The New Zealand National Singing School was established as part of the 1978 Summer Programme by the late Beatrice Webster MBE at what was then the Hawkes Bay Community College. The Hawkes Bay Song & Opera Workshop undertook the running of the School in 1980. In 1983 a Trust was established to undertake responsibility for the organisation and administration, and so the NZ National Singing School was born.
The School is governed by Trustees and employs a part time Administrator. The School is a registered Charitable Trust with much of the cost required to run the School raised through various funding agencies, businesses and donations.
The School has, in its long history, established itself as the major event of its kind in New Zealand. It was then, and is now, the only residential school in the Southern Hemisphere that deals exclusively in all forms of vocal technique and performance. Since its inception over 2000 students have had the opportunity to study all genres of singing. Once an annual event, it became biennial in the early 1990's.
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sir Donald Mclntyre and Dame Malvina Major have been patrons for many years.
Judy Bellingham, the William Evans Senior Lecturer in Voice at Otago University, has been the Director for the last three Schools.
The NZ National Singing School Trust promotes vocal excellence by providing national and international vocal tutors, vocal coaches, language coaches and a choreographer of the highest calibre. Over the years the School has gained a reputation for being a valuable training ground for New Zealand singers to pursue success at national and international competitions and to gain entry to opera schools and advanced music colleges overseas.
The Trustees aim to have all students achieve their goals in an atmosphere that is conducive to learning, and fun.