00:00Every week, this hall fills up with heavenly harmonies, but you won't find any church music
00:08in this choir's catalogue.
00:24It's the sophisticated sound of Soul Food, an acapella choir about to celebrate its 20th
00:30birthday.
00:31We try and balance both the idea of being a community, so connecting with one another,
00:35but we also want to pursue musical excellence, so kind of keep those two things in balance
00:40as best we can.
00:41We're so diverse.
00:42We have like age from 20 to 70, and we all come from different, you know, work and ethnic
00:48backgrounds.
00:49Everyone has a different taste, and we've all kind of brought a little bit of that to
00:52the choir.
00:53And in all kinds of ways, the choir gives back.
00:56I'm actually quite an introverted person, so I was really pushing myself to try something
01:02that would like kind of help me express myself and push me out of my shell.
01:07Right now, the group is fine-tuning eight of its most impressive pop numbers in preparation
01:13for this year's World Choir Games in New Zealand.
01:17Just getting ourselves to that standard where we're really happy with how we're singing,
01:21it's always a challenge, you know, constantly wanting to improve what we do.
01:25It's the first time the competition has come to the Southern Hemisphere, and the first
01:28time Soul Food is taking part.
01:31One, two, three.
01:32I came a-jump up to take up the billabong.
01:36Up took his swag bag and grabbed him with glee.
01:40He sang as he shrugged and jumped up in his slipper bag.
01:45You've got a waltzing Matilda with me.
01:49There is that part of me that wants to win.
01:51I think we've worked hard as a choir to get where we are.
01:55We love what we do, and I just hope that shines through.
01:59They're up against 250 other choirs from more than 40 countries.
02:04It's just a great chance to go and be with other singers and hear lots of great choirs.
02:08Soul Food fundraised for a costume budget.
02:11This is a fantastic suit, and the guys look amazing in it.
02:14Lynne and Natalie have been tasked with making it happen.
02:17The colour palette is bronze, powder blue, white and navy blues,
02:23and it represents the Australian landscape and the coast and the sky.
02:27The countdown is on.
02:29In less than a fortnight, these vocal virtuosos will be on stage in Auckland,
02:35singing their hearts out for the chance to be the world choir champions.
02:40And we will be cheering them on from across the ditch.
02:43NBC!
Comments