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.
Joanne Hodgson · Associate Music Director
Jo holds Performance Certificate in Voice (Trinity College) and certificates in her ongoing training of the principles of Somatic Voicework ™ The LoVetri Method. She has taught music and singing for over 30 years, from pre-schoolers to tertiary level (Te Auaha) and beyond, both in groups and individually. With a long history of choral singing training through all three of New Zealand’s National Choirs, she is currently co- director of both Wellington Young Voices Children’s Choir and Wellington City Chorus (Barbershop).
A passion for music theatre has seen Jo perform in London while on her working holiday adventures; tour NZ in the ensemble of Evita; play a favourite role of Grizabella in Cats. She portrayed Mrs Noah in NZ Opera’s production of Britten’s Noye’s Fludde and relished the opportunity to premiere leading characters in two homegrown contemporary musicals; Octavia in The Nero Show (Gareth Farr and Paul Jenden) and Hida in The Bone Thief (Cassandra Tse and Bruno Terpstra), and has been part of many ensembles in a variety of shows over the years.
Of late, she has delved into musical direction with productions of Bare: A Pop Opera; Annie Jr.; Frozen Jr.; Mary Poppins Jr.; and most recently Kia ora Khalid (composed by Gareth Farr and written by Dave Armstrong) in the Six degrees Festival at BATS, with a cast of sixteen 10–19year olds, including past and present members of WYV.
Max Toth · Collaborating Accompanist
Max Toth earned a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours, specialising in Organ Performance, from Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music, Victoria University of Wellington. His credits as a organist include collaborations with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the New Zealand Opera, and the New Zealand School of Dance. A former holder of the Prothero Organ Scholarship, he now holds an appointment as Sub-Organist of the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul. Max has had the opportunity to perform in concerts around New Zealand and Europe, and has worked with both adult and children’s choirs in Wellington. He is delighted to be sharing his musical expertise with the young singers of Wellington Young Voices.
Milla Ellis Wood · Administrator
Milla is an experienced administrator and advisor, working across the public and private sectors in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. She got her first taste of choral singing in primary school and has been hooked on the joy of communal music-making ever since.
She currently sings with Orpheus Choir Wellington and Wellington Youth Choir, where she also serves as librarian and soprano section leader. She is excited to be working with the talented tamariki and the passionate musical team at Wellington Young Voices.
Judy Houlahan · Assistant
Judy teaches piano, music theory, and speech to private students and formerly taught at St. Mary’s College for 17 years. Her granddaughter Lana is a valued member of our senior choir, Kōkako.
Rachael Dewar · Chair
Rachael Dewar (LLB, BA) is the founder and principal of Rachael Dewar Law as well as an experienced choral musician. A current member of Orpheus Choir Wellington, Rachael also serves as a voluntary Trustee of several charitable Trust Boards, volunteers at the Soup Kitchen, and is an avid reader and dedicated book club member.
