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Two of the region’s most popular musical groups are joining forces in June for a couple of rousing nights of swing and jazz music in Warkworth and Matakana.
Matakantata Choir and Warkworth Brass will be performing their combined concert, ‘Swing’, at Matakana Village Hall on Friday, June 22 and at the Warkworth Town Hall on Friday, June 29.
Music lovers can expect a packed programme of foot-tapping classics, including Hit the Road Jack, Moondance, Route 66 and Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, with both groups each performing a number of songs on their own and together. The choir will be joined by Fiona Strathern on piano, Vaughan Morgan on guitar and drummer Neil Tristram on pieces they perform without Warkworth Brass.
The collaboration is the first time the 50-odd choir and band members have teamed up to work together, something which Warkworth Brass manager Donna Flack says has presented a few logistical challenges.
“We have players that come from Albany up to Wharehine, they have members from Pakiri, and our band room is too small for us all to rehearse, so we all have to go out to Matakana,” she says. “It’s a major undertaking, but the end product should be awesome. It’s something that’s not been seen in Warkworth and Matakana before.”
It will also be the first time that the band and choir have performed in the renovated town hall in Warkworth, which Donna says they are all looking forward to.
Matakantata will be under the leadership of US pianist Amy Cottingham and musical director Alan Flack will lead Warkworth Brass.
Tickets for Swing cost $20 for adults and $5 for children and can be bought in advance from Harts Pharmacy, Warkworth and the Gull Service Station in Matakana.
Both concerts start at 7.30pm.
