About Chris
Go to Chris’ Curriculum Vitae / Resumé page
Chris Burcin was HOD Music & Performing Arts at Waimea College in Nelson, New Zealand, for 10 years from 2002. He took the school’s chamber choir, Belle a Cappella, to The Big Sing National Finale three times. He was Associate Conductor of the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir 2007-08 and performs regularly with the national chamber choir, Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir– recently at the World Symposium on Choral Music in Argentina (August 2011).
Chris founded and sang bass with Musica Ficta, Nelson’s Early Music vocal ensemble and co-founded Trent de L’Amour and the Subcommittee, Nelson’s premier funk/ lounge band, in which he played trombone, Hammond organ and supplied some vocals. He is also rumored to play accordion with the quirky East European klezmer band, Comrade Z, but this has never been substantiated.
As a vocal soloist, Chris has featured in performances of some of the great works including Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Haydn’s Nelson Mass and the Requiems of Mozart, Faure and Durufle.
Chris received his degree in Music Education in 1996, majoring in piano, from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, USA. He danced, sang and played his way through university on a Tamburitzan scholarship, performing East European songs and dances throughout North America. He toured Europe as a member of the Duquesne University Chamber Singers, a group that would go on to win the prestigious Marktoberdorf Chamber Choir Competition in Germany.
After teaching primary school music near Boston, USA, Chris joined the Peace Corps in 1998 and taught music as a volunteer in Samoa for two years. In that time, he travelled throughout the Samoan islands teaching classroom music and music lessons, working with both conductors and choirs and directing two televised theatrical productions.
During a round-the-world trip (where he made his Nepalese debut with the Kathmandu Good Time Blues Band) Chris was offered a position in Whangarei, New Zealand, teaching music and performing arts at Kamo High School. He joined Opera North and Consortium choirs, and the cast of Les Miserables. He also guest-conducted Opera North and debuted as a classical soloist in the Mozart Requiem with Consortium.
In 2002 Chris joined the national chamber choir, Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir. He also took the job of Head of Music and Performing Arts at Waimea College near Nelson, New Zealand.
During his time at Waimea College, a secondary school of roughly 1500 students, Chris grew the department from one teacher and a handful of classes to four teaching staff, a full time arts coordinator, and a dozen itinerant instrumental tutors. As of the start of 2011, nearly half of all students at Waimea College had chosen to become involved in the performing arts at the college.
Highlights of his time at Waimea College include founding Belle a Cappella, the chamber choir he would lead to The Big Sing National Finale three times, and musically directing the school production Jesus Christ Superstar in 2008, which performed to sell-out crowds and rave reviews.
In 2007 Chris was invited to work with the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir as associate conductor, vocal tutor and musical arranger. The 55-member choir rehearsed and performed throughout New Zealand in preparation for a tour to Brazil and Argentina in July 2008.
Since moving to Nelson, Chris has conducted Polyhymnos Chamber Choir at the Nelson School of Music , placed second in the Nelson Aria Competition, played Emperor Joseph in Peter Schaeffer’s “Amadeus”, played trombone for the Nelson Symphony Orchestra, founded Musica Ficta, co-founded the funk band Trent de L’Amour and the Subcommittee , married Michelle and welcomed baby James to the world, and very nearly learnt to windsurf.
For more information,
email: chrisburcin@yahoo.com
www.myspace.com/christopherburcin
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