World Choir Games: Eight months and counting

John Rosser is used to wrangling dozens of choristers, but handling them in their thousands, that's a whole new scoresheet.

Rosser, long time singer, New Zealand Choral Federation member and director of the Auckland ensemble, Viva Voce, has landed the role of Artistic and Games director of the World Choir Games, due to hit Aotearoa's biggest city in July next year.

With just a month to go before the registration deadline of 6th December, Rosser told RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump, 140 choirs have signed up for the tournament, over 100 of them from overseas.

If each of those choirs were to average 20 members, that would mean at least 2,500 singers landing in Auckland next July.

Rosser thinks there will be many more, and with their supporters, over 10,000 visitors to the city next year.

The games are the brainchild of the German based company Interkultur, which has been running them since 2000.

Originally a tour company specialising in choral-themed tours around Europe, Interkultur saw an opportunity in the market for a choral version of the Olympic Games. In fact, it originally called them the Choral Olympics, until the International Olympic Committee asked them to stop.

Still, the games continue to offer many of the trappings you'd expect at the athletics event; opening and closing ceremonies, including a "huge parade, massive flag ceremony, anthems".

Which means Rosser and his team have booked central Auckland's Spark Arena, not once but six times; for the opening and closing ceremonies, and four awards ceremonies.

"And they are amazing ... they are like choral rock concerts, the choirs are hyped up, hugely excited."

One of Rosser's jobs is to organise a 30 to 40 minute long "welcome to Aotearoa" piece within the opening event.

He doesn't want to give away too much detail just yet, "but I'm working with a really top-class group of creatives to produce this spectacular ceremony that I think, I hope, we'll be really proud of".

Entrants are split into two groups. There's a competitive section for the best in the world to sing-off against each other, and an open section for any choir that wants to give the games a go.

Rosser says, at this stage, the numbers in the two categories are evenly split.

There is one issue, though: Cost.

Basic level entry will cost a choir at least a $1000 per singer, with Interkultur requiring all choirs travelling more than 150Km from Auckland to book accommodation through the organiser, rather than make their own arrangements.

Crump asked whether that was likely to price many Aotearoa choirs out of the market, especially if they couldn't save money by staying with friends, family or on a marae?

"It was our worry too, says Rossiter, so right from the start we've been working with Maōri kapa haka groups, Pasifika choirs and other groups who might struggle (to pay the fees) .... we are applying for funding to help some of these groups to come to the games."

"How many Pasifika and kapa haka groups have registered so far?" He asked Rosser.

"We're on the way with a few, and we're talking to quite a lot of Pasifika groups. 

“It's a little bit more difficult with kapa haka groups, because they don't necessarily see themselves as being choirs, but we have certain initiatives out there and we're reaching out through different channels to talk to them about how the categories in the games, the various genre categories particularly, could work for them."

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