2018 Concert Series Messiah | Page 21

Bill Power, deputy music director 1965-1983. When I first arrived in New Zealand and joined Auckland Choral, my first concert here was Messiah. It did not take me long to realise that Messiah was not new to me at all. I sang For Unto Us A Child Is Born and Hallelujah when I was in Shanghai, although I did not know they are from the great work of Handel. My familiarity with the music enabled me to gain confidence in this new country. My own experience proves the saying that “music is a world language”. Although our members have different mother tongues, different skin colours and different religious backgrounds, Messiah has the magic to unite the choir and audience to celebrate Christmas and show how we love our lives and how we integrate as Kiwis in this lovely country.  aria zhang, alto Peter Watts conducting, 1997. David Hamilton, deputy music director 1996-2011.