New Zealand 2024

Airfares are published 331 days before a flight actually departs. Since we are looking at a round trip booking with a return on July 22, 2024, we won’t be able to negotiate with the airlines until at least the 25th of August. For calculating this itinerary, I’ve used an average of fares for travel in the same time period this summer assuming we might enjoy some level of advantage by booking really early.

That said, group bookings are rarely a bargain, and the possibility exists that flights will roll out much higher than anticipated. Should that scenario take place, here are the next steps…

First, I’ll take to the fundraising trail to see if I can offset the difference without raising the cost of the trip. If that’s not successful, we’ll go with a small choir, but again, not less than 24. Finally, if it turns out to be cost-prohibitive in the last place, I’ll pull the plug for the entire project by the end of August. I don’t think that will happen, but regardless, you will know that before the initial deposit is due.

First of all, the home-stays will be hosted by our (Paul & Carol’s) friends, and former students who were in my choir when I taught high school in Napa in the 1990s. I think you’d be crazy to miss out on that.

But… if you’d rather stay in a hotel during your stay in Napa, (you can indicate that preference on the application form,) we’ll attempt to find you a room within walking distance of the rehearsal venue downtown. An initial search suggests that will run about $400 a night for a double occupancy room. We’ll be there for five nights.

This one is a hard “NO.” As mentioned previously, Interkultur is primarily and tourism company that runs choir festivals. They choose the hotels in proximity to the competition and performance venues and we are obligated to use the properties they provide. This has already been built into the total package cost.

Regarding booking your own flights, that’s a hard “sort of!”

The current budget model reflects two separate bookings for those traveling with the group: one round-trip ticket from Newark, NJ to SFO, and a second round-trip booking from SFO to New ZEALAND. THERE ARE ONLY TWO NONSTOP FLIGHTS MOST DAYS OPERATING BETWEEN SAN FRANCISCO AND NEW ZEALAND – each of which depart and arrive within an hour of each other. YOU MUST TRAVEL ON ONE OF THOSE FLIGHTS, WHETHER WE BOOK IT FOR YOU OR YOU BOOK IT YOURSELF. We’ll provide specific information about those flights as soon as we have it ourselves, again 331 days out.

Should you wish to fly to California early and meet us there you will need to plan to leave at least a day early to arrive in San Francisco by July 1. To that end, I’m holding a block of rooms in a youth hostel near Union Square for those who choose this option. That would cost you an additional $75 – $150 to spend the night in the youth hostel depending on the accommodations you choose. When the main group lands at SFO, the bus will make a stop to pick you up at Union Square en route to Napa.

I suspect many will want to do this and book their own flights, which of course, will come off the cost of the package price. But we will want everyone to make the transfer from SFO to New Zealand at the same time. Currently, there are only two carriers that fly that route nonstop. United and Air New Zealand. And they depart/arrive within an hour of each other. We are likely to insist that if you don’t go with the group booking, you make sure YOUR booking includes one of those two flights.

My guess is not much, though there are a couple down days. We are not planning to organize excursions. That will be on you. I’m told that the South Island is absolutely stunning. The flight to Christ Church is about 90 minutes. If there were enough people that wanted to do that for a week after the festival, we’d make a separate group booking with a later return. Again – there will be a place to indicate your interest in that on the application form.

I suspect the hotels will include breakfast. For the most part, other meals will be on you. (Some will likely strike gold with really nice homestay people. Ah, the inequities of life!)

Rehearsals in Napa will likely be held at the Methodist Church downtown where there are myriad dining options to fit just about any budget. But you will need to budget accordingly to cover lunch and dinner while in Napa and in New Zealand.

You will need a valid passport that has at least six months of validity after our departure date, and an NZeTA endorsement (sort of like a visa) that will cost about $25.

Performance attire will be the same as that for this most recent project in Wales. (Which will likely be adopted by the UD CHORALE in the coming year as well.) If you are not currently in possession of the current outfit, you should be able to get that done for less than $100. Details regarding specific attire and where to procure that will be provided upon acceptance to the program.

I’m going to respond with a very measured “YES” on this one.

There will be capacity issues when it comes to home-stays in Napa and again with ground transportation in New Zealand. There will also be an option to upgrade to a hotel in Napa, which would solve that problem but will result in additional costs.

There are certainly workarounds to ground transportation in New Zealand as I don’t believe we’ll be doing a lot of ground travel once we arrive. We’ll have more details about that before the audition process is complete.

Finally, you should know there is no scholarship funding for significant others.

This is a real issue!

You can read about the audition process below, but since it’s already evident that there will be exponentially more applicants than we are able to accept, there will be some difficult decisions to be made. This is why I’m engaging an external jury of internationally renowned colleagues to assist with auditions. [See below]

Once you learn of the audition results, you will have until Friday, September 8th to confirm your place in the choir by submitting a non-refundable deposit of $500. Once you make the deposit, you’re committed. If you back out for any reason, you lose the deposit.

Similarly, if you are accepted and do not make the deposit by the due date (Friday, September 8), your position will be forfeited and we’ll move on to the next singer on the waitlist. Those with extenuating circumstances making it impossible to make the deposit in a timely manner should reach out directly to Dr. Head ASAP.

There will be a rehearsal weekend in the fall (either Sept 22-24 or Oct 13-15), a rehearsal weekend in the winter, (either Feb 9-11 or March 15-17), and a rehearsal weekend in the spring (May 17-19 or May 31- June 2). Ideally, all those accepted will attend every rehearsal. Your availability expressed on the application is a binding contract and will be used as criteria for choosing finalists for participation in the choir.

Once all applications are submitted, we’ll set firm calendar rehearsal dates based on the availability of the entire group. If you are local, it is expected that you will find a substitute for your church job or other local engagements since you will have clearly stated rehearsal times and dates by the end of August.

I also plan to bring in several clinicians over the process to rehearse with us to help us refine our game during the preparation process.

Our final set of rehearsals will be in Napa, California where friends and former high school students have graciously volunteered to host us in their homes while we rehearse all day and present a couple of test-run concerts. [Insert PDH’s weepy eyes here!] My high school teacher, Dan Earl will likely be in attendance as well. I taught in Napa from 1988-1995, so most of those “kids” are the age of the parents of my college students now. I anticipate this will not only be a very productive time and an incredibly poignant experience as well.

California is also a nineteen-hour time difference from New Zealand. OR… you look at it the other way, a five-hour time difference for your body to adjust to – like flying to London. You just lose a day of your life while you’re on the airplane. (BUT, you get it back coming home!! :-))

If we enter four different categories, each has very specific guidelines for repertoire selections. (You can read about this on the Interkultur website.) At this writing, I plan to enter the divisions for MIXED CHOIR, SACRED MUSIC, SPIRITUALS, AND CONTEMPORARY CHORAL. The latter requires the world premiere of a new work commissioned specifically for this context. I’ve already contracted John Frederick Hudson to compose this piece.

My rep list is a work in progress, but here are things on my current sketch pad:

John Hudson Commission
Maura Saule – Peteris Vasks
White Stones – Thomas Lavoy
Tuttarana – Reena Esmail

O Jesu mea vita (transcription of Si Ch’io Morire) Claudio Monteverdi/Coppini, 1609
Christus Factus es – Anton Bruckner
How Faire the Heaven – William Harris
Ita miss est – Carl Rütti

My Lord What a Mourning – William Dawson
Ezekiel – Stacy Gibbs
I’ve Been in the Storm – Jeffrey Ames
Some kick-ass piece that Arreon (assoc conductor) is going to find for us.

Likely that Esenvalds, Runestad, and/or Lauridsen might show up in the fourth set. Work in progress.

While I’m not keen on the exclusivity of selecting 36 singers from a pool of amazing humans I’ve worked with over the past 33 years, (Yes, at least one of my high school students is applying as well!) I believe with every part of my being that an experience like this is transformative in a way that irreversibly alters your perceptions of humanity for the rest of your life. The travel part. The singing part. The community part. The doing something bigger than yourself part. It’s all part of the equation.

While there will be many deserving applicants who are not selected for this project, I encourage you to apply regardless, noting that tenacity counts in subsequent audition processes. There are blueprints on the table for South Africa in 2025, and who knows where after that. Simply know that I don’t take the responsibility of selecting a choir like this lightly. Seeking choral excellence is never worth crushing one’s spirit in the process. Conversely, persevering to achieve greatness is one of the most valuable of human attributes.

If you could not/cannot attend any of the informational ZOOM meetings but would like to hear about the project in real time, here are links to the meeting recordings

Here is a link to the recording of the ZOOM meeting on July 24th, 2023.

Here is a link to the recording of the ZOOM meeting on July 29th, 2023.

The acceptance list for this project will roll out within hours of the callbacks for this year’s UD CHORALE. The two processes are not connected, nor will there be any cross-pollination in the preparation process for New Zealand and the daily business of CHORALE. In fact, Chorale has a huge year this year (dates will be released in the next few days as well) with several important projects that will harken back to the caliber of the pre-pandemic days. Do not attach your success in one of these endeavors to that of the other. And likewise, I’ll be careful not to let the DCS project drift into the daily rhetoric of Chorale rehearsals.