After nearly four years, this is my 500th post.
Things are busy, so the post is mainly a re-blog of something I wrote elsewhere. Check it out. Melbourne Aquarium and MCG Trip.
I had a really nice time at the event and took loads of photos. Now off I go to my last theory class for MSP – meaning it’s my last theory class in my degree.
See you!
Hi all.
I’m writing this on Sunday evening after a nice weekend. Fun, but tiring.
I spent Sunday afternoon reading through a book called Space Opera. It is Eurovision in space, where the stakes are high and Earth’s hopes for their first (and possibly last!) entry rest on a couple of misfits.
Utter ridiculousness ensues, with the small semblance of plot finding time to make broad geopolitical commentary amidst heady descriptions and a dizzying pace.
I expected a light-hearted romp featuring a starry-eyed main star and got a tragicomedy drama with a bunch of cynics. Also, unexpectedly, quite a lot of feels.
Hoping that this week’s literature search for the project is a bit easier than last week’s.
I’m halfway through my second-last uni subject! Wow!
On Saturday evening I had the pleasure of attending RMIT Occasional Choral Society’s end-of-semester concert, Internet Through The Ages. It was a light-hearted romp through the internet of Things, bracketed by a lovely Prequel to the Internet on one end, and their second (and particularly inspired) rendition of Laudate.
It was a cold night, but the venue was snugly warm. I’d had a full afternoon already, so it was a treat to sit back, relax and be entertained for a couple of hours. Such entertainment, too!
The program had a little bit of everything, making me laugh consistently, as well as smile in admiration for the achievements of the choir. The set was ambitious, with eleven songs in the first half, followed by a lolcat version of a choral mass after intermission, then two final humorous songs to finish. An extra layer of difficulty was added by ROCS being affected by the singer’s dreaded nemesis, lurgy, in the weeks preceding the concert. However, ROCS rose to the task and performed well. The soloists for different pieces were in fine voice, and the choir sections complemented each other.
Many pieces in the performance were, as has become usual with ROCS, written/ composed and or arranged by choir members, or friends of the choir. It makes for fantastic listening, as it introduces you to fresh works and, even in the case of pieces you think you’ve heard before, you won’t have heard them quite like this.
My favourites included:
The Prequel mentioned earlier – a song about the enduring need for communication, delivered by different means across the years, from carrier pigeons to horseback messengers to Morse code. It was written by a friend of mine, with the music composed by another.
Ebay – a splendid rendition of the Weird Al Yankovic parody. It was performed by a smaller sub-group of ROCS known as CORP and featured a strong alto solo. (…. and I now have the original and the parody battling for dominance in my head. 😛 )
All Star – an arrangement of the well-known song in the style of a “Bach chorale following the conventions of the Common Practice Period”. It was quite “wow” to hear it played with like that.
Speaking of “playing with” pieces, another favourite of mine was the Missa Lolcat. It was indeed a choral mass “for teh kittehs” of lolcat fame, paying homage to “ceiling cat” and speaking of “happy cat” among other interpretations. When I say Mass, I mean that – the choir sang through recognisable lolcat versions of Gloria, Credo, Sanctus/Benedictus (with repeated Hosannas) and Agnus Dei! Wow-ee. I enjoyed this piece a lot, despite having little knowledge of the original lolcats, so well done.
Finally, I should mention the riffs on Laudate Nomen Domini. We were Rick-Rolled by the first rendition, and the second one was very well played as well, set as it was right at the end when, usually, all those who know Laudate join in with the choristers on-stage. The interpretation ROCS gave made us all need a beat to re-set before we sang along with gusto.
Bravo, ROCS, and thanks for a wonderful evening!
On Saturday night I was in the audience for the Monash University Choral Society’s Music Through Time concert. It was fantastic.
Each time I go to one of these I’m reminded of why I keep going. It’s so wonderful to watch friends and other choir members perform songs I know they’ve been working hard on all semester and seeing them having fun whilst doing so. The songs alternately moved me, roused me and entertained me. As I said to a few people after the concert, they all “gave me feels” and it was awesome.
MonUCS introduced me to songs I hadn’t heard before and to new arrangements of old favourites. They sang songs ranging from 12th-century classical through the centuries to 20th-century jazz and pop/alternative, right to 21st-century pieces. There were whole-choir pieces, sung acapella and with accompaniment, as well as solo and small-group works, and pieces with all of these.
Some of the pieces we were treated to included (but were not limited to): Gloria Ad Modum Tubae (Dufay Guillaume) – whole choir piece; Say Love If Ever Thou Didst Find (John Dowland) – a lovely quintet performance; Jesu, Meine Freude (J. S. Bach); Jerusalem (Parry); an SATB version of Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen); a well-carried and embodied Affirmation (Savage Garden); The Longest Time – with a fine tenor melody; finishing with a rousing Sing! (Pentatonix). I’ve taken the title of this review from a lyric of the latter.
Of course, it ended with the after-party, singing more songs until some of us were a bit hoarse, snacking and chatting and playing games, well into the wee hours of the morning.
In short, it was a lovely night out.
Bravo, MonUCS, and thank you! 😀
I’m looking forward to next semester’s concert already.
Yesterday, my choir (LaTUCS) sang carols at an end-of-year event at uni. Nice and I’m hopeful it’ll lead to further opportunities.
This weekend (starting this evening) I will be a-carolling with MIV2018 people. Tomorrow afternoon too. Our concert tickets for the end-of-festival performance are on sale now. Put the evening of the 20th of January 2018 in your calendars (Facebook link here – friends should expect invites shortly) and get some tickets via this link.
Also, MIV merchandise sales close on Monday, December 11th – this coming Monday which also happens to be the one-month-out date! Wow. If you want a tie-dye tote bag, a keepcup, promise of concert CD and participant photo, or tickets to the “Aquademic” Dinner, please head on over to miv.org.au, sign up for an account on the website and buy the things you want.
This weekend has other fun apart from carols. Tomorrow evening I’m attending a choir concert by MonUCS. Can’t wait – the program sounds really good. 😀 Here is a link to the Facebook event and click here for tickets (or get them at the door). Hooray!
The above is a YouTube clip I grabbed from a link on the Pop-Up Globe’s Facebook page.
The Pop-Up Globe is currently in Melbourne, with an extended season until the end of January. Last night, as I mentioned yesterday, I went to see Much Ado About Nothing there.
It was really really fun. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but once I’d got over that it was really good. The cast performed their roles really well.
An interesting element was added by the structure of the auditorium. Those in the standing-room-only section at the front were put in the position of a “chorus” if you will – the players made entrances through them, used them to hide, or conversed with them. If you were in the very front part, you also had to risk having things like partially chewed food splattered on/near you! (I’m glad we were in the next section up!)
Below are some photos I took. I recommend the experience highly -but get in quickly!
Guess what – according to WordPress, I’ve been blogging for three years exactly as of yesterday. Hooray!
It’s getting to that busy time of year again, isn’t it?
Melbourne is quite a big city – and I really feel that when my weekend involved going from the north-east to the south-east on Friday, then from there to my regional hometown on Saturday before going back to the south-east on Sunday. Yep, it was one of those weekends. Lots of fun stuff with a bit of work/ business thrown in.
Quite a few people had their eyes turned northwards on Saturday through to Sunday as QLD voted. I know people up there and given a couple of the major election issues were pertinent to my interest, I paid attention too. Then today I spied this article – one Queenslander’s opinion of the election. Interesting! I’m curious about what the Queenslanders in my life think about it.
Lately, I’ve been reading a book about General Sir John Monash. I put a hold on it after the concert I participated in in September. I have to admit, I had songs from the September concert running through my head during parts of the book. The book is called, “Maestro John Monash: Australia’s Greatest Citizen General” and is by Tim Fischer, former deputy PM of Australia. Fischer gives a good overview of Monash’s life, focusing on his activities during WWI but not neglecting his other achievements, pre- and post-war. The book has been written with an agenda – Fischer believes that Monash was discriminated against while he was alive, and denied an active service promotion to General due to this (his promotion came a year before his death). The book also maintains that Monash is not properly recognised now. Actually, that’s really the main purpose of Fischer’s book. So I’m going to read another book about the General from a different author when I get the chance as well.
I’m keeping busy organising choir things. LaTUCS have a carolling gig at a Christmas Fair that’s near uni this Saturday then another one at uni the following Thursday. If you’re in the area, why not come along to Saturday’s one? Details in the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/816640598506065/
Another thing that’s keeping me on my toes and will only ramp up from now until January is MIV2018. There are six weeks and two days until Thursday, January 11th 2018, when the festival opens. The concert is just under two months away…and tickets are on-sale! 😀 Click on the link for more info: https://www.miv.org.au/concert.
Meanwhile, I’m putting the details into plans of how to keep 100+ registrants entertained. Hee hee!
Ooh and finally… I’m going to the Pop-Up Globe this evening to see Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and I can’t wait! 😀
Well, look at that – the concert is two weeks away! O.O
Where did the time go?
LaTUCS have been rehearsing consistently for the past six weeks on our own (led wonderfully by our new conductor). This week we began the compulsory combined rehearsals – rehearsing with other community choir singers. So for the next few weeks, I’ll be at rehearsals for at least two nights a week. The final week (first week of September) gets a little frantic as we’ll have a Saturday rehearsal, three weeknight rehearsals then a final full day of rehearsals (one morning, one afternoon) before the actual concert. Whew! So if I seem a little busy, here’s why. 😉 After all, as of last Wednesday, I’m choir president now.
There are going to be many different community choirs – adult and children – participating in this. If you’re in Melbourne on the evening of Saturday, September 9th, why not come along to Hamer Hall? Tickets are on-sale now: https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/2017/classical-music/john-monash-peace-concert
If not but you’re in the city this weekend, there will be a gold-coin-entry performance of some of the concert works tomorrow afternoon from 16-17:00 at All Saints East St Kilda, by a small contingent of the concert choir.
Maybe I’ll see you there?
Hi, all. In my role as Social Secretary for MIV2018, I’ve been doing a bit of organising. Two in-festival social events are in the planning stage of “venue-booking”, while another is in the “negotiate details” phase. Pro tip: if someone’s taking a while to get back to you, ring them. It might be the fault of an overzealous spam filter. 😉 Now all I have to do is wait for people to get back to me on my most recent round of enquiries and start preparing for the next pre-festival social event.
That event will be at the end of June, after our AGM. Should be good.
Around that time there’s another deadline that approaches. I should’ve blogged this two (or three) weeks ago, but anyway. We’ve set ourselves an ambitious target of raising $20,000 by the end of June, in order to make our biggest festival dreams viable. Yikes! It’d be a great help if you could donate even a little bit and/or share the heck out of the following link to our crowdfunding page: chuffed.org/project/miv2018. There are rewards attached for donations over certain amounts.
From the Chuffed page:
“We’re creating the musical experience of a lifetime
….
Music is capable of just about everything. It can create joy, set the soundtrack to our lives, and brings people together in a way nothing else can.
However despite all the spectacular things music can do, funding for the arts is always a challenge. The Melbourne Intervarsity Choral Festival (MIV) is aimed at, but not exclusive to, university students. This provides an extra challenge as many of these talented young people are strapped for cash at the best of times.
We’re not just a bunch of students. We are so much more. We are musically directed by world renowned conductor, Patrick Burns. Supported by a remarkable Melbourne Orchestra, and accomplished Alto Soloist. No spoilers, but our final performance at Melbourne Town Hall will feature the Australian premiere of a work by an acclaimed composer.
Here’s our plan
We’re fundraising. Plain and simple. We’re chasing the money, doing the hard yards, with the aim to get every university chorister who wants to attend the festival to Melbourne in January 2018.
Get ready for us Melbourne, we’re coming.
So far we have been supported by the City of Melbourne, Grill’d Local Matters and Bunnings Warehouse. But we’re not done yet, we need to do more, and we need your help.
What difference can you make?
With 200 singers flocking to Melbourne, we have a lot to do! Accommodation to organise, sheet music to purchase, rehearsals to run, celebratory dinners to create, and artistic personnel to pay!
Freshers (students who have never been to an IV festival before) can join us for $250, concession for $550, and full fee at $750. YOU can join us if you’re interested at miv.org.au.
But if you’re not a singer and still want to help us out, we appreciate donations of any amount to support this enormous musical endeavour.
$10,000 will pay for our wonderful soloists.
$20,000 will finance our orchestral accompanist.
$30,000 will allow us to significantly lower our student prices.
And here’s some cool perks you can have for supporting us
Over $15: A MASSIVE thank you from the MIV 2018 team, and the immense satisfaction for helping our dream come true! PLUS a personal thank you in our concert program.
Over $50: Everything for $15 and over PLUS an exclusive piece of MIV merchandise
Over $100: Everything for $50 and over PLUS the official MIV2018 live music CD
Over $250: Everything for $100 and over PLUS an exclusive MIV goody bag full of…..shhhh spoilers!
Over $500: Everything for $250 and over PLUS access to 2 of our VIP Concert Tickets for regular ticket price. Melbourne Town Hall has unallocated seating, so these are the ONLY tickets that guarantee you access to prime seating in the stalls.
Over $1000: Everything for $500 and over PLUS access to 5 VIP tickets OR 2 free VIP tickets, PLUS a program signed by our musical director and soloists
Two highest donations: Personal meet & greet with our soloists, musical director, and festival convenors after the performance.”
As I’ve probably mentioned before, music and singing is a massive part of who I am and want to be. So much heart and soul are going into MIV2018 to make it the best it can be and it would mean the world to me if you’re able to contribute and share. “From little things, big things grow” and all that (with apologies to Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody). Please? 😀
Sign up to the MIV mailing list here: miv.org.au/#signup
Btw, here’s a lovely little video (if I do say so myself) of my choir concert last night. Enjoy!
Hi all. As I’ve mentioned before, I sing in my uni choir, meaning I’m part of the Australian Intervarsity Choral Societies Association. Now that Perth Intervarsity Festival is over, things become a bit more local for me and others. For me, that means preparing my uni choir for O-Week and hopefully some new members to sing with in the busy year ahead. I’m excited about other things too though, because next year in January, the annual intervarsity Choral Festival (IV) is in Melbourne, my city. I’m on the committee, co-organising social stuff with a friend.
It’s interesting, having an insight into behind-the-scenes stuff. Including secret things that I can’t say yet because there are timelines for release, haha. 😉 What I can say is that as of today (the 11th of February), the Festival is 11 months away!
One thing we’re focusing on at the moment are grants, so we can make this IV the best it can be. I say we, but most of the work for the grants (and it is a lot of effort) is actually being done by a couple of good friends. I just have to signal-boost when I need to. With that in mind, could all of you click on the link below? It’ll take you a few seconds and is really easy. Just click, say “connect now”, scroll through the list to find Melbourne Intervarsity Choral Festival 2018 and click “support”. It’s that simple. If you want to know more, then click “View Details”.
http://www.carlislehomes.com.au/grants#_=_
Thanks!
Promotion has officially begun. It’s the ’69th IV in an Australian summer, so the theme (particularly for social and promotional stuff) spins around that – a bit of a hipster/ hippy vibe. Including things like this:
If you’re interested in learning more about the Festival, or AICSA (see if there’s a uni choir or two near you!), there are links below. Sign up to keep up-to-date! I’ll keep you posted, too.
Melbourne Intervarsity Choral Festival (MIV) 2018 Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MIV2018/
And website: http://www.miv.org.au/
AICSA website: https://www.aicsa.org.au/
And website link about choirs (with handy map): https://www.aicsa.org.au/index.php/about-us/our-choirs/
myzania 