Groups

Music & Fun Playgroup gives children with special needs, up to the age of 5 years, and their parents/carers, the chance to play and socialise in a fun and supportive environment. Music is an important part of the group. Run by a retired neurodevelopmental therapist & a retired paediatric physio.  Contact Margaret Davidson     nzmargaret@gmail.com  021 293 3009

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When: 9.45 – 11.15am, every 2nd Wednesday during the school term

Where: Courtyard Room, Community of St Luke, 130 Remuera Road, Newmarket

What to bring: Morning tea for your child and a gold coin koha for tea/coffee and use of the room.

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Comprising leading baroque specialists from all over Aotearoa New Zealand, NZ Barok performs using instruments and playing styles of the period, breathing fresh life and vitality into baroque and classical masterpieces and lesser-known musical treasures from the 18th century.

Cantemus is a very friendly community choir based in Newmarket, but with members from all over Auckland. We are an unauditioned SATB choir conducted by Stuart Weightman, singing a wide variety of choral secular and religious music from Bach to Beethoven and beyond. We practise on Monday evenings from 7.30-9.30 (supper included), at St Luke's Church in Newmarket/Remuera

Traditional Scottish music club - fiddles, cellos, keyboard, accordion, flutes, guitars, harps etc. All welcome. Contact Anne-Marie learnScotsfiddle@gmail.com or 021 473 402

The New Zealand Suzuki Institute is a not-for-profit association for students and teachers learning and teaching through the Suzuki Method™. Dr. Shinichi Suzuki developed this method of teaching children to play the violin in Japan in the twentieth century. The method has since been extended to include many more instruments.  Here in Aotearoa, New Zealand we have qualified Suzuki teachers across the country teaching violin, cello, piano, flute and guitar, with some teachers offering Suzuki Early Childhood Music classes.

The Suzuki Method is a world-recognised method for teaching children to learn to play music.  It is based on the belief that every child can, where all children possess innate ability and this ability can be developed and enhanced through a nurturing environment. The Suzuki Method combines instrumental teaching with a philosophy embracing the total development of the child.  The triangle of parent, teacher and child creates a community of learning and sharing, nurturing happy and successful future world citizens through music. For more information, go to https://suzuki.org.nz/

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Opera Factory is a training ground for singers and has been operating since its first inception since 1994.  It’s a way to meet like minded people, to share a love of music and of performing.  A way to develop interests into enthusiasms, and enthusiasms into life long hobbies or serious international careers.

Opera Factory allows performers to move at their own pace  – whether intending a professional career or general enjoyment of singing and performing.  Anyone can join the Opera Factory activities, and can find a supportive place at their own level.

Singers participate at Opera Factory from as early as 10 years old.  Many are encouraged by their own singing teachers, others come at first with a friend.  Classes and workshops are at all levels – from the most basic beginners to advanced musical, character and language work for those moving toward a professional opera career.

Opportunities at Opera Factory include concerts, public events, roles in staged productions, workshops, masterclasses and community events all providing advanced singers the chance to build stage skills, performance endurance, and repertoire.

As well as singers, Opera Factory provides opportunities and experience for pianists, musical and stage directors, costume, lighting and stage designers, theatre technicians, stage managers, and more.  On a smaller scale, every component of opera that happens in the grand opera houses of the world happens too at Opera Factory.

Opera Factory offers guidance, experience and opportunity to young practitioners in all these areas, as well as the opportunity for established singers to move into opera direction, or for theatre directors to try their hand with opera.  Already early members are returning as tutors and directors.  A number of others have been accepted for advanced training overseas, and some have commenced opera careers in New Zealand or overseas.

Charges to participants are kept at a very low level, with substantial philanthropic support.  Further financial assistance is available to appropriate applicants.

‍Opera Factory – for audiences

Training singers is only one side of Opera Factory’s mission. The other side is to bring the experience and passion of opera to wider audiences. This makes a double challenge in programming – to find works that offer suitable roles for developing singers, and at the same time to present a programme that is entertaining and enjoyable. The challenge has been met, and the Opera Factory repertoire includes a range of styles from comic to strongly dramatic, and composers from Mozart and Rossini to Puccini, Menotti and a very jazzy Shostakovich. Opera Factory and its audiences represent a equally wide range of ages and socioeconomic backgrounds, dispelling the common belief that opera is elitist.

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The Pettman Junior Academy is New Zealand's most successful music scholarship programme, preparing our most talented young musicians for future studies at the world's leading universities.