haere mai! This is SongFest’26!

SONGFest’26! is a brilliant three-day showcase of the best young singing talent from Ōtepoti Dunedin and all over the South.

Formerly the Green Island Jr Vocal Competition, the Festival has a long and proud history of over 75 years.

Now revamped and rebranded, it will be held at a new convenient inner-city location, the state-of-the-art Castle 1 Lecture Theatre at Otago University.

The Festival’s broad range of song categories & styles is sure to appeal to every young singer:

• CONTEMPORARY

• WAIATA

• POP

• CLASSICAL

• MUSICAL THEATRE

And more!

INTRODUCING OUR ADJUDICATOR: GINA SANDERS

(Soprano) BMus (Auck), FTCL (voice), BMusHons (Qld), ATCL (piano), AIRMT (NZ).

Gina has a very busy multifaceted career as one of NZ’s leading soprano soloists. She’s also an advanced teacher in Classical and Musical Theatre performance, a choral conductor, events manager, and an examiner.

After completing seven degrees and diplomas in piano, voice, theory, musicology, pedagogy and languages at Auckland and Queensland Universities and Trinity College London, she became the first NZ musician to be awarded a Rotary International Graduate Scholarship, enabling her to undertake post-graduate studies in Stuttgart, Germany, to where she regularly returns for operatic and concert performances. 

International Concert Tours: Since 2003 Gina has made 20 tours, covering over 18 countries in Europe, the UK and the Pacific. Most recent tours have included world premieres of operatic and sacred works by composer Vladimir Romanov in Stuttgart and other venues in north-eastern Germany, while in Italy she appeared at Villa d’Este (Tivoli), Villa del Cardinale, the Infiorata at Genzano and several NZ Embassies in Europe. In 2026, she will be presenting masterclasses and concerts in France, along with further concerts in Germany and Italy.

Closer to home, Gina has appeared as a soloist with every major choral society, orchestra and opera company in NZ and is a NZ Concert FM artist.

Musical Theatre is also a passion for Gina: She has coached casts for many stage productions on the Music Theatre stage and taught the MT syllabi for several examination bodies up to Diploma level for several decades. In the CCM field she has assisted young singers and musicians in song composition and recording.

Vocal Teacher: Gina also accepts invitations to present her courses: The Developing Singer, The Developing Teacher and The Developing Musician in several different languages. Emphasizing fact-based vocal teaching, these programmes are designed to assist all levels of students, teachers, choir directors and other musicians who are keen to extend their knowledge of singing and the vocal instrument.

Supporting her passion for education, she is a longstanding member of IRMT(NZ) and has served as a national executive councillor for NEWZATS. Now a Teaching Fellow at Waikato University, she continues her examining role for the New Zealand Music Examination Board whilst directing the award-winning CAMA Youth Choir and is a Deputy Musical Director for Bach Musica NZ.

Experienced Adjudicator: Gina has adjudicated throughout NZ and internationally. Her work in numerous professional and community events has been acknowledged with a national Local Heroes award. Gina is the Patron of the South Auckland Performing Arts Competition Society and has a particular interest in harnessing and developing the natural qualities of individual voices.