Diccon Sim is a partner in Dunedin law firm, Gallaway Cook Allan.  He studied Philosophy and Law at the University of Otago and also holds a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from Oxford University.

He was a member of the New Zealand Youth Choir from 1983 to 1988, and a member of its management committee during that time. A longstanding member of Dunedin’s St Paul’s Cathedral Choir, he has also sung as a tenor Vicar Choral in the choir of Wells Cathedral, and was a member of Schola Cantorum of Oxford during his postgraduate studies.

Diccon serves on the Boards of Dunedin’s Fortune Theatre and Selwyn College as well as the Boards of a number of trusts in the disability sector. He is also Chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin and a Proprietor of St Hilda’s Collegiate School.

Diccon joined the trust in May 2015 and has been Choirs Aotearoa’s Honorary Solicitor for a number of years.

Diana Cable has 24 years’ experience in the arts sector. After 4 years as an Industrial Relations Officer in the State Services Commission, Diana turned to the arts in 1986. One year managing Wellington City Opera was followed by 10 years as a Music Producer at Radio New Zealand Concert. She then worked as an independent producer for 7 years and was appointed as Artistic Administrator of the New Zealand International Arts Festival in 2003, after working for the Festival on a contract basis from 1997.

Having managed the Lexus Song Quest (formerly Mobil) since 1990, Diana also has considerable experience working with young singers.

Diana is a member of the Board of Trustees of Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand and Chair of its Artistic Advisory Group, a member of the Wellington Creative Communities grants committee and a Past President of the New Zealand Opera Society.

Diana is an alumnus of the New Zealand Youth Choir

Andrea Gray was appointed Chair of Choirs Aotearoa NZ Trust in April 2015. She has worked in the public and private sector in roles including knowledge and information management, introduction of web services to support business service delivery and relationship management. She is currently Deputy Chief Executive at NZQA and leads the Digital Assessment Transformation. She has a BMus, BA (Linguistics) and an MA (Library & Information Studies).

She spent many years enjoying supporting her children in their musical endeavours, including a great deal of choral work at their respective secondary schools. This rekindled her desire to sing and she has been a member of the Orpheus Choir of Wellington and, intermittently, the Chorale ensemble of the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul since 2006.

After joining the board in 2014, Andrea became Chair of Choirs Aotearoa NZ Trust in April 2015 .

Arne Herrmann has worked for over 20 years in Arts and Festival Management in New Zealand.

He held senior management positions at New Zealand Festival, Auckland Arts Festival, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, UNITEC School of Performing and Screen Arts and the contemporary dance company The Human Garden. Arne was the Festival Director of the National Jazz Festival and Garden&ArtFest in Tauranga. His work also included the Lexus SongQuest, Michael Hill International Violin Competition, Wellington Jazz Festival and National Youth Jazz Competition.

As freelance consultant Arne’s clients included the New Zealand Opera, Indian Ink Theatre, Te Matatini Kapa Haka Festival and the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival.

Arne Herrmann took up the role as Chief Executive of Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand in May 2016.

DMA, DipRAM, PGDip(Perf), BMus(Hons), LRAM

Morag Atchison has firmly established herself as one of New Zealand’s leading sopranos, pedagogues, and choral educators. She studied at the University of Auckland and Royal Academy of Music (London) and was a finalist in the Kathleen Ferrier and Royal Over-Seas League Competitions. She has performed operatic roles including Berta, The Barber of Seville (NZ Opera) Helmwige, Die Walküre (NZSO); Lady-in-waiting, Verdi’s Macbeth; First Lady, Magic Flute (NBR NZ Opera); Fourth Maid, Strauss’ Elektra (APO); Blumenmädchen, Parsifal (NZSO); Annina, La traviata (English Touring Opera) and Sandrina, La Finta Giardiniera (Opera Unleashed, Hamilton Festival). Morag’s concert engagements include performances of the Britten War Requiem (CSO); Mozart Requiem (Voices NZ and Wellington Sinfonia); Handel’s Messiah (VNZ and WS; Auckland Choral); Verdi Requiem (Bach Musica); Tippett’s A Child of our Time with the NZYC and NZSO-NYO; and Beethoven’s Ah! perfido (APO and Manukau Symphony). In 2018 Morag travelled to England, France, Germany, and Spain as part of Voices New Zealand’s European tour and was a soloist on the soundtrack for the major motion-picture Mortal Engines. In 2022 her debut CD The Distance: Songs of David Hamilton was released on the Atoll label. Morag’s recent engagements include Britten’s War Requiem with Orchestra Wellington and the Orpheus Choir, she was the Guest Artist at the Lockwood NZ Aria Finals in Rotorua, singing with the Auckland Philharmonia, a performance of the Verdi Requiem with Auckland Choral, and a recital as part of the celebrations for the consecration of the Bishop of North Africa in Tunisia. Later in 2025 she will sing with Voices NZ as part of their European Tour.

Morag is a Senior Lecturer in Voice at the University of Auckland, vocal consultant for the acclaimed New Zealand Youth Choir, the University of Auckland Chamber Choir, and for over a decade worked with the award-winning Choralation from Westlake Girls’ and Boys’ High Schools. She was a regional judge for 2023 The Big Sing choral competition and in 2025 will be the judge for The Big Sing’s Cadenza festival. In 2013 Morag was awarded a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Auckland, the first DMA in vocal studies from a New Zealand University. In 2019 she was elected as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM).