SunLive Competition

The Waikato Rivertones, New Zealand’s current champion four-part harmony chorus, is to perform in Tauranga in early August.The group heads to Denver, Colorado, next year to represent New Zealand in the world harmony championships.

With six Tauranga members now singing with the chorus, master director Barbara Smith said they wanted to give Bay of Plenty audiences a chance to hear the chorus at its best.

“In May we won the New Zealand title again, well ahead of the second placed chorus, and want to give our ‘locals’ a great concert before we travel overseas again,” says Barbara.

‘Harmony Explosion’ will be held at Bethlehem College’s Performing Arts Centre on Sunday, August 7 at 2pm. More than 80 women from throughout the Waikato, Bay of Plenty, King Country, Auckland and Rotorua and Taupo sing with the Rivertones.

In 2007 the Rivertones won the world champion mid-sized four part harmony chorus title at the Harmony Classic contest in San Antonio, Texas – the first time the title had left the United States. That win has led to regular television appearances and concerts.

The group’s music ranges from standards, big ballads and classic well-known songs to more modern music by artists such as Queen and Billy Joel, all sung in a cappella (unaccompanied) harmony.

Also featuring in ‘Harmony Explosion’ are chorus soloist, 17-year-old Blaire White, who sang the lead of Maria in last month’s Hamilton production of West Side Story, assistant director and talented flautist Kate Sinclair and a couple of surprise ‘feline’ vocalists.

Tickets are available through TicketDirect, at Baycourt and at the door.

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Competition Results

Eric Gould