BASS

MUSIC DIRECTOR NZYC

Rowan Johnston has a Bachelor in Music from Victoria University in classical singing and composition and a Postgraduate Diploma and Masters in Conducting from Auckland University. An alumnus of the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir and the New Zealand Youth Choir, Rowan still sings in Voices New Zealand, our premier chamber choir.

Rowan grew up in a musical family, played in pipe bands and sang his the church choir with his sister. It was as a member of the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir, led by Roger Stevenson, that he realised he had found his tribe and wanted to sing at the highest level. Rowan went on to sing with the New Zealand Youth choir directed by Dr Karen Grylls, who inspired him to follow both his passion for singing and interest in directing.

Rowan has previously conducted the Taranaki and Auckland Youth Choirs, was Director of Choirs at Auckland Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and HOD Music at Westlake Girls High School, where he conducted Choralation – the school’s premier mixed voice choir. Under his leadership, Choralation was placed 1st in the Mixed Choir category at the Summa Cum Laude International Music Festival in Vienna, Austria.

Rowan recently relocated from Auckland to Wellington and is HOD Music at Chilton Saint James School where he conducts all the school’s choirs. He also directs the Wellington Youth Choir and co-directs the Aotearoa Academy Choir.

Rowan has regularly been invited to conduct choirs at the Gondwana National Choral School in Australia and is a Choral Advisor for the NZ Choral Federation.