When Brian Lee arrived in New Zealand from Korea 23 years ago, he quickly embraced the local music culture. Since then he has enjoyed singing in choirs including the University of Auckland Chamber Choir, the Graduate Choir of New Zealand and Auckland Youth Choir.

He later established the Stellar Singers and has won gold medals for quartet singing at the New Zealand National Barbershop Convention. He also coaches young singers at Long Bay College, among other high schools.  And last year, this North Shore-based businessman was instrumental in developing the VoCo (Voice Community Project) community singing festival. This year, the final concert in the festival stars The Real Group, and takes place at Bruce Mason Centre later this month.

We asked Brian a few questions about his involvement with Auckland’s choral scene and why he loves what he does….

Channel mag: Please tell us about your main choral roles...

Brian Lee: I founded Stellar Singers in 2010 and I’m the musical director. Stellar is not your average choir, and we have a really different approach to the way the choir is run, the kind of music we sing, the opportunities we get, and the way we rehearse and prepare for major events. We have a passionate group of people of all ages (from 17 to 60-something) and musical abilities, who come together every Monday evening to practise our own funky mix of modern a cappella music. Inspired by the likes of The Real Group, The Idea of North, The Swingle Singers, Pentatonix and The King’s Singers, we enjoy learning a repertoire of quite is the most exciting thing about this, and why did you form the group?

CM: Your “day” job is very different - how do you balance the two roles?

BL:  I’m just a businessman who loves making music with like-minded people. My high school sweetheart who I met at Rangitoto College singing in a choir is  Dr. Clare Lee. It was  music that brought us together. Managing a successful choir is somewhat like a business, intertwined with love  and passion for singing and people. That’s how we do it anyway and has made choir as we are today.

CM: Tell us about how Stellar Singers is different from other choirs...

BL: Our audition process is as much about embracing the Stellar way as musicianship. Our music becomes part of a learned repertoire, so the choir can pull out old songs easily and re-do them when we want to. We do all our songs by heart – a huge challenge to some of the choir who are more used to having the music in front of them. However, by knowing the music without the paper copy there, the singers are much more focused on the performance, and the energy that they give in our concerts is something that is really noted by our audiences. (It even gives me goose bumps at times!)

CM: You obviously love singing. What other groups are you involved in?

BL: VoCo, of course, which takes a lot of my time as the festival approaches. I also spend a lot of time mentoring young people involved in high school singing, including at, for example Long Bay College, to take them to the next level musically and inspire them to continue singing in the community beyond school Several talented kids have gone on to become members of Stellar Singers.

CM: What do you like best about working with Stellar Singers and the other choral activities you are involved in?

BL: For Stellar Singers, it's an inclusive group of people, the passion we all share to make a difference, and the wonderful music that we make together which are the best parts about working with this group.

One of the amazing qualities of music that many people don’t realise, is the power music can bring. When people go through difficult times, happy times, proud moments, moments of celebration, when you are bored, when you are working out, when you are driving, when you are working, we listen to music. Music is the language of human emotion. By singing in the right choir (for you), you get to experience this amazing human ability to come together and share our lives for even just a brief moment, to enrich your life or someone else’s.

To share this amazing experience with people weekly helps us all to get through our week of work, gives us energy but also the chance to connect with people who we grow to love and care about. Stellar has the essence of the best of our community, bridging the gaps between age, ethnicity, sexuality, all diversities, people coming together for a common love. Our choir members range from multi-generational Kiwis to immigrants fresh off the plane, all sharing the same passion for singing. It’s our happy place. This is why I love doing what I do. I get to make something wonderful through singing. This gives me joy, energy and the reasons to give more to our Stellar family. I have no choice, they make me love what I do

CM: Please tell us a bit more about VoCo...

BL: I was inspired and driven to establish VoCo based on my experience here in New Zealand and with music and teaching choirs in number of high schools across Auckland. As an immigrant when I arrived, Winston Peters was going hard at his campaign of anti-Asian rhetoric, which really played a big part in my high school life. But as I got to know the city/country better I soon realised it wasn’t just against Asians, that racism exists everywhere. I taught at many South Auckland schools and the minority ethnicities always got the back end of the deal. I have learnt that singing in a a large ensemble really does break that racism barrier down and gives a chance to view other cultures without extra layers. All community choirs in New Zealand function like this; they are a place where people can let their guard down and just enjoy creating music with their voices of all diversities. I wanted to create something to bring a strong fun inspiring support network and bring the benefit of singing to surface to show the general public. At VOCo you can see all levels of choirs, from high schoolas well as community choirs joining on the same stage as the best in the world groups.

The second reason was the educational benefits. As a migrant where English is my second language it’s wasn’t easy. I learnt how to speak English better by singing, singing with school mates, hearing the sounds and learning intonation. There are so many more educational benefits that people are yet to discover in singing. I have seen people  helped with depression, I have seen people learning so many ‘life skills’ that we all need to learn. In preparing a two-hour concert, especially for those who perform without music, effectively you are preparing two hours worth of speech. But you have to do it with maybe 40+ singers and you have to do it together in sync, with pitch so it sounds like one voice. It is like doing any team sports right here in a choir, and can be an activity you can do for a lifetime. You get all the benefits of meditation and breathing exercises in a choir, all the benefit of brain/memory enhancing exercises all while you are having fun. Why wouldn’t anyone want to give this a go?

We want to break barriers, we want to show you how awesome it is to be part of a choir, we want you to see that there are all types of singers, all levels of singers sharing the same passion. We want others to see this, especially parents so they can encourage themselves and their kids to join a choir community. I reckon this will help make a happier smarter more inclusive Auckland so we can look beyond our differences and embrace our diversity.  

These are my reasons for VoCo and it’s inspiration, a crazy bold idea maybe but hopefully something that can exist to help others in the long-term. So if you are like me who sings in the shower, or in a car or just listens to music when you work, we singers are you.

VoCo final concert: The Real Group Concert, Sunday 24 September, 3pm,  Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna.

www.vocovoice.co.nz