestras in the USA, Colombia and New Zealand including the St. Matthews Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta de Camera de Bogota, Ensemble Musical de Popayan and the University of Waikato Chamber Orchestra, with whom he was the Music Director of five world premieres of operas by David Griffiths.  
 
James has taught at the Universidad del Cauca and Conservatorio Nacional de Colombia (Colombia), Auckland and Canterbury Universities (NZ).  His students have achieved numerous successes in national and international competitions. Past students include Santiago Canon Valencia (most recently, Silver medal winner of the Tchaikovsky International Cello Competition 2019), Edward King, Matthias Balzat and Sai Sai Ding. He has initiated such musical ventures as the 2016 Waikato International Cello Fest, Nelson International Chamber Music Festival and Summer School, CadeNZa, the Belli Celli and the Rotorua International Chamber Music Festival. 

At present James is currently Head of Cello Studies, Chamber Music and Orchestral Studies at the Conservatorium of Music of the University of Waikato. He has created a unique Soloist Specialisation course and along with other performance staff, offers over 70 concerts a year for the students to develop their expressive personalities through regular performance opportunities. With his Conservatorium of Music students, he has created the ensemble Cellophonics - New Zealand’s highly regarded cello ensemble - and for the past 14 years been its Musical Director.
 
James plays an 1898 Ernesto Degani.

Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, James Bush studied with Ellen Doyle before leaving to complete his undergraduate studies with Christopher Bunting and Derek Simpson, graduating with first-class honours from the Royal Academy of Music, London. This was followed by a Master of Music degree with Timothy Eddy at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. James later studied baroque cello with Phoebe Carrai and Markus Möllenbeck at the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin.

Winner of the Television New Zealand Young Musicians Competition and the National Concerto Competition of New Zealand, James has appeared as soloist with all of New Zealand’s major orchestras.

James has been invited to teach, coach and give masterclasses in situations as varied as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the University of Hong Kong, the National Youth Orchestra of Catalonia and within New Zealand as a special guest at the IRMTNZ National Conference.

James’s long and continuing association with the Swiss-based Jonas Foundation, a foundation working to combat the social exclusion of young people through music, led him to found a music school in the poorer eastern suburbs of Berlin, which he directed for 7 years.

Advanced studies in England, America and Germany, have given James a broad knowledge of the prevalent streams of pedagogical thinking. His teaching philosophy includes a special interest in encouraging children to learn to improvise within classical models.

Working as one of Chiron’s piano teachers and Kodály department staff, Laura Gu 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. 

Catrin Johnsson ARAM, Dip.RAM., is one of New Zealand’s most highly skilled musicians. Originally from Sweden, she is a professional opera singer, organist, voice teacher, conductor and vocal coach to leading choral ensembles. Trained at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm and at the Royal Academy of Music, London, she has received a number of awards including the prestigious Christina Nilsson Award.

Catrin has worked as a principal artist for companies such as English National Opera and Opera Holland Park.  She has sung a number of roles for NZ Opera and was chorus master for Le Nozze di Figaro (2021).

Catrin is language and vocal coach for Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir. In 2017, she was National Adjudicator for the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition. Both nationally and internationally, Catrin frequently gives masterclasses, workshops and presentations on vocal technique and acting. In concert she has performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and St John’s, Smith Square in London. Catrin has made several recordings including Sit Down With Me Awhile by Janet Jennings (Voices of Women, Atoll Records).

Catrin is a Performance Teacher at the University of Auckland, where she teaches voice, stagecraft, ensemble leading skills and communication skills for conductors, pianists and string players. As a stage director, she has made full productions of several master recitals and has also co-directed the annual opera scenes productions. In 2019, Catrin directed a production of “The Little Matchgirl Passion” by David Lang, for the University of Auckland Chamber Choir.

Rachel Fuller ARAM, M.Mus(RAM) 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.

A passionate musician, award-winning conductor, and internationally respected educator, adjudicator and clinician, Elise Bradley 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. 

Robert Wiremu (Kahungunu and Tūwharetoa) is a musician with a breadth of range and abilities. Growing up in a musical family, he was exposed early to church music, spontaneous family singing, and kapa haka. He then formalised his studies in western classical music at Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Auckland, and The Queensland Conservatorium of Music. In 1998, Robert returned to the University of Auckland to a faculty position, over the years teaching thousands of musicologists, singers (both solo and choral), chamber ensembles, collaborative pianists, conductors, and composers. Now he is teaching the students of those former students, and the beginnings of a third generation. As an experienced baritone chorister, soloist and recording artist with all the national choirs, Robert is now in considerable demand as a teacher, repertoire coach, vocal consultant, clinician, adjudicator and artistic advisor. 

Robert has collaborated with many of Āotearoa’s most distinguished artists, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, the New Zealand String Quartet, Dames Kiri Te Kanawa, Malvina Major, and Gillian Whitehead, Sir Howard Morrison, Drs Karen Grylls and Simon O’Neill, and artist Professor Michael Parekōwhai. As a pedagogue, he is very interested in language to facilitate good storytelling via meaning and function, creating the Wiremu Vowel Clock as an alternate diction tool. 

As a composer/arranger, Robert has a particular interest in connecting Māori stories/New Zealand stories with the classical stage, particularly -though not exclusively- through Opera in the Pā (2008-16), as artistic advisor for Choirs Āotearoa NZ (2019-), and in his governance board role with the New Zealand Choral Federation, and as a trustee for the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation. Whether performing, teaching, or writing, Robert is an advocate for storytelling.

Sarah Watkins’ lifelong love for accompanying and chamber music has led to an impressive career as a performer and recording artist. She is perhaps best known to New Zealand audiences as a founding member of NZTrio; after 16 years in that role, Sarah left the group in June 2018 to actively pursue other musical passions.

In addition to NZTrio, Sarah has been an official pianist for the Michael Hill International Violin Competition since its inception in 2001 and the Gisborne International Music Competition since 2008. She regularly appears as a freelance player in the APO, and has also performed as concerto soloist with the APO, ACO and St. Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra.

In 2014 Sarah recorded Chris Watson’s “sing songs self” for solo piano and orchestra with the NZSO, a composition which was awarded the prestigious 2015 SOUNZ Contemporary Award.

Her numerous CD recordings with NZTrio and other artists have been widely praised by audiences and critics alike; ‘Sway’ (NZTrio, 2017) and ‘Gung-ho’ (2009, with NZSO principal trombonist David Bremner) were both winners of the Vodafone NZ Music Award for best Classical album.

Sarah is a graduate of the University of Canterbury (NZ) and the Juilliard School (NY), where she earned both MM and DMA degrees in collaborative piano. She was recently appointed as an artist teacher and chamber music coach at the University of Auckland, and she enjoys a wide variety of collaborations with musicians all over New Zealand.