Luminata Voices – Let Her Voice Shine
St Matthew-in-the-City, Saturday 10th September
Concert Review – Blake Scanlen
Photography by Todd Lay
Having been postponed twice already it was fantastic to finally hear Luminata Voices present their programme Let Her Voice Shine, a concert of choral works exclusively written by female composers from Aotearoa New Zealand. The programme featured a number of well-known New Zealand female composers almost entirely performed, directed, and accompanied by female musicians from across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, something to be celebrated indeed.
The programme opened with Katherine Bell’s Te Mea Nui originally written for SATB voices but here arranged for SSAA. A risky piece to begin the concert due to its soft, exposed entries but a risk that paid off once the singers found their footing. The tight, close harmonies worked well in this arrangement and the singers were able to fill the space of St Matthew’s effectively.
Throughout the evening, the concert was compèred by Erin Atchison who introduced the pieces and read out poetry - sometimes of the pieces performed, and at other times, related poems by female New Zealand writers. Next was Katherine Dienes-Williams’ Ave Maria. Whilst this wasn’t the most interesting piece on the programme it was nice to have some sacred music performed alongside the rest of the secular repertoire.
Two works by Cheryl Camm followed - the first, Motu Puketutu, saw a collaboration with David Kay and Rhianna Maker on percussion and Elizabeth Lau on double bass. An interesting piece but a tame performance given the subject of the piece which talks about the island Puketutu which has a history of fatal battle between Māori and British as well as island pollution. I would’ve liked the rhythms to be a bit snappier also. On the other hand, Banana Fanfare, also by Camm, enjoyed a much livelier, energetic performance and was a nice departure from the more “serious” composition of the evening’s programme.
A good performance of the first and third piece from Dorothy Ker’s set of six pieces Close up of a Daisy interspersed both of Camm’s works. Ker’s writing began to challenge the choir with some extended techniques for the voice which were handled well.
Next were two pieces by young Ōtautahi Christchurch based composer Rosa Elliott. Out of Reach was originally written for the SATB voices of Supertonic in Pōneke Wellington and had later been rearranged for SSAA for the BGSU Women’s Chorus in Ohio, USA. A great performance which the choir seemed to enjoy. Great, yet difficult choral writing which paired well with the piano played by Rachel Song. Next was Light, a world premiere commissioned by Luminata Voices for this specific concert - a great initiative. Again, a challenging work with many exposed passages alternating between a capella and accompanied by piano, however Luminata were able to get inside the score and really do the piece justice - a thrilling performance.
The landmark work of the programme was Leonie Holmes’ Land Pictures, a cycle of five songs for women’s voices and harp. Unfortunately, the harpist who was meant to play for this concert caught COVID on the morning of; thankfully the ever-proficient Robert Wiremu stepped in to play the harp part of piano, imitating some of the extend techniques used by getting inside the piano and using various pedal techniques - a lucky save indeed. Despite this unexpected change, the work was performed splendidly and was one of the highlights of the evening. Luminata effectively captured the atmosphere of the work through the telling the stories depicted by Anne Powell’s poetry of “land as power” and also “land as grandparent” among other distinctly New Zealand themes.
The penultimate piece was Poem for War by Sarah Belkner (nee McCallum). An effective work with a moving solo by Celia Aspey-Gordon. To finish the concert Luminata presented again another new work, this time a waiata by Tuirina Wehi - Kia au tō moe. Luminata were totally in their element here without music folder or stands and clumped to the centre, accompanied by Deane Siakimotu on guitar. Director Vanessa Kay joined the choir in song as their voices soared throughout the acoustic. A fitting finale to an important concert for the choir.
Overall, the choir presented an effective concert celebrating the music of women from Aotearoa New Zealand. Their sound was lush and they enjoyed various collaborations with different instrumentalists and some pieces gave choristers a chance to shine as soloists. It was a shame the audience numbers were not as large as previous concerts as these works really deserve to be heard by more.
It was a well performed concert with all the best intentions of raising the profile for female New Zealand composers. Luminata Voices should be proud of this programme as it’s probably a first for any choir in New Zealand. Here’s to the next concert!
