Voices New Zealand and the shining light of Karen Grylls

I was writing this review when the news came that Dr Karen Grylls had been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the King’s Birthday Honours.  This is richly-deserved recognition for one of the legends of Aotearoa New Zealand’s musical world. Dr Grylls’ contribution to choral music is huge, her wonderful skills as a choral conductor just one aspect of a consummate musician and creative artist who inspires singers, students, conductors, composers and colleagues from other art forms.

Dr Karen Grylls conducting the Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir in the concert “When Light Breaks”

The concert "When Light Breaks", presented in three cities by the Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir under Grylls’ direction over a recent weekend, demonstrated many aspects of her art:  imaginative programme curation reaching across the arts, magical interpretative skill, the highest performance standards for choral singers, a deep knowledge of music across many historic periods and support for contemporary composers including those of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Choral conductor Dr Karen Grylls

…a consummate and inspiring musician.

Photo credit: Charles Brooks

The Wellington concert opened in St Mary of the Angel's Church with the Choir located behind and above the audience in the upper gallery. Their mellifluous singing of the achingly sad O Vos Omnes, by 16th century Spanish composer Victoria, set the mood for a remarkable event. This was a programme about grief, structured around the five stages of grieving identified  by the legendary psychiatrist Dr Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.

Music as an expression of emotion is much older than Kübler-Ross's analysis but Grylls, Music Director of Voices New Zealand, and her collaborator, Stage Director Jacqueline Coats, used the "five stages" - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance - as a framework for a beautiful, moving and deeply satisfying programme.

While the Choir left the upper gallery after Victoria’s motet, two instrumentalists at the front of the Church, cellist James Bush and marimba player Eric Renick, captured the audience with Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger's dazzling Toccata Arpeggiata. Meanwhile two puppets swooped into the scene, expertly steered around the performance area. With all elements present, this was, the printed programme told us, the "denial" section of the concert.

The Choir, singing Praetorius's famous hymn Es ist ein Ros Entsprungen, moved quietly from the back of the hall through the audience to the stage area, each singer in their own time in an effective improvisation. Gathered together, they ended the "denial" section with contemporary Swedish composer Jan Sandström's a capella setting of Es ist ein Ros.

The audience had been quickly drawn into a novel and multi-faceted performance approach, presented without fuss or explanation. All movement was carefully choreographed to maintain a reverent mood, and the performers - singers, musicians and puppets – were gracefully integrated.

Puppeteer Kenny King

from Little Dog Barking Theatre Company

Three works by J S Bach formed the "anger" section. The sensitive duo of cello and marimba offered an Andante from a viola de gamba sonata as introduction to the grief-laden rage of the Crucifixus from the Mass in B minor. This anguished chromatic counterpoint was sung with exquisite clarity by the Choir. Singer Catrin Johnsson, vocal consultant for the project, read the text of Bach’s Jesus bleibt meine Freunde (Jesus remains my joy) and the singers then quietly positioned themselves amongst the audience and we all sang together Bach’s famous four-part chorale, also known as Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.

It was a beautiful moment, bringing musicians and audience together. How was this magical audience participation achieved? The scores were on our seats when we arrived, no instructions were given, there were many capable singers in the audience  - and it just happened.

Throughout the concert, contemporary compositions from around the world were integrated with historical choral repertoire. In the central “bargaining” section, some of the most raw emotions of the evening were expressed in a passionate performance of My prayer by British composer Bob Chilcott. This was paired with the work to which it pays homage, Hear my prayer by Purcell. The weeping female puppet illustrated the painful grief in the music.

Voices NZ has a proud history of commissioning new works from the composers of Aotearoa. Leonie Holmes’ Der Weg had its debut in the “depression” section, alongside its inspiration, Bach’s Komm, Jesu Komm, in which the marimba sounded like a magnificent organ.  The new work by Holmes is dramatically effective, showing off her skills in both vocal writing and musical architecture. The complex texture, sometimes using great stripes of sound, revealed the choir’s virtuosity and beauty of sound in the resonant acoustic.  

We expect impeccable choral performance under Grylls’ direction and of course this was evident throughout. As well, every aspect of this concert was carefully managed, including the movement of the Choir around the space and the integration of the puppets. Coats must be congratulated on her unobtrusive direction, which had the choral singers gently embracing the puppetry, adding both narrative dimension and emotional enhancement.

The concert “When Light Breaks”

…”every aspect carefully managed.”

And so we came to the peaceful resolution of “acceptance” in the final section of the cleverly-crafted programme. A smaller choral group sang William Byrd’s O lux beata trinitas, Bush’s solo cello ushered in the modal choral lines of Where the violin, by young Indian-American composer Reena Esmail, and the brooding black raven puppet was replaced by a white dove. Overt emotionalism can easily become mawkish, but this concert never strayed into excess or cliché – it all felt genuine and inclusive, and the audience remained wonderfully engaged throughout.

The ending had the whole Choir moving closer to the audience for a composition by another young composer, Andrej Makor from Slovenia. His version of O lux beata trinitas uses romantic harmonies, and the Choir’s lovely warm timbres made this a perfect conclusion.

Congratulations, Dr Karen Grylls, for this imaginative and beautiful programme, for your well-deserved recent honour and for the many ways you enrich our musical lives.  

Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir “When Light Breaks” Music Director Karen Grylls, Director Jacqueline Coats, puppetry by Kenny King of Little Dog Barking Theatre Company, with James Bush (cello) and Eric Renick (marimba). Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch 26-28 May 2023