Chris is an active choral conductor, teacher, adjudicator and performer. He adjudicated the vocal and choral sections of the Mackay Eisteddfod in August 2022 and will adjudicate the same sections of the Townsville Eisteddfod in September 2023. He has conducted at the Pemulway National Male Voice Festival in Brisbane (July 2017 & 2023) and continues as vocal ensemble conductor for the Queensland State Honours Ensemble Program (SHEP) in 2023 after Brisbane (June 2022) and Rockhampton and Bundaberg (2020).
He has been a regular conductor at Gondwana National Choral School in Sydney (2014-2019) and Festival of Voices in Tasmania (2015-2018). He served as choral clinician for many choirs including Pimlico Voices (Townsville), Somerville House and Stuartholme, (Brisbane). In July 2019 he was Festival Director for the inaugural Secondary Choral Festival hosted at All Hallows’ School, Brisbane, and has been invited back as Festival Director for the next festival. Chris is currently Co-Curricular Arts and eLearning Middle Leader at St. Monica’s College, Cairns, an all-girls Catholic Mercy school celebrating over 130 years of excellence in education.
Through Gondwana Choirs, Chris has conducted at National Choral School in Sydney (2014, 2015, 2017, 2019), several Cairns Songfests, notably alongside the Vienna Boy’s Choir (2017), Gondwana Young Men’s Choir (Festival of Voices 2015, Tasmania) and he co-conducted the Cairns Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir with Lyn Williams (OAM) from 2012 through 2016. Chris has conducted at festivals and workshops throughout Australia, New Zealand and Samoa.
As Associate Conductor of the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir (2007-2008), Chris toured throughout New Zealand and to South America.
He performed with Voices New Zealand, the national chamber choir, from 2002- 2013 including regular performances at the NZ International Arts Festival and with the NZSO, the New Zealand String Quartet, the Hilliard Ensemble. As part of the choir, he represented New Zealand on tours to Europe (2005) and at the World Symposium on Choral Music in Argentina (2011). Chris features on Voices New Zealand’s CD recording, ‘Voice of the Soul’, which was nominated for Best Classical Album at the 2014 NZ Music Awards.
Chris was Director of Music & Performing Arts at Waimea College, Nelson, for 10 years. He founded the school’s chamber choir, Belle a Cappella, which was invited to The Big Sing National Finale three times earning Silver, Bronze and Adjudicator’s Awards.
Chris has performed as a classical voice soloist in numerous concerts and productions, most notably ‘Carmina Burana’ at the Nelson Arts Festival (2008). He founded Musica Ficta, Nelson’s Early Music vocal ensemble, and performed with Baroque Voices, the professional Early Music ensemble based in Wellington. Chris played trombone with the Nelson Symphony and co-founded the funk band, Trent de L’Amour and the Subcommittee. It is rumoured that he was a member of Comrade Z, Nelson’s loudest East European klezmer band (though this has never been proven).
Chris is currently Co-Curricular Arts and eLearning Middle Leader at St. Monica’s College, Cairns’ oldest school and only all-girls Catholic school. He conducts the college’s award-winning senior choir, Colla Voce, formed the school’s first Brass Ensemble and reignited the boys’ choir at neighbouring St. Augustine’s College. He has performed at the Cairns Festival, at the Centre of Contemporary Arts through Paradise Concerts and performs regularly on accordion and piano with Tango Amor.
For more information, contact Chris
Chris Burcin 