Dunedin comes alive to the sound of music as choirs converge for The Big Sing

Nearly a thousand choir singers are converging on Dunedin as the Big Sing competition reaches its crescendo.

More than 8000 students from 200 secondary school choirs have pitched for a position in Aotearoa's biggest choral singing event, made famous in the hit movie Tinā. The top 24 will compete for gold, silver and bronze awards from Thursday until Saturday's gala concert.

An Otago choir hasn't made Finale for more than five years, so it set a special tone for the host city when locals Columba College made the cut.

Arts prefect Imogen Harrison has been in the school's Cantus Columba choir for two years. This is her last year, but making the Big Sing Finale means she's leaving on a high note.

"We didn't really expect it and it's a great way to go out because we've been building up. We reached cadenza last year and we've just been improving even more and now we've reached Finale, which is amazing," she says.

The more than 30-strong choir will be performing five songs during the competition.

"I love how they're all different. Our new one Love Divine is so grand and exciting and long and when we finish it, it's amazing. But I really enjoy Say a Little Prayer as well. It's really fun with all the dance moves," she says.

Arts prefect Sophie Canton started singing when she was about seven.

She can't wait to perform at Finale but says it has taken a lot of work to get them there.

"We usually practice a couple of hours a week, a couple of times a week," she says.

"We start with the music, learn the words, learn the sheet music and then get a bit more into the nitty-gritty later on, and then ... everyone comes together and works together really well."

She says it's bittersweet to be leaving the choir at the end of the year.

"I've been the youngest girl in the choir for a couple of years and I think it's so exciting to be able to grow up with the choir, grow up with a mix of people, new people coming in, but also have those people who were mentoring me when I first came in, and I'm really appreciative of those people and really hope I can do that for the new girls coming in."

The choir's conductor, John Buchanan, thought he had retired until Columba College asked if he would like to take the choir at the start of 2024.

He was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his outstanding contribution to music in 2020, and last took an Otago choir to Finale in 2017.

Buchanan says learning to sing classical compositions helps students to get comfortable with different genres of music, and to transition into different choirs once they leave school.

He says it's a fantastic achievement for the choir to get to Finale.

"The Big Sing Finale is livestreamed around the world, it has 30,000 to 40,000 people watching it. It is one of the top choral festivals around.

"I just think getting the chance of hearing some of the really, really great choirs in New Zealand, for this choir will be really great because we're pretty isolated here."

The Choral Federation has strict rules for the competition, including time limits and song selections.

Its Otago event coordinator, Rosemary Tarbotton, says the competition is high quality.

"We started with 8000 singers from 250 choirs from 150 schools and that has been whittled down through regional competitions down to 24 choirs from all around New Zealand," she says.

"It's huge for Dunedin to have a choir in the finale, the majority of choirs come from Auckland."

She's preparing for a busy, but joyous few days with nearly 1000 students competing.

"The best thing about it is it's collaborative. Everybody sings to the best of their ability and they also cheer everyone else for singing to the best of their ability."

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