2021 is well underway and a lot has happened in my life recently, both musically and personally, so naturally I felt like writing a blog post all about it.
BYE BYE AUCKLAND!
As a tiny house enthusiast I was very excited to come across one that was affordable to rent and parked in a lovely spot in Waikato. I’ve officially moved in, after a month of housesitting around Auckland! I’ll be going up to Auckland weekly for work and uni so I feel like I get the best of both worlds that I love – the busy exciting life and the quiet country life. It’s been great so far and I’m setting up an epic workspace which I’m hoping will help elevate my productivity to never-before-seen levels 😂
SOUNZ COMMUNITY COMMISSION!
From now until June I’ll be travelling down to Nelson monthly to work with the Nelson Bays Harmony Chorus on our collaborative piece funded by the SOUNZ Community Commission. It’s been so cool seeing it all come together and I’m really looking forward to its premiere – 19th June at the Nelson Centre of Musical Arts.
AWARDS!
In December I was stoked to find out that my choir piece Nunc Dimittis was Highly Commended in the 25 & Under Category in the 2020 Compose! Aotearoa Choral Composition Competition. This particular event actually marks the end of an era because I will never again be able to enter competitions restricted to ages 25 and under… as I have now exceeded that age limit :(
More recently, I was thrilled and honoured to find out that I was the recipient of the 2020 Douglas Mews Composition Prize, which is awarded to a composition student at the University of Auckland each year. This is the third time I’ve submitted a piece for consideration, so I’m reminded that persistence really is key.
AVA & LEOV!
My sweet friend and duo partner Avalon is moving to Wellington for a year to start her masters in music therapy, so there won’t be much AVA AND LEOV action happening in 2021. We did a couple of busking gigs post-COVID but haven’t played a whole lot since last summer. But we see each other as much as we can to hang out as we are friends first and duo second 💚 AVA & LEOV will definitely be back!
WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING?
- Continuing in my itinerant position at Rosehill College as composition and songwriting tutor, mentoring senior students throughout the year as they write music for their NCEA Music internal assessments.
- Working with the Sacred Heart Girls College barbershop chorus and quartets this year in my new itinerant role – super excited! Aiming towards the regional contest in late June and all going well, the national contest in September.
- Leading the Young Singers in Harmony management team as we make a comeback after all our events were cancelled in 2020 (thanks Covid). National Convention is heading to Palmerston North this year!
- And better not forget, my Master’s degree portfolio (including thesis) is due in July 😱
So, plenty to do!
‘Til next time – I hope 2021 is proving to be a wonderful year for you all so far 💜
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