Music in Dunedin
Music at Otago is not just music at the university. Staff and students are involved in music-making organisations in the city, and perform as often in city venues as in campus venues.
These are some of the local musical organisations with which we are linked.
Orchestras
- The Southern Sinfonia is Dunedin’s professional orchestra, giving concerts in the Dunedin Town Hall or Glenroy Auditorium in the centre of Dunedin. The orchestra includes some students.
- Beginners in orchestral playing are catered for by the
Dunedin Youth Orchestra and the Collegiate Orchestra
Choral music-making
- The City of Dunedin Choir
- The Southern Consort of Voices
- The Southern Youth Choir and several church choirs (e.g. Knox Choir and St Paul's Choirs) provide an opportunity for singers to take part in choral music-making.
Brass bands
- Dunedin has an active and very successful brass band scene. Music students play in the St Kilda Brass Band and the Kaikorai Metropolitan Band.
Opera groups
- Local opera groups include:
Opera Otago, which present professional productions often using leading young singers from the Department
Dunedin Operatic Society
The Really Authentic Gilbert and Sullivan Trust, which is currently performing all the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas in chronological sequence. Students sing in these groups too.
Cultural Groups
- Dunedin is home to several Maori cultural groups (including the University's Te Kapa Haka) and a Cook Island Group (Kia Orana). Music students are encouraged to be involved in cultural groups.
The local Music scene
- Dunedinmusic.com covers the local music scene
- The biennial Otago Festival of the Arts is a highlight
- Dunedin hosts the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra regularly, and concerts organized by Chamber Music New Zealand, as well as out-of-town musicians and musicals