William McElwee · Associate Music Director
William McElwee is a multi-faceted musician, engaged professionally as an organist, accompanist, conductor, vocal coach, composer, and baritone soloist. He is Director of Music at St. Mary of the Angels, Wellington, where he leads the St Mary of the Angels Choir and deputises as an organist and pianist. He also directs the Bay of Plenty Symphonia in Tauranga. His work with young voices has included the Youth Choir at St James Lower Hutt, where he was the Acting Director of Music, the choir of St Bernard’s College, and Young Angel Voices at St Mary’s. William returned to Wellington in 2020 from the United Kingdom, where he was Musical Director of the Yeovil Chamber Choir and Collegium Singers (Taunton), Assistant Musical Director of Budleigh Salterton Male Voice Choir, Organist at Holy Family Church Honiton, Deputy Choral Scholar at Exeter Cathedral and Buckfast Abbey, and Singing Teacher at The Gryphon School in Sherborne, while maintaining a private teaching studio. As a singer, he has appeared as a soloist with Days Bay Opera, Eternity Opera, numerous choirs in the Wellington Region, and the New Zealand Opera Chorus. He currently holds the Maxwell Fernie Dame Malvina Major Foundation Award to further his organ studies, while alongside his PGDip in Performance Voice, he holds a BSc in Mathematics and a BA in English and Latin with Honours in English Language.
Joanne Hodgson · Associate Music Director
Jo holds Performance Certificates in Voice and Oboe and has taught music to children for nearly 20 years, bringing musical fun to hundreds of pre-schoolers as well as teaching singing to primary and secondary students around the Wellington region. A passion for musical theatre has seen Jo tour New Zealand in Evita, as well as taking on the roles of Grizabella in Cats for Wellington Musical Theatre, Mrs Noah in NZ Opera’s production of Britten’s Noye’s Fludde, and Octavia in Paul Jenden and Gareth Farr's The Nero Show at Circa. As a choral singer, Jo was a foundation member of the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir and has been a member of the New Zealand Youth Choir and Voices New Zealand chamber choir. She currently sings with Nota Bene, Baroque Voices and Inspirare.
Rosemary Russell · Associate Music Director
Rosemary studied piano with Rae de Lisle and has been an accompanist for a number of choirs including Wellington Youth Choir and Queen Margaret College Chorale. She has taught music for over 25 years in both primary and secondary schools and is currently HOD Music at Sacred Heart College in Lower Hutt. She has worked as a composer/director with children on several recordings and creative projects and some of her compositions are on the SOUNZ website. Rosemary directed the Festival Singers for nine years and currently assists and sings in both the Orpheus Choir and Nota Bene.
Rebecca Stanton · Administrator
Rebecca has sung in choirs since the age of 12 and currently sings in The Tudor Consort and the St Mary of the Angels Choir. She returned to Wellington in 2018 from NYC, where she sang for 25 years in the Russian Chamber Chorus of New York while earning a PhD in, then teaching, Russian language and literature. She is thrilled to be supporting the learning of the next generation of choral singers, including her daughter Eleanor, a happy member of Korimako.
Nick McDougall · Chair
A choral singer and parent of a recent WYV alumnus, Nick has over four decades of choral experience. Since his early training in the Queensland Conservatorium Music School Youth Choir, Nick has sung in chorales, chamber choirs and professional ensembles in Brisbane, London and Wellington. Currently Nick enjoys singing with Nota Bene, Inspirare and Doubtful Sounds. Professionally Nick has been in the energy industry for over twenty years in the UK and Wellington, and in recent years has been running his own business.
