Music Director – Zoë Dee
Born in the UK, Zoë studied Music and singing and gained her BA Honours. After graduating she went on a National UK Tour with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and also sang with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, British Youth Opera, The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company and Opera Holland Park. Since moving to New Zealand in 2012, Zoë became a member of The Freemasons NZ Opera Chorus in Christchurch and has sung in their productions of Madame Butterfly, La Traviata, Carmen, Tosca and The Barber of Seville.
Zoë sings locally with Chroma Chamber Choir and the Nelson Cathedral Choir. She works as an itinerant vocal and choral teacher at Nelson College for Girls and Nayland College. Both of her choirs have won 1st Prize awards at The Big Sing regionals over the years for their performances of pieces by New Zealand Composers and Choral Art Music. This year her Nayland College Choir Sotto Voce made it through to the Cadenza in Timaru and were awarded the Silver Korimako award. In the Blenheim regional, NCG were awarded 1st for the Open Choice category and 2nd for the NZ composer award.
Zoë was asked by Nelson Civic Choir to train a young voices choir for the October 2018 premiere of Karl Jenkins 'Cantata Memoria' and found the success of this increased her desire to work with local young singers who aspire to learn music to a high standard, with the aim to keep choral music alive in Nelson for future generations. She is a founding member of the Nelson Youth Choir Trust Board which was set up in 2021, and is the current Music Director.
Accompanist – Anne Shearer
Anne Shearer began piano lessons in Wellington and passed her LTCL in piano after moving to Nelson. She has over 30 years of experience teaching both children and adults from beginner through to diploma level.
An experienced accompanist, Anne has worked at all levels accompanying singers, instrumentalists and choirs, and has played for several shows. She currently accompanies three choirs, including Sotto Voce who recently received a Silver Award at the Big Sing Cadenza in August 2023. Prior to this, she was the pianist for Seussical the Musical, produced by Nayland College in May 2023 and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of the live show.
Anne commenced accompanying the Nelson Youth Choir in July 2023 and enjoyed the variety of music that the choir was learning.
Founding Member – Sally Hallmark
Sally has an extensive background in business management in local and central government, with a focus on education and health and wellbeing. She is a Senior Associate of the Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs) in New Zealand and has an M.Ed., an M.A., and ISO 9000:2000 Lead Auditor certification.
She has had a number of roles in education, as a teacher, as Deputy then Associate Headmaster of Wanganui Collegiate School, and through her work for the Ministry of Education across sectors to develop assessment, safety standards and leadership planning. She has also been a Regional Moderator and EER evaluator for NZQA, and a field officer and project manager for the Education Review Office.
As well as her experience in education, Sally has business management experience working for many government departments, including New Zealand Police as the National Co-ordinator of Youth Community Development Projects, and the Ministry of Social Development as a Senior Analyst in the Centre for Social Research and Development. Since moving to Nelson in 2013, she has worked for The Open Polytechnic and with NGOs to develop qualifications and learning materials in Health and Wellbeing and Early Childhood.
Sally was the Chairperson of the Nelson Civic Choir, a community-based choir, from 2018 – 2020 and sings in Nelson Cathedral Choir. She is a founding member of the Nelson Youth Choir Trust Board which was set up in 2021.
Nelson Youth Choir 