Tim Wayne-Wright, loving the upside of heading south of the equator. Photo: A. McVinnie
So, you're a professional singer based in England who's landed a job in a classical music supergroup, travelling the world, performing to sell-out crowds around the globe – and then you fall for a New Zealander.
Such was the fate of Timothy Wayne-Wright, a member of the King's Singers, but also in love with Gemma.
Thanks to Gemma, Wayne-Wright is now based in Auckland, where he's set up The A Capella Academy, a travelling training course for singers.
Speaking to RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump, Wayne-Wright said his fate – to eventually reside in Aotearoa – was sealed back in 2010.
"I was there planning a jolly night out with my friends ... I planned this night out with these old colleagues from St George's Chapel in Windsor and it just so happens that one of their friends was Gemma ... I took one look at her, spent the whole night chatting to her and promptly ignored everyone else."
Luckily for Wayne-Wright's King's Singing career, Gemma was doing her OE and happy to remain in the UK until it was time to raise a family.
"It was very clear after spending ten years in the King's Singers that one day we would make the move over to New Zealand."
In 2021, the couple (who now had a three year old and a newborn) made the move to this side of the equator, first to Nelson where Gemma's family lives, then Auckland.
How does Wayne-Wright cope with Auckland's humidity?
"I love it. One of the things I really, really loved when I was touring were humid cities, because it's so good for your vocal cords. I absolutely hated air-con. To me that was the devil."
Wayne-Wright even took his own portable humidifier with him to help lubricate his larynx.
Auckland: Wayne-Wright can't get enough of that humidity. Photo: 123rf
Given that Auckland has an ideal climate for singing, it's little wonder Wayne-Wright has thrown himself into setting up a travelling choral academy based there. He's also leading choirs at Auckland Grammar School and, thanks to the power of modern communications, managing some northern hemisphere musicians from his South Pacific base.
Having already taken his academy to Australia "every couple of months", Wayne-Wright's next itinerant teaching gig in Aotearoa will be in Wellington in April.
He describes the academy as an "in-person initiative, which allows me to teach these choral workshops to both individuals and choirs, passing on all those tips and tricks that I learned during my tenure in King's Singers."
"I really want it to be a collaboration and partnership between me and the choir ... I didn't want to come over to New Zealand with my bow tie on saying 'this is how you do it'."
But how much can a choir be taught over a few hours, or even a weekend?
Wayne-Wright says he likes to "sow different seeds" during his workshops, "and if they take away 50 percent of what we've been concentrating on, I feel that's a good job done by me. I really try to put singers out of their comfort zone, try to come out of that, and try to explore different sounds that you're used to making ... We get set in the way of how we think [a song] goes. One of my roles is to blow that all out ... look at it with a fresh pair of ears."
And if you'd like to hear the sort of singing background Wayne-Wright comes from, his old ensemble, the King's Singers is touring New Zealand with concerts in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch next month.
Tim Wayne-Wright may be bringing his choral academy to a place near you soon. Photo: A. McVinnie
