'I just wept the whole way through' - the choirmaster who cast young singers for Tinā
Director of the NZ Youth Choir, David Squire, and young bass-baritone singer Tim Evans chat about working on the hit Kiwi film.
Since its release in March, the choir filmTinā has become one of the most successful New Zealand films of all time.
It's confirmation that New Zealand punches well above its weight in terms of choral music, says David Squire - the director of the NZ Youth Choir (NZYC) who selected the choir for Tinā.
Ahead of the NZYC's performances in Wellington this weekend, he and bass baritone Tim Evans chat about the joy of working on the movie.
David Squire directing the NZ Youth Choir at the Sydney Opera House in December 2022.
Robert Catto Photography
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Tinā centres on a Samoan relief teacher who brings together a high school choir and coaches them to glory at the secondary school choir festival The Big Sing.
To select a group of talented young singers who could pass for high school age in a school uniform, writer/director Miki Magasiva wanted someone who had experience with the competition, Squire says.
He was enlisted for this job by the film's Pacific music director Igelese Ete whom he sang with in the NZ Youth Choir back in the 1980s.
After casting the Tinā choir, overseeing rehearsals and the recording session at Auckland’s Stebbing Studios, Squire's work was done.
"I said goodbye, and Tinā kept going with filming".
In Tinā, relief teacher Mareta Percival (Anapela Polataivao) starts up a choir at a Christchurch private school.
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Squire didn't see the film until watching it with an audience "full of Samoans and choral geeks" at a massive premiere at Auckland's Civic Theatre.
"I just wept the whole way through because it was not at all what I had anticipated it would be. Just hearing the music and feeling incredible pride for the singers and the wonderful job they did, it was just amazing.
"I'm really pleased that this story is now in Australia, and it's already been to the Pacific Islands, of course. Once it gets to Europe and the USA, there'll be people clamouring to see it because it's just such an amazing story."
Tim Evans (they/them) is a member of the New Zealand Youth Choir based in Auckland.
One of the young people Squire recruited to sing in Tinā was Auckland-based singer Tim Evans, who says that being involved with the film was a dream come true from start to finish.
"It was an absolutely wonderful experience to work with the entire cast, particularly Miki, who just brought so many of us into this new world of acting.
"Many of us have sung in Samoan and been singers in many different choirs, but standing in front of a camera is such a different experience, and Miki was an incredible leader in that sense, to bring us all into that space."
New Zealand Youth Choir (NZYC) performances this weekend:
Friday 25 April (Anzac Day): 1pm at Wirinaki Whare Taonga
Saturday 25 April: 3pm at St Andrews on The Terrace
