Born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau, Alanah is a student at the University of Auckland, studying Classical Voice with Dr Morag Atchison. Outside of the New Zealand Youth Choir, Alanah is currently a member of the Auckland Chamber Choir, and sings professionally with St Matthew’s Voices and Auckland Choral.

Alanah has sung as a chorister and soloist with ensembles such as the Auckland Symphony Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. In 2023, she was the winner of the West Auckland Performing Arts Competition’s Kotuku Cup for Vocal Solo with the Aotea Youth Symphony. For over four years, Alanah sung as a member of the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir. During her years at Westlake Girls High School, Alanah attended the Big Sing National Finale and toured Australia and Italy with the premier choirs, and was twice the recipient of the Excellence in Music Performance Solo Cup. 

In her time so far at the University of Auckland, Alanah has been a recipient of the Pears-Britten Award in Singing, the Beatrice Ratcliffe Scholarship in Music, the Evelyn M Harrison Scholarship, and the Auckland University Singers’ Choral Prize. Alanah was also a finalist in the Graham Allen Musical Theatre competition, and played Despina in the UoA School of Music’s Opera Scenes production in 2023.

Riley is currently studying Graphic Design at Waikato Institute of Technology. Joining NZYC was a step up from being in the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir in 2021-2022 where they won the Llangollen Eisteddfod Children’s Choir of the World in 2022.

Riley found his passion in singing when he started high school at St Paul’s Collegiate in Hamilton in 2018. Riley made his mark by joining both the full school choir and the auditioned chamber choir from year 9. He also found a love for the stage participating in 3 of his schools annual productions — 2 as a lead. He played Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar and the Lion in The Wizard of Oz. He is super excited to see what is to come with his choral journey, especially excited for the end of course tour in 2025.

Herbert started his choral journey aged 8 as a founding member of Wellington Young Voices, before joining the Onslow College Big Choir and Chamber Choir. He was accepted into the 2021-2022 NZSSC as the tenor section leader while under the tuition of Linden Loader. As an amateur pianist, he performs in casual recitals, accompaniment and chamber events. Herbert took a gap year after high school, during which he joined the Tudor Consort, Wellington Youth Choir as the tenor section leader, and the WYC committee as a fundraiser. Currently, he is studying his second year of a BSc in biotechnology at Victoria University of Wellington, alongside a Classical Performance minor in voice under Jenny Wollerman. Herbert’s soloist programme is focused on early music, and he receives training and performance experience as a member of the Queen’s Closet early music specialist group. As a participant in NZCF’s Young Conductor Training Programme, Herbert is learning choral conducting under Andrew Withington.