Big Sing competitors proud to represent culture and language

School choirs from across the country are celebrating their love of singing in cultures and languages at the Big Sing competition.

On Thursday, nearly 1000 singers from across the motu converged at the Dunedin Town Hall for three days of competing, which wraps up with a gala concert on Saturday.

It was King's College Kapella choir member Athalia’s first Big Sing finale and she’s already fallen in love with it.

"This year, we've performed songs in Estonian, in French, in Te Reo, in Tongan, in Samoan, so it's been really cool,” she said.

"We get a lot of exposure to different cultures and different languages through our songs and it's not songs that you'd hear every day."

Fellow choir member Taani said his love of singing was inspired by his family and church. He enjoyed singing in other languages but was especially excited to share his heritage through a Tongan piece by Queen Sālote Tupou III.

"I think that's why I'm so proud when we sing ‘Ta Koe Sola’, our Tongan piece. Even though the majority of our choir is not Tongan, they're always proud and keen to learn," he said.

"That gets me happy and proud that they want to represent my culture."

Eileen, from St Cuthbert's College, joined the choir last year and was especially pumped to perform 'Tofa Mai Feleni'.

"There's a dance, so you know that's going to be always good, but I think all of our songs are really interesting. There's nothing repetitive.”

Southland Girls' High School choir Femme roadtripped up from Invercargill, blasting some Pitch Perfect along the way. Femme member Abigail Hillman said she had grown to appreciate more music genres.

"When I first started, I hated the classical stuff, I thought it was so boring. But as I've matured, I've found it to really be beautiful and really appreciate being able to learn how to sing that kind of stuff," Hillman said.

It was their fifth and last Finale so they were keen to make the most of the experience.

Yahan from St Cuthbert's College's Saints Alive choir was feeling nervous but excited as she goes into her third finale. They used bamboo sticks to hit the floor as part of their performance.

"I think it adds to the storyline cos whenever you're singing or performing, you're telling a story. You're trying to convey something to the audience, you're trying to convey your emotions and the emotions of the writer of the piece," Yahan said.

"I think adding the props, adding the dance moves is like the cherry on top for the song."

LeBron Ah Young from Dilworth School’s Fortissimo choir – which was awarded gold last year – was feeling calm and collected as performance time approached on Thursday afternoon.

"I'm pretty excited … I just hope we can get on the stage and do it justice.”

Watch The Big Sing gala concert finale livestream on RNZ on Saturday night from 6.30pm.