From Aotearoa to Africa: top soprano sings at bishop's consecration

Out of the blue, New Zealand soprano Morag Atchison got an extraordinary invitation.

She was asked to sing in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, at the consecration of her old friend Rev Canon Dr John Ashley Null, now the Bishop of North Africa and responsible for the Anglican church in Tunisia, Chad, Algeria, Libya and Mauritania.

A senior lecturer in music at the University of Auckland’s School of Music, and used to doing star turns in a range of operatic and concert roles, Morag says the invitation to perform in such an exotic location, and at such an important event, still came as a complete surprise.

“In April I got an email from Ashley, my American friend who I’d met many years ago when we were both at Goodenough College [hall of residence for postgraduate students] in London. I was the college chapel’s music scholar while I was studying at the Royal Academy of Music, and Ashley was the college chaplain.”

She recalls her time at Goodenough, where she was responsible for the chapel choir and various choral performances, as a rich melting pot of brilliant students from all over the world, including New Zealand, who found a home away from home there.

“Its buildings are on a traditional Georgian square, right in the middle of London in Bloomsbury, near Russell Square. Being there was very influential for my life and a place I made long-lasting friends.”

“I always knew I was going to accept,” says Morag, "despite the distance and the short lead up time, not only because it was a great honour to be asked and a chance to see Ashley, but also because I hoped to meet other former college friends, including [notable accompanist] my friend Maria-Neus Devesa, who agreed to be the pianist at the recital I was giving ahead of consecration day, as well as on the day itself.”

Alongside the piece Ashley had requested for the service, a well-known hymn, ‘Veni Creator Spiritus’, Morag and Maria-Neus worked on a recital programme that included music from places Ashley had both worked and studied, including England, Germany, France, and the US.

Morag also sang three songs by composers from New Zealand: ‘Song’ by Anthony Ritchie, ‘May the Road Rise to Meet You’ by David Hamilton, and an arrangement of ‘Hine e Hine’ by her friend and colleague at the School of Music, Robert Wiremu. Being so close to Carthage, she says, she also had to include the famous aria, ‘When I am laid in Earth’ from Purcell’s opera Dido and Aeneas, which is set in ancient Carthage.

Fast forward to arriving in Tunis in early May.

“It was hot, busy and a fascinating blend of Arab and French,” says Morag, “as well as being a city of many cats, it’s also known for its proximity to the ancient ruins of Carthage, founded by the Phoenicians in the 9th century BC, which I’m glad I visited, despite only having four days there. And it's home to the Bardo Museum, which has the largest collection of mosaics in the world.

She stayed "in a glorious hotel,” the Royal Victoria, the former British embassy in Tunis. “It was full of beautiful mosaics and marble and had a wonderful view over the medina [traditional marketplace] and the Bab el Bhar, or French gate, a big archway that separates the old and new city.”

St George’s Church, where both the recital and consecration were held, is the only Anglican church in Tunisia and serves a diverse community of expats, students, missionaries and locals, with services mostly in English, says Morag.

On consecration day, she says, the church was a sea of black, white, red and purple-attired guests, among them many notable clerics from the US, Europe and the UK.

The service was led by Archbishop Samy Shehata, the Primate of Alexandria, and the music by British singer-songwriter Andy Piercy, known for being in the eighties band After the Fire, and as a member of the worship team at Holy Trinity Brompton in London.

Others in attendance included The Right Revd Andy Lines, Missionary Bishop to Europe, Revd Dr Justyn Terry, the Vice-Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and The Right Revd Robert Innes, Bishop in Europe.

And fortunately, all went as planned.

“Being able to take part in such a service in that extraordinary place for a friend, with people who were there when I was studying in London, was something I’ll remember as special for the rest of my life.”