Our Team

Natasha "Tash" Manowitz

Founder / Choral Director

Tash is the Choral Director of all three choirs, leading the programme alongside her colleagues Susie and Helen, and is the first point of contact when you email or message the choir.

She is a music teacher at Logan Park High School, where she teaches classroom Music, Orchestra, flute and violin, and is also Choral Director at St Hilda’s Collegiate School, leading Sings Hilda. Until December 2023, Tash also taught singing at Saturday Morning Music Classes (SMMC), alongside a range of other instruments.

Tash holds a Bachelor of Music (BMus) from the University of Auckland and a Master of Teaching and Learning (MTchLn) from the University of Otago. She has a strong interest in the Kodály approach, completing all three levels of the Australian Kodály Certificate, and has also undertaken professional development in Dalcroze and Orff.

A passionate singer, Tash has performed with youth and community choirs including Voices NZ, the Flagstaff Community Choir, and Octagon Ensemble, and sang with the Opera Otago Chorus in 2023. She is currently studying classical voice with Dr Tessa Romano.

As a conductor, Tash has worked with ensembles including the Dunedin Youth Orchestra, Collegiate Orchestra and City Wind Orchestra. She is particularly passionate about developing young voices and has completed The Voice Lab Level 1 course for voice teachers.

Tash is also an accomplished instrumentalist on flute and violin, with an ATCL in flute and Grade 8 violin. She has performed with youth orchestras in Auckland and Dunedin, toured Europe with the Auckland Youth Orchestra, and appeared as part of Korihi Duo, touring New Zealand with pianist Cindy Xia.

She has extensive experience as an itinerant music teacher, working with students across a wide range of schools in both Dunedin and Auckland.

Susan "Susie" Frame

Founder / Pianist

You will spot Susie leading physical and vocal warm-ups at choir rehearsals, as well as serving as the rehearsal and concert pianist for the choir.

Susie has accompanied school and community choirs in Dunedin for the last two decades. Between 2001 and 2016, she worked as a pianist, guitarist, and composer at Balmacewen Intermediate. Between 2005 and 2013, she was the piano accompanist for all choirs at Tahuna Intermediate. To this day, Susie remains heavily involved in the Flagstaff Community Choir, having been their piano accompanist for the past 18 years.

Susie has performed over the years at a number of local rest homes, including as the pianist for a choir at Yvette Williams, and played regularly at a dementia unit between 2012 and 2017. Since 2021, she has been the pianist for Dunedin Highland Dancing Examinations.

As well as working alongside Tash with the Māori Hill School choir in 2022, Susie co-wrote a musical with Natasha’s sister, Rosalind. Titled Pause, Breath Smile, this musical was inspired by the mindfulness programme of the same name, which many schools have adopted in New Zealand. After months of dedicated rehearsals led by Susie and Rosalind, it was staged by Māori Hill School at the Regent Theatre in September 2023.

Susie has been a published author for over 25 years. Her short stories have appeared in international magazines, and her educational readers are sold worldwide by HarperCollins UK and Auckland-based company Sunshine NZ. She has also been a touring guest writer for ‘Writers in Schools’.

Helen Rutherford

Instrumentalist / Choir Advisor

Helen adds guitar, bass, and percussion parts to many of the choir songs, assists in teaching the children, and is an overall advisor for the choir.

Helen has worked in a wide range of musical and leadership roles, alongside a 46-year career in nursing.

Between 1987 and 1996, Helen was involved in seven productions with the Ranfurly Musical and Dramatic Society in Central Otago. She performed as a guitarist and lead vocalist in many of these productions. For two productions, in 1993 (Li’l Abner) and 1997 (Footrot Flats), Helen was the musical director. In this role, she worked as a conductor, vocal coach, director, and more. Helen has also taught guitar to students at Maniototo Area School.

Helen has sung in the Flagstaff Community Choir for 10 years and, as part of this choir, has performed at community festivals and care homes. She brings her wide range of experience as a musical director, vocalist, guitarist, and teacher to supporting the tamariki of the Dunedin Children’s Choir.

Griffin Nichol’s love of singing began in early childhood and as a part of his primary school choir. He started singing more seriously as a teenager when he was a passionate member and section leader of the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir and a member of the New Zealand National Youth Choir. Griffin continues to enjoy ensemble singing; he is a member of the Voices New Zealand Voices 60, and sings with local choirs including performing as a soloist and choir member with Octagon Ensemble and the Southern Consort of Voices.

A highlight in 2025 was travelling to Whakatāne to sing in the chorus for the first performance of Dame Gillian Whitehead’s ‘The Journey of Mataatua Wharenui’ in the wharenui itself. 

Griffin studied towards a Bachelor of Music in singing and cello at the New Zealand School of Music and is currently working towards completing this qualification in vocal performance at the University of Otago. Griffin has been focusing on developing his solo singing, and taking up opportunities for local performances, including singing the National Anthem at the 2025 Ice Hockey World Championships in Dunedin.

Griffin’s employment background is in psychotherapy, social work, youth work and education, with particular experience in the LGBTQI community. Griffin brings this experience and perspective to music contexts, with the firm belief that fostering warmth, inclusiveness and attention to relationships and group dynamics creates richer expressive and music-making experiences. Griffin also teaches singing privately, and prioritises healthy technique and the joy of making music and communicating musically. Griffin is a student member of New Zealand Association of Singing Teachers (NEWZATS).

Griffin is a Dad of two, and when he has spare time, his other loves are exploring the bush, running and orienteering, learning te reo Māori and swimming in rivers and the sea.

Originally from Dunedin, Cameron is delighted to be involved in the Dunedin Children’s Lower Voices Choir. Cameron completed a MusB (Hons) at University of Otago in 2024, studying piano under Blair Professor Terence Dennis and composition under Professor Anthony Ritchie. As a pianist, he frequently performs across the Otago region. 

He has featured as a soloist with the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra on two occasions, including in the final of the Dunedin Concerto Competition, and performed in masterclasses under noted figures such as Gabriela Montero (Venezuela). He was also the piano intern for this years’ NZ Opera School.

Cameron is also a keen composer, whose works have been workshopped and performed across New Zealand. Recent awards include winning the NZSO 2022 Todd Young Composer and Orchestra’s Choice Award for his work Moirai, as well as being a winner in the 2023 and 2025 NZTrio Composing Competition. Cameron plays viola in the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra (where he is also a player rep) and is a three-time member of the NZSO National Youth Orchestra. 

Alongside his music studies, he holds a B.A. in French and German, an ATCL in recorder, and is an active music teacher from beginner to university level. Cameron is currently exploring options for postgraduate study overseas.