Our Next Concert
Festival Singers of Wellington warmly invites you to join us for a joyful afternoon of music, memories and celebration as we mark 50 years of singing together.
Since its formation in 1976, Festival Singers has brought people together through the shared experience and love of choral music. Over our five decades, the choir has performed a rich and varied repertoire, welcomed many singers and musicians, and contributed to Wellington’s musical and community life. This special Jubilee concert celebrates that history while looking confidently towards the future.
The programme brings together music filled with glory, grace and gladness. At its heart is Mozart’s radiant Vespers, K.339, a work overflowing with energy, lyrical beauty and dramatic contrasts. Its movements range from brilliant choral declarations to moments of tenderness and reflection, including the much-loved Laudate Dominum.
The choir will also perform A Hopkins Gloria by Wellington composer and musician Jonathan Berkahn. Inspired by the vivid and exuberant poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, this work offers a contemporary expression of wonder, praise and delight in creation.
Parry’s magnificent I Was Glad When They Said Unto Me brings grandeur and ceremonial splendour to the programme. Written for the coronation of King Edward VII, it has become one of the best-known works in the English choral tradition. Its powerful opening and richly layered harmonies make it an exhilarating experience for singers and audiences alike.
A quieter note of beauty comes through Charles Villiers Stanford’s Beati Quorum Via. This serene motet, setting words from Psalm 119, is admired for its flowing lines, luminous harmonies and sense of peaceful devotion.
The concert concludes with John Rutter’s beloved The Lord Bless You and Keep You. Gentle, warm and deeply reassuring, it offers a fitting musical blessing for the choir, its supporters and the wider community as Festival Singers enters its next chapter.
The concert will be directed by Ingrid Schoenfeld, with Jonathan Berkahn as accompanist.
Koha/Donation to Wellington City Mission
Alongside your ticket purchase, you are invited to make a koha/donation to support the work of Wellington City Mission. Festival Singers will pass these donations to the Mission. (Humanitix transaction fees will apply.)
Afternoon Tea
Following the performance, everyone is invited to stay for afternoon tea. This will be an opportunity for former and present choir members, friends, supporters and audience members to meet, share stories and remember memorable moments from the choir’s first 50 years. A display of concert posters from across the decades will offer a colourful glimpse into Festival Singers’ history, changing repertoire and contribution to Wellington’s musical life.
Come and celebrate this significant milestone with an afternoon of glorious music, warm fellowship and treasured memories.
• • •
Our last concerts
Festival Singers of Wellington, directed by Ingrid Schoenfeld, joined forces with Renaissance Singers from Palmerston North, directed by Christine Archer-Lockwood, for two uplifting and memorable choral music concerts — Requiem to Radiance.
The programme brought together music of depth, beauty, and celebration. At its heart was Requiem by American composer Michael John Trotta, a work that honours the long choral tradition of the Requiem while speaking in a fresh and expressive musical language. Trotta’s writing is known for its warmth, clarity, and strong feel for the human voice, and this work moves from moments of gravity and reflection towards peace and light.
Also featured was Gloria by John Rutter, one of the most popular large-scale choral works of the modern era. Written as a concert piece, it combines grandeur, rhythmic energy, lyrical beauty, and a joyful sense of occasion. Its brilliant outer movements frame a more prayerful central section, creating a vivid and satisfying musical journey.
Completing the programme were Agnus Dei and Gloria Deo! by New Zealand composer Stephen Lange. These works add a local voice to the concert, combining memorable melody, dramatic flair, and a spirit of celebration.
• • •
2026 Programme
• Rehearsals start at 7:00pm on Monday 9 February 2026 at Newlands Christian Assembly, 126 Newlands Road, Newlands, Wellington.
• First Concerts: Requiem to Radiance – combined with Renaissance Singers
3:00pm Sunday 17 May 2026: Concert at St. James’ Anglican Church, Lower Hutt, then
3:00pm Saturday 23 May 2026: Concert in Palmerston North.
We’ll sing the Requiem by Michael John Trotta, the John Rutter’s Gloria, and pieces by New Zealand composer Stephen Lange.
• Choral Evensong at St James’ Anglican Church, Lower Hutt: 5:00 pm 12 July 2026, with St James’ choir
• 50th Anniversary Charity Concert to raise funds for Wellington City Mission: Khandallah Presbyterian Church – 3pm Sunday 6 September 2026
• Combined Concert with Cantoris: 12 December 2026.
• Community Carols Concert in support of Wellington City Mission, St Christopher’s, Seatoun, mid-December 2026
• • •
For more information, please contact:
- Ingrid Schoenfeld (Musical Director)
ingrid.s@outlook.co.nz, 027 240 6669 or
- Philip Garside (Secretary)
books@pgpl.co.nz
Site designed and maintained by Philip Garside: www.philipgarsidebooks.com
Copyright Festival Singers 2009-2026
Festival Singers of Wellington 
You must be logged in to post a comment.