George Gates - EXCEL School of Performing Arts

George Gates

As a youngster I used to watch and listen to my relatives singing and playing on the marae and it seemed only natural for me to start singing.

With my kapa haka experience, I entered the Maori TV talent show “Ngahau” and then our school talent quest before winning the Tauranga regional “Starquest”. At 16 I made it into the top 12 of NZ Idol.

So when I arrived at Excel School of Performing Arts, I had already done a lot of singing but I knew to last the distance I needed some training for my voice. The one on one vocal lessons each week in my first year taught me things I didn’t even know about – things like diaphragm breathing and placement. I went on to win the coveted Top Male Vocalist award for 2008.

We had classes in songwriting and I learnt how to work on a song and fine tune it’s melody and lyrics.

Also a real highlight for me was being part of Excel’s winning team in Disney’s Camp Rock the Tasman show.

Now I’m halfway through a tour of New Zealand as one of the singers on Excel’s tour team. Each year 20 of the 1st years are chosen for the 2nd year tour. We rehearse for 3 months and then on the road for 5 months all around NZ. The friendships, the skills, the experience of these last two years – absolutely PHENOMENAL!

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