The Choral Grapevine

1 November 2014—February 2015

A newsletter for all choristers in

Western Vic. & SE of SA

November 2014—February 2015

Founder: June Roberts Editor: Helen Lyth

3/13 Balmoral Crescent Rippleside 3215

Phone: (03) 52786058 Email: hlyth@westnet.com.au

CHORAL CALENDAR

Date, time, venue Details Friday, November 14th, 8pm, St. Paul's

Anglican Church, Latrobe Terrace, Gee-

long

REJOICE! THE MUSIC OF HENRY PURCELL Windfire Chamber Choir, Conductor - Rick Prakhoff

With soloists, instrumentalists and organ.

Tickets $25/$20 available at GPAC or at the door. Children under 12 free.

Sunday, November 16th, 2pm, Holy Trin-

ity Anglican Church

Merrawarp Road, Ceres

WONDROUS MERRY IN CONCERT with The Geelong Handbell Choir. Tickets

$20 at the door (includes sumptuous afternoon tea)

Saturday, November 22, 10-4 pm, Mo-

zart Hall, Warrnambool

HOW TO HANDEL YOUR MESSIAH (Messiah choruses Boot Camp) workshop on

selected choruses 52223595

Led by Jeanette Hajncl and Craig Doherty $20

Sunday, November 23rd, 3pm, Christ

Church, cnr Moorabool & McKillop

Streets, Geelong

WE WELCOME SUMMER, Vox Angelica Vocal Ensemble directed by Tom Healey

(followed by afternoon tea entertained by Sursum piano trio playing Mozart et al)

Tickets $15 at the door or from Sue Wong 0410159690

Sunday November 30 2:30 pm

Uniting Church Hall, Koroit St,

Warrnambool (entry from car park at rear of

church)

MERRI SINGERS CHRISTMAS CONCERT

$15/12

Saturday, December 6th, 5pm, Wesley

Uniting Church, Yarra Street, Geelong

UN NOEL FRANÇAIS, The Geelong Chorale with The Geelong Handbell Choir.

Includes Charpentier Messe de Minuit with soloists and instrumental ensemble.

Tickets $25/$20 - 5222 3595 or email thegeelongchorale@gmail.com

Sunday, December 7th, 7:30pm, St Pauls

Anglican Church (time and venue to be

confirmed)

TOUCHED BY A KING, (a Christmas cantata by John Purify) The Naracoorte Sing-

ers More information and tickets: Lyn Schinkel

Saturday, December 13th, 6:30pm, All

Saints Church Hall, Noble St, Newtown. SING A SONG OF CHRISTMAS Geelong Harmony

Entry by donation. Whole family welcome.

Sunday December 14th, 2:30pm, Hamil-

ton Presbyterian Church CHRISTMAS WITH THE HAMILTON SINGERS More information and tickets: $10 Beth Tonissen 55723535

Friday, December 19th, 8pm, Basilica of

St Mary of the Angels, Yarra Street, Gee-

long

O MAGNUM MYSTERIUM: VOX AT THE BASILICA, a candlelight concert

Tickets $25/$20 available at GPAC and at the door.

Sunday, December 28th, 7:30 pm, Port

Fairy Anglican Church

PORT FAIRY SING IT YOURSELF MESSIAH is back

Conductor Manfred Pohlenz, Organist Craig Doherty, With soloists

Editorial Thanks to all those choirs who have contributed news and calendar items for this edition. Congratulations

to the Geelong Welsh Ladies Choir on their most successful New Zealand tour.

Singing the Classics sponsored by The Geelong Chorale has held two more successful events since our last edition.

It was exciting and challenging to work with Bach expert, Graham Abbott, in a ‘skim through’ sing of B Minor

Mass in July. The last of the 2014 series, Karl Jenkins The Armed Man on October 12th, with Tom Healey (who

will lead Vox Anglica on November 16th—see the calendar) was inspirational. If you haven’t managed to attend

one of these ‘scratch performances’ they are a wonderful chance to sing works you may not have sung before, and

also an opportunity to meet and mix with other singers from far and wide.

If you have news between editions of The Choral Grapevine, please let me know by email, and I’ll be happy to cir-

culate the information. Happy carol singing everyone, Helen hlyth@westnet.com.au

The Choral Grapevine

2 November 2014—February 2015

HAMILTON SINGERS Hamilton Singers have been preparing for their Christmas

concert in recent weeks. Our concert will be on Sunday December 14th at 2:30pm at the Presbyterian church here

in Hamilton. Our concert will feature Christmas music

including Handel’s For Unto Us a Child is Born and also a

bracket of works by John Rutter to broaden the appeal for everyone. Our other news is that about ten members of our

group participated in the Warrnambool concert of the Ken

Stott Cantata on October 25th. It was a splendid affair and the work was performed brilliantly. We look forward to

inviting the Warrnambool choristers to join us with some-

thing in the future.

Beth Tonissen 55723535

NARRACOORTE SINGERS Following on from an enjoyable participation in the

SACCA Country Choral Festival at Tanunda on Sep-

tember 20, and a combine performance with Naracoorte Primary School students on September 28, the Naracoorte

Singers are now practising for their annual Christmas per-

formance. This year it is to be a cantata not previously used by the Singers - Touched by a King by John Purify which

contains some beautiful songs including Rejoice, Rejoice

all People, Run Shepherds Run and Light of the World.

This will be held on Sunday December 7th in Naracoorte, at St Pauls Anglican Church with a repeat performance at

Longridge Home for the Aged on Monday 8th December.

The Singers will also participate in the ever popular Carols

in the Square on Sunday 14 December in the Town Square

in Naracoorte, and some members will sing Christmas car-

ols to the residents of Morton Bay House at the Naracoorte Hospital on Friday 19 December. After such a busy finale

for the year our singers will enjoy a few weeks well-earned

break over the summer and recommence in February.

Lyn Schinckel 08 8764 2156

WONDROUS MERRY Wondrous Merry has been called “Geelong’s happiest cho-ral group”, and we now have equal numbers of male and

female voices, so really have something to be pleased

about! Our singers have been having so much fun trying to sound like Queen (the group, not Her Majesty) as we learn

the great rockabilly number Crazy Little Thing Called

Love, and another song from the ‘70s, Feelin’ Groovy.

We’ve also been having fun with a pairing of 400-year-old madrigals by Thomas Ford, and love the close harmonies

of a very recently-written piece we purchased from a Brit-

ish songwriter, and a beautiful Moravian lullaby. These will all feature in our concert coming shortly (Sunday 16th

November) which will also showcase the Geelong Hand-

Bell Ringers with some delightful and skilful pieces. As well as these varied and entertaining items, we include a

sumptuous afternoon tea in the entry cost ($20, children

free of charge) and hope to raise funds towards the Just

Brass program by which disadvantaged schoolchildren can learn to play an instrument and experience making music

together. Wondrous Merry has now been doing just that

for 18 years! Do come along and enjoy our performance, in the lovely Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Merrawarp

Road, just outside Ceres in the Barrabool Hills.

Marie Goldsworthy 5221 1813

THE GEELONG CHORALE The last few months have been busy for The Geelong Cho-

rale. We performed a concert of Gilbert and Sullivan music at Capri Receptions, North Geelong in August. Over 180

people enjoyed a delicious meal whilst being entertained

by famous G&S choruses and songs. We even discovered our own Modern Major General amongst our ranks. Bravo

to Will Humphreys for a great performance. We were

grateful to Elaine Mitchell from The Theatre of the

Winged Unicorn for loan of props for the evening.

In October, we ventured to the Bellarine Peninsula where

we performed a wide variety of music at St James Anglican

Church in Point Lonsdale. This was part of A Country

Ramble organised by Music at the Basilica. We were the

third and final concert for the day, and our programme in-

cluded Gilbert and Sullivan, German folk songs, sacred music and some comical items.

At 5pm on Saturday December 6 at Wesley Church, 100

Yarra St, Geelong, we are performing Un Noel Français – a programme of French music for Christmas in association

with the Geelong Handbell Choir. The concert will be ac-

companied by an instrumental ensemble. We will be per-

forming Messe de Minuit by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, four Christmas motets by Francis Poulenc and a chorus

from the Christmas Oratorio by Camille Saint-Saens. The

Handbell Choir will perform two brackets of French Christmas music. Tickets are available from Angela West,

52223595 or at the door. Angela West 03 5222 3595

CORYULE CHORUS The Coryule Chorus continue to be a very active, busy

choir on the Bellarine Peninsula. A recent highlight for us

was the Seniors week concert we gave at St James Church

hall in Drysdale we called Sing Along with the Coryule. With about 100 in the audience, we presented a program

which gave the audience several opportunities to join in

with such songs as We are Australian, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-

Da, Spoonful of Sugar, Que Sara Sara and some rounds

that our musical director Joy so skillfully taught them. We

have also performed at several aged care venues, and we are currently practicing an extensive Christmas program to

IIs there a report from your choir? If not, ask your committee how you can help! We need a CGV rep from every choir.

The Choral Grapevine

3 November 2014—February 2015

Please distribute The Choral Grapevine to your choir members.

perform at many and varied venues over the coming

weeks. We propose to take a 4 week break over Christmas

– New Year, and resume rehearsals on 15th January.

For those interested in finding out more about the Coryule Chorus, they should log into coryulechorus.com.au

Rob Casey 03 5259 3726

CHORAL GRAPEVINE FINANCES

A note about contributions: Your contributions to The Choral Grapevine allow for mailed copies to around 20 of our member

choirs. If you are still receiving a mailed copy of The Choral Grapevine, please make a small donation towards costs. It costs about

$1 for each mailed copy (postage, paper, photocopying/printing).

The Choral Grapevine does not have a bank account. Please make cheques out to the editor, Helen Lyth.

If you wish to receive The Choral Grapevine by email only, please let me know at hlyth@westnet.com.au .

Choirs in The Choral Grapevine network in 2014: Ballarat: Ballarat Choral Society, U3A Choristers Ballarat, Vox Berri: Riverland Choral Group, Bordertown: Bordertown A Cappella Singers,

Camperdown: Camperdown Uniting Church Choir, Casterton: Sacred Heart Church Choir, Cobden: Cobden Community Choir, Colac: Colac

Chorale, Deans Marsh: Deans Marsh Singers, Drysdale: Coryule Chorus, The Bellarine Community Choir Geelong: acabellas, Bella Mama,

Grace Notes, Geelong (Bay City) Conchords, The Geelong Chorale, Geelong Harmony Chorus, Geelong Trades Hall Choir, Geelong Welsh Ladies

Choir, Geelong Youth Choir, International Harvester Male Chorus, Sing Geelong, St Mary's Basilica Choir, Geelong, St Pauls Church Choir, U3A

Geelong Choir, Windfire Chamber Choir, Wondrous Merry, Gisborne: The Gisborne Singers Hamilton: Footprints in the Custard, Good Shepherd

Choir, Hamilton Singers, Tabor Male Choir, Lavers Hill: Lavers Hill Choir, Millicent: Millicent Choral Society, Mt Gambier: Mayfair Youth

Jazz, Mount Gambier Choral Society, Mt Gambier Christ Church Anglican Choir, Naracoorte: Naracoorte Singers, Penola: Southern Heritage

Singers, Port Fairy: Port Fairy St Johns Anglican Church Choir, Portland: Music Glenelg Inc., Portland Choral Group, St Stephens Anglican

Church Choir, Queenscliff: Tides of Welcome Soul and Gospel Choir, Warrnambool: Cantori, Red Tent Singers, Warrnambool Christ Church

Choir, Merri Singers (formerly Warrnambool Mozart Choir), Warrnambool St Johns Presbyterian Choir, Warrnambool Theatre Company Chorale

Sing on stage with Geelong Harmony this Christmas

Your invitation is right here! Come along and sing on stage with us this Christmas. After each of last year’s Christmas performances, Mu-sical Director Alex Morris heard from audience mem-bers about how much they loved the idea of singing in a Christmas Concert … “but of course it was too late by then!” says Alex. With that in mind, this year, Geelong Harmony is offer-ing women singers the opportunity to sing in our Christmas concert, or as Alex prefers to say, “Unleash your inner Diva and sing in fabulous harmony with us!”

Come to five Monday night rehearsals (10, 17 & 24 Nov, 1 & 8 Dec) to: • receive vocal and performance coaching from experts including US vocal coach, Gail Jencik • learn to sing a new carol in harmony with Gee-long Harmony Chorus • perform on stage with us on Sat. 13 December • cost is just $10pw! Call our membership line on 0406 666 737 or go to our Facebook page for details.

March 2014 - November 2014 Debit Contribution Balance

Opening Balance $ 61.19

11/11/2014 Mailout $15.66 $ 43.53

The Choral Grapevine

4 November 2014—February 2015

GEELONG WELSH LADIES CHOIR The past few months has been an extremely busy time for the GWLC. The choir took part in a joint concert with Geelong

Harmony Chorus in September. Sing into Spring was a fantastic collaboration held at the Potato Shed, Drysdale on a won-

derful sunny afternoon and showcased the talents of two great local women’s choirs.

In October, the choir performed at the Belmont Uniting Church in their farewell performance prior to heading off on their New

Zealand tour on 5th October. There was a great turnout on this day that saw the choir perform a number of items from their

tour program. Also performing at this concert were Selmo Carreira and Rita De Sousa – both highly accomplished musicians.

The choir then took off on their New Zealand tour on 16th October, arriving in Wellington. The choir performed in Porirua

with the Wellington Male Voice Choir at the Pataka Museum. The audience were wonderful & really enjoyed their perform-

ances.

The choir then travelled to Palmerston North and combined with the Fielding Brass Band for an afternoon Concert. This was

certainly an experience, as the GWLC have never sung with a brass band before.

The next concert was in the evening with the Taranaki Male Voice Choir. It was an incredible evening and the ballroom was

full with a delightful audience. An after-glow was enjoyed by both choirs after the Concert.

The choir was officially welcomed by the Mayor of Rotorua - Stevie Chadwick - as part of the Cymanfa Ganu in the beautiful

St Luke’s Church. (The Cymanfa Ganu is Welsh festival of sacred hymns). It was an incredible afternoon, where the Maori

community sang and welcomed the choir to Rotorua. The GWLC received a standing ovation and the congregation asked for

an encore. The evening saw the choir enjoying fun and laughter, as the choir was welcomed to the traditional Welsh Nosen

Lowen with lots of singing, recitations, and traditional Welsh dancing!

The next day was the Welsh Activities Festival, commencing with the Cymanfa Ganu. This celebration was also held in the

St Luke’s Church, with the Church filled to capacity.

The choir’s Music Director Jeanette John conducted the entire Cymanfa Ganu and certainly made the choir very proud. The

choir again received a standing ovation.

The choir flew back on 28th October and were very proud of their singing contribution to the people of the “Land of the Long

White Cloud”.

To hear a recent performance of The Geelong Welsh Ladies Choir go the choir's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/

GeelongWelshLadiesChoir?ref=br_tf

Co-contributors: Bron Elford and Dawn Cunningham bnelford@bigpond.com

Geelong Welsh Ladies Choir in concert in New Zealand