Choir Concert Season – Semester 1, 2019

It’s that time of semester again. Choirs are in the final weeks of preparation for semester 1 concerts. It’s been a bit strange for me – it’s my first year of experiencing this from a non-student choir member perspective, for one. For another, I’m singing in two choirs this year – LaTUCS and MonUCS. So that’s double the work – and fun. I just spent the weekend at a choir camp (for the latter choir) and then an all-day rehearsal (for the former), in preparation.

Below are the concerts coming up around Australia for the various choirs of the Australian Intervarsity Choral Societies Association (AICSA). I’ve grabbed them from Facebook, so follow the links to nab tickets! 😀

On Saturday, May 11th at 7:00PM, Sydney University Madrigal Society’s first concert of the year, Sublime & Ridiculous, will take you on an adventure to the weird and wonderful world of Renaissance musical humour. Check out the Facebook event for details! https://www.facebook.com/events/2365750140315595

ANU Choral Society’s next concert is on Sunday the 19th of May at 5PM at St Peter’s Church in Reid, Canberra. SCUNA will be performing some much-loved gems of the repertoire, including Purcell’s ‘Come Ye Sons of Art’ and Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’. Tickets are just $15 and the concert will be held at St Peter’s Lutheran Church in Reid, 5pm on Sunday 19 May. Join them for a lovely evening of music-making! Tickets via www.trybooking.com/489818

Step into a world of pure imagination with MonUCS: Monash University Choral Society! MonUCS will weave magic with music from many realms, including Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and Lord of the Rings. They’ll be performing at Chapel off Chapel in Prahran, 25 May, 5:30pm and 8:30pm. Tickets available via https://chapeloffchapel.com.au/…/pure-imagination-fantasy-…/

Join LaTUCS for an evening of fun on Thursday 23rd May! See the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/881387645531998/?ti=icl

Join QUMS: Queensland University Musical Society as they present a concert of Afternoon Delights: QUMS Presents a Day at the Proms, a concert filled with classic tunes such as Vivaldi’s Gloria in D and Handel’s Hallelujah chorus. No afternoon soirée would be complete without complimentary afternoon tea and homemade treats! There’s also a raffle with great prizes. Saturday, 1st June at 15:30. Afternoon Delights: QUMS Presents a Day at the Proms

20 Years of ROCS: help the RMIT Occasional Choral Society celebrate 20 wonderful and successful years of existence! Saturday, 8th June at 18:00. 20 Years of ROCSRMIT University – Kaleide Theatre

Singing for life

This year I’m singing in two choirs: the Monash University Choral Society (MonUCS) and the La Trobe University Choral Society (LaTUCS). It means my Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are taken during semesters (starting this week!). I love it.

No matter the stress or processing load of the day, I can walk into choir and relax during the singing parts. If I’ve had a busy day I need to give myself alone time before I can “people”, or interact with others, as despite my extraversion crowds can be overwhelming, especially at the end of a long day. (More on that in another post.) The actual rehearsal bits are fun regardless. I love getting into the rhythm of songs.

This year is different too, as I am no longer a student and therefore aren’t the one organising things. It’s nice to be on the other side and I have confidence in the current committees.

Today both LaTUCS and ROCS (RMIT Occasional Choral Society) are taking part in promo events on campus at Bundoora and Melbourne city respectively. I wish them luck!

If you’re interested in singing, why don’t you come over and have a go? Our choirs have no auditions and are very friendly places. Everyone can sing in my opinion – and singing is good for you, too.

Singing is such a big part of my life and I wouldn’t change that for the world.

Entertainment via Interwebs Songs

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!