One Cool Chick Suzanne's Enchanting Encore

She's About to Be Crowned Proms Queen!

- Lynley Ward

She’s sung on hundreds of stages across the globe with some of the biggest names in music and even performed for royalty, but Suzanne Lynch can still vividly recall the first time she took the stage in Auckland’s Town Hall.

As she steps back inside the grand historic building, the petite ‘60s singing sensation casts her mind back more than half a century when she and her sister Judy Hindman – the other half of teenage pop duo The Chicks – couldn’t even walk down Queen Street without being swamped by fans.

“The first big concert we did here was with Sandie Shaw and The Pretty Things from the UK. It was a tour of New Zealand that started in the Auckland Town Hall. We did Sandie’s vocal backing and all I remember was the Town Hall seemed absolutely enormous and now it’s actually not enormous at all!”

There may not be quite the same raucous displays of adulation when she joins the Auckland Symphony Orchestra as guest artist in its upcoming Last Night of the Proms.

It’s not the first time she’s performed with the orchestra, but she’s excited at the prospect of enjoying a brief departure from singing with a backing band.

“It’s chalk and cheese,” says the songstress (68). “The feeling you get standing amongst the orchestra... You can actually sing, do you know what I mean? I feel they’re with me as I’m with them. It’s always beautiful and always a treat.