Jennifer Huckle is currently studying towards a BMus in Classical Voice at Victoria University of Wellington. She previously attended Westlake Girls High School in Auckland, where she was part of the ‘Cantare’ and ‘Choralation’ choirs. As well as being involved in choral singing throughout her life, Jennifer is also interested in performing as an opera singer, and has recently performed in several projects along with students from the New Zealand School of Music.

Kia ora! My name is Mackenzie and I am a baritone, originally from Wellington, who has migrated to Auckland in pursuit of a better climate! My choral singing career was kickstarted when I auditioned for the Wellington College Chorale in 2016 and loved every minute of it. Since then, my passion for singing has snowballed and I picked up as much as I could – musicals, plays, and most recently, a place in the NZ Secondary Students’ Choir 2019-2020 cycle. I am very grateful, and excited, to be able to represent the NZYC for our upcoming cycle!

Miles is originally from Manchester, UK and currently lives in Auckland. He is studying a Bachelor of Music in Classical Voice at the University of Auckland after he finished high school at Rangitoto College in 2019. A member of NZ Secondary Students’ Choir in 2019-20, Miles also plays and teaches the trumpet around Auckland’s North Shore.

I am a Palmerston North boy born and bred and music is my life. I play guitar and I sing (obviously). My favourite genre of music is Country/Folk and when I’m not playing, I’m writing music. I’m also doing building and construction with a local business for a job and I love it (but not as much as music). I’d like to start my BMus (Majoring in Creative Practice: Popular Music) in Auckland at the start of 2021. Something about me: I was a twice bone marrow donor when I was five years old.

Blake Scanlen is a bass-baritone, conductor, and composer from Tāmaki Makaurau. He currently performs with Voices NZ, NZ Youth Choir, Auckland Chamber Choir, Austellus Vocal Ensemble, and St Matthew’s Voices as well as various solo engagements with local community choirs. Blake is currently the Artistic Director of Neotectonic Vocal Ensemble and teaches Music and English at Westlake Boys High School. He studied composition, conducting, and classical performance voice at The University of Auckland’s School of Music, graduating in 2022.

Dan is based in Palmerston North, and before University, he attended Palmerston North Boys High School and was a member of the school choir ‘The OK Chorale’; this is where his passion for music and singing began. As a chorister, Dan was a member of the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir from 2017-18 and this is his second cycle with NZYC. He explores barbershop singing with internationally recognised  Wellington Chorus Vocal FX. Dan was recently accepted into the wider singing pool of Voices NZ.  He graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance from the New Zealand School of Music in 2021. Dan works as a Primary school teacher in the Manawatū region and he is working as an itinerant music teacher in a range of high schools as a brass, strings and singing teacher. He continues performing music in big bands, and community choirs in his spare time. 

Hey, I’m Josh, I am currently a first year student studying at Victoria University of Wellington. I am working towards a Bachelor of Science with a particular interest in Marine biology and biodiversity…but we shall see where that goes in the future. I currently live in Napier and I was also born and raised here. Aside from music, my other major hobbies include tropical fish-keeping, and figurine collecting, with a particular taste for dinosaurs at the moment. One of few quirks happens to be the ability to make decent animal impressions, which is always a good laugh.

Desmond is from Auckland. He is currently in his second year of studying an LLB/BMus conjoint majoring in Classical Performance at the University of Auckland under Dr Te Oti Rakena. Prior to NZYC, he was a member of NZSSC 2017 – 2018 and several other choirs and musical ensembles during his time at St Kentigern College.

Xavier is Wellington-based, and is an ex-Tawa college student. He is currently a first year student at the Victoria University of Wellington, studying a BSc/BMus Conjoint in Psychology and Classical Voice. Also a member of the NZ Secondary Students’ Choir, 2019-20. Hobbies include songwriting and learning languages

Takerei (ia/they/them) is based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and holds a BMus in Classical Performance Voice from the University of Auckland. Takerei is very active in the NZ choral scene as a singer, composer and conductor. They sing in the New Zealand Youth Choir, and Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir, and regularly perform with choirs and ensembles around the country. Previously, they were a member of the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir’s 2017-2018 cycle. 

Alongside this, Takerei is actively involved as a conductor. They have been the Peter Godfrey Conducting Scholar for the New Zealand Youth Choir, and have conducted choirs at Kristin School, St Paul’s College Ponsonby, Auckland Grammar School, and currently Takapuna Grammar School and Epsom Girls Grammar School. They also developed the Lower Voices Choral Festival, which brought together lower-voice choirs from around Tāmaki Makaurau for an afternoon of bonding over singing and performance. The festival had a successful first outing in May of 2024. 

As a composer, they have enjoyed writing various commissions over the years. Their most recent major work, E Kiwi E, was premiered by in April of 2024 by Orpheus Choir Wellington, joined by Wellington Brass and Hiwa Performance Creative. In October of 2024, they were awarded Highly Commended in the national choral composition competition, Compose Aotearoa!, with their piece, Papatūānuku, scored for SATB double chorus. 

In their free time, Takerei enjoys playing video games, gawking at sunsets, and begging their three cats to love them.