About Gale Force Gospel Choir

Who we are and what to expect

We have around 30 singers in our choir. We're a friendly crowd who come from a variety of backgrounds and have a diverse range of beliefs. We don't audition. We learn by ear and repetition. You don’t need to read music. We sing in 4 part harmony: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. You are encouraged to try out the various voice parts to see which you like best.

Mark Bobb is our musical leader. He joined us in April 2025. Mark has sung extensively in New Zealand and the UK. He is an opera singer, jazz singer, violinist and teacher and has energetically dived into leading us in gospel music. His knowledge of singing is greatly enjoyed and appreciated by the choir.

New faces are warmly welcomed. To find out more about singing with us, see the Join page.

We sing gospel

We sing African-American gospel music, along with spiritual songs from African, Pacific Islands and Māori cultures. Many of the songs are call and response style, with simple lyrics.

We sing many of Tony Backhouse's uplifting arrangements of gospel ‘a cappella’. Tony has a huge passion and respect for the gospel tradition and has visited communities in the southern United States in the past. He says “I've been visiting black churches on and off for 25 years and the experience of being in the midst of such celebration, commitment and energy never fails to blow my mind."

Gospel music is firmly rooted in a particular religious and cultural expression. It is our love of singing this energizing and exciting music that brings us together. You do not need to be religious or spiritual in any way to join us.

What we do – events and concerts

Gale Force Gospel holds an annual concert and we sing at a range of events in our community each year.

Sometimes we take trips away, either to learn new material and work on our singing skills, or to visit and sing with other choirs. In 2016 we had our first overseas engagement, participating in the Festival of Voices in Tasmania. in 2019 we did a South Island tour singing with a number of choirs along the way, including a weekend with the Sunny Side Up (gospel) choir in Dunedin.

How we got started

Gale Force Gospel was born out of a weekend workshop led by Tony Backhouse in May 2011. A group of us decided we enjoyed singing this music so much we wanted to continue singing it. We had our first rehearsal in August that year, and have met weekly ever since.

Kāpiti Gospel Choir was formed shortly after. We have been good friends since those early days, collaborating together on a number of projects.

Carol Shortis was the choir’s founding musical director. At the choir’s annual concert on 3 July 2021, we recognised her outstanding dedication and support to the choir by granting her life membership.

Behind the scenes

We are a registered charity. Our registration number is CC55180.

You can read about us and download the choir's constitution from the Charities register – Charity Services website.

Our choir is run by a 'core group' of committee members, who are elected at each AGM. The core group takes care of all the administrative aspects of running the choir, including setting membership fees, paying our bills, and organising our concerts, events and trips. The core group meet once a month after rehearsal. They are a very approachable bunch and love to hear from our singers.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse