Māori and Pasifika choral singers from Aotearoa, showing off their Polynesian pride on the other side of the planet, have redefined stereotypes of the traditions of church choirs inside just two years following an elite gold-medal performance at the 2026 World Choir Games in Sweden.
The United Auckland Gospel Choir in collaboration with singers from the Temple View Gospel Choir down the road in Hamilton have bettered more than 160 choirs from at least 40 countries and cultural regions of Europe, and around 8,500 singers including from passionate choir heartlands of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Hungary and the United States in what is also colloquially termed the Choir Olympics.
"No one can beat us at being us," Seumanu Seuoti Simon Matāfai JP, the group's choir master and pianist, told Radio New Zealand after the win.
"We are the best at being ourselves, as Indigenous, Pasifika, Māori, and Oceania, as a region."
Their swift climb to the top of the choir summit started two years earlier back home in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) after first earning praise for winning the gospel category for the 2024 edition of the World Choir Games, which typically has been dominated by Black American choirs where the origins of modern-day gospel was founded.
Their harmonious sounds of New Zealand's Indigenous peoples wowed not only audiences in the land of the long white cloud - the literal Māori meaning of Aotearoa - but more importantly, the judges, who are doctoral professors in the choral performing art, to also take home the broad world open competition.
That victory ensured automatic entry for the next 2026 champions competition, the top-tier event that every international choir covets.
This time around the soothing Polynesian vocal cords knew they would have their singing cut out for them.
"We were always nervous about these big countries, America and Britain, with their big and experienced choirs, who have been in the 'champions league' for a long time," Matāfai said.
The 50-strong group maintained the largely United Auckland Gospel Choir core while encompassing parts of the Temple View Gospel Choir to get to another level in the elite gospel champions competition.
They performed a four-part Pacific/Oceania gospel medley arranged by Matāfai JP, built around Māori (He Honore), Tongan (Himi 114), Fijian (Noqu Masu) and Samoan (Ia Vi'ia le Atua) pieces.
The choir performed in front of seven impressed judges and even "scored nearly 100 per cent from one gospel professor from Yale University".
"He was a big fan of us," Matāfai added.
He believed what set the group apart from their fierce rivals was the unique choir's multigenerational and multicultural make‑up - and "the way we sing from the heart".
Charm and charisma also appeared to go a long way.
"They gravitate towards us offstage ... we meet and greet," Matāfai said.
"We form new relationships and friendships - we exchange gifts.
"We sing for each other, inspire each other, and celebrate each other, and it was for the first time I really saw the beauty of humanity despite, you know, the chaos around the world right now."
The United Auckland Gospel Choir entrant was labelled "the most remote participating choir" in the Swedish port of Helsingborg that overlooks the Danish northeastern coast.
"We pride ourselves in being multigenerational, multicultural, and multidenominational," Matāfai said.
"We come from all sorts of churches. We are all in this together; we are stronger together, better together.
"Having the wisdom of our Elders, the energy of our young ones, and the dynamism of our middle age, it was lovely."
