It doesn't matter if you're a bass, baritone, tenor or countertenor – if you can carry a tune, work well in a team, and want to share your talents with the community, the Katikati Maestros want you.

Established by musical director Jeanette Hassell-Back, the popular male choir regularly performs at community events alongside their female counterparts, the Katikati Divas, as well as hosting two concerts each year.

Jeanette says there's eight singers who currently make up the Maestros, and if she had another four singers join their ranks that would be 'marvellous”.

'At the moment we have 23 singers in the ladies choir, so to balance it out, we need a few more men. But it can be difficult to get guys to commit to something like the Maestros, the biggest problem is most of them don't believe they can sing, but that's simply not true.

'So I'll take anyone at this stage,” she says laughing, 'just as long as they can hold a tune.”

Jeanette, who previously directed the Taranaki Male Choir, says she started up the Maestros after moving to Katikati about seven years ago and discovering the town didn't have a men's choir. ,

Both the Maestros and Divas perform songs in four-part harmony, and their repertoire include tunes like ‘New York, New York', ‘Road to Mandalay', ‘Fields of Gold', ‘Till we meet Again', ‘Tears in Heaven', ‘My Land',and ‘Hine Hine'.

'Our repertoire is nothing too heavy, but it's more than just singing in unison. We're performing songs that lift the soul, absolutely, and part-singing does do that. It's not just melody singing.”

The Maestros rehearse once a week at St Peter's Anglican Church on Beach Road every Tuesday from 7pm, while joint rehearsals with the Divas happen every two to three weeks, or 'when and where needed”.

Jeanette says the Divas and Maestros first concert of the year takes place May, they'll then break for a couple of months, then crack into rehearsals again for their end of year concert in November.

'This is an opportunity that's open to everyone. We don't urgently need singers, but the sooner people get involved the better.”

To learn more about joining the Katikati Maestros call Jeanette Hassell-Back on 07-549-3668, or email jeanettehassell@hotmail.com