This year, the Renaissance Singers’ Carols for Christmas concert will feature the addition of what characterises Christmas celebrations in many countries - children’s voices.
To aid the choir and audience in singing various popular carols, the choir has enlisted the help of 23 young singers who have been rehearsing regularly with Nigel Tongs.
Tongs was a member of the New Zealand Youth Choir when it was judged the best choir in the world. He is also a soloist tenor and a member of the Renaissance Singers. He regularly stands in for music director Christine Archer-Lockwood when she is away to run rehearsals and often does the choir’s warm-ups at their practice sessions.
In addition, Archer-Lockwood has found a handful of young student choristers to boost the melody lines and help the audience with their singing of melodies and choruses.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the picture of children carolling is a common one. Churches there often have choirs of children - John Lennon and Paul McCartney were child choristers in church. When singing outside, children would be bundled up with warm hats, scarves and gloves.
