In a nutshell, as the Festival brochure put it, Ata Reira promised an evening of award-winning choirs, majestic voices and Te Reo Maori in song.
Both separately and together, Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir and the New Zealand Youth Choir delivered all this in a choral celebration of light ... and much more. From the start, Paul Lim's imaginative lighting added so much, with shifting colours and intensities complementing the singers' groupings and re-groupings for a selection of music spanning 14 centuries.
The dramatic launch involved a medieval chant from the processing choristers gradually diffusing and clustering around a karanga sung by Natasha Wilson; yes, we were definitely in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2015.
A generous booklet offered printed lyrics and background information, as well as making important connections, such as the various settings that shared the same text.
The opening, Stars by Latvian Eriks Esenvalds, was introduced with the unworldly sound of vibrating wine glasses, an ethereal soundcloud floating above the rich sonorities of the Voices NZ singers, conducted by Karen Grylls.