Robyn Allen Goudge

Robyn Allen Goudge is an Auckland musician with a love for a wide variety of music. The daughter of a singing teacher and a clergyman, she has sung with choirs and musical theatre groups from childhood. In the 1980s she studied singing with the world acclaimed teacher, Dame Sister Mary Leo, while also completing degrees in science and theology, and singing in the ‘Auckland University Singers’ under Prof. Peter Godfrey. She was a founding member of Auckland’s ‘Viva Voce’choir under John Rosser.

Over the last 30 years her musical experience has including leading and conducting groups of singers of all ages from pre-schoolers to retirees, and has involved church and community groups in six North Island cities.

[In 1998 she recorded a CD of twelve original songs entitled ‘The Love I’m In’. She has often collaborated with her husband, Geoff Allen, in providing incidental music for his drama productions, and in 2008 they co-wrote a pantomime entitled ‘Fairytale - The Musical’. She was conductor for the ‘Leonessa’girls’ choir at Takapuna Grammar School, and wrote music for the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ which was given an award winning performance in ‘The Big Sing’ Auckland championships in 2009. In 2013 she wrote and conducted a song for Girls’ Brigade New Zealand’s 85^th anniversary celebration, ‘Give a Girl a Hope’. Two of her songs have been published in the New Zealand Hymn Book Trust’s ‘Hope is our Song’ (2009).]    

In 2000, Robyn commissioned Wellington harp maker, Keith Harrison, to make her a celtic harp. Under the stage name ‘Robyn the Harper’, she sings and plays a wide repertoire of music at various church and community events, schools, rest homes, women’s groups and private functions.

The committee comprises of:

Music Director:  Robyn Allen Goudge

President: Claire Hatherell

Secretary/Treasurer: Robyn Haydon

Publicity: Linda Marais

Librarian: Sue Abercrombie

Stephanie Diamond

Joanne Anderson

Prue Bell

Prue is very modest and very talented. She has played the piano for a great number of years and taught music at Kristin School, Albany, North Shore, Auckland, for a number of years. She is now an independent piano teacher. Prue loves to accompany us and does a sterling job through all our rehearsals and some of our concerts. She also joins the choir as a soprano when she is not playing.

She is the proud mother of Michael Bell, the extremely gifted organist, pianist and composer.

We have the priviledge of having the talentedMichael Bell (BMus, DipTchg) as guest acoompanist at some of our concerts.  He is presently resident organist, composer and music teacher at King's School in Remuera, Auckland. He resigned as Director of Music at St Matthews in the City in 2016 after fourteen years’ service. He has a passion for the music of J.S. Bach and improvises on organ and piano with his own blend of Classical and Baroque elements. In 2016 St Matthews in the City performed his new setting of Psalm 100. He won best performance of a NZ work at the Kids Sing in June 2017 with The Crocodile, words by Roald Dahl. Bell currently composes for the resident choir at King's School.