Cecily Shaw aka Socratena will be bringing comedy, chaos and opera to Taranaki in June

She kissed a cow and liked it … From opera to parody songs, comedy and chaos to ukulele playing, Cecily Shaw does it all.

The former St Mary’s Diocesan School student is returning to Taranaki for a fundraising concert this month.

Cecily first began studying music when she was a student at St Mary’s (now called Taranaki Diocesan), singing in the choir there as well as converting many of the Year 9 students into what she terms “the cult of the ukulele”.

It was during her time at Dio that she first developed her alter ego “Socratena”, a personality who has achieved internet fame for her humorous original songs along with parodies that she records and shares online.

As Socratena Cecily released an album in 2021, and this year her parody song I Kissed a Cow went viral on TikTok, clocking up over 666 thousand views in just two days. The song is now available on streaming platform Spotify and getting plenty of airtime as a result.

After finishing at St Mary’s, Cecily went on to study classical singing at the University of Waikato. As well vocal performance, Cecily’s studies also looked at the experiences of neurodivergent musicians, a subject Cecily is passionate about. On the autism spectrum herself, Cecily wants to help empower other neurodivergent musicians over the course of her own singing career through sharing her personal experience, coping strategies and skills online.

Cecily has spent the past few years building up an impressive musical CV and has been an alto soloist with several notable New Zealand choirs, this year in performance of Bach’s St John Passion with the Bach Musica choir in the Auckland Town Hall.

She attended Chamber Music New Zealand’s 2017 Bach Cantata Residency, with Julliard415 and world-renowned Masaaki Suzuki. She has played the role of Cherubino in a Waikato University production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and Cornelia in Handel Consort and Quire’s production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Julius Caesar in Egypt).

Cecily has now been offered a place at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she will begin her masters studies in classical voice this September.

Her concert in New Plymouth is one part of her fundraising efforts for her upcoming travels and overseas study. As well as holding concerts around New Zealand she has also been selling a range of home-made jams, chutneys and kimchi. These will be available for sale after the concert in New Plymouth as well.

The concert will feature Cecily singing a range of items from her classical repertoire, accompanied by well-known New Plymouth pianist Rosa Scaffidi. She will also entertain with some of her original humorous songs with ukulele.

The Details

What: Opera, Comedy & Chaos: Benefit concert to fund Cecily Shaw’s opera studies at Guildhall, London

When: Monday, June 19, 7pm

Where: Whiteley Methodist Church, 66 Liardet St, New Plymouth.

Details: Tickets – $25 adults, $20 Gold card holders, students and beneficiaries, under 18s are free.