Canberra Choral Society

Canberra Choral Society

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Origin Canberra, Australia
Founding 1952
Genre classical and contemporary choral art music
Members 90
Music Director Tobias Cole
Choir Admission By audition
Website canberrachoralsociety.org

The Canberra Choral Society (CCS) is a symphonic choir in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. For sixty years it has been a leading player the musical life of the city.[1] Its repertory covers art music of the 17th to 21st centuries in small and large ensembles. In recent years it has taken a leadership role in the national capital's choral community, offering members of smaller choirs - through its Come and Sing program - the rare opportunity to perform major choral works, including Handel's Messiah, and Haydn's The Creation.[2] While its membership is amateur, soloists and orchestras are professional. It performs regularly with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. Its musical director is Tobias Cole.

History

The Canberra Choral Society originated with a small group of people who, in 1952, began singing together for their own pleasure and musical advancement. This group became known as the Canberra Choral Group and was conducted in its foundation years by Ronald Penny, Peter Bailey and Jane Malone. From its earliest days, the organisation was recognised by government authorities as an important part of the cultural development of the Capital, which, at the time of the founding of the Choral Group, had been in existence for fewer than forty years.[3] The name was changed to The Canberra Choral Society in 1960, and the Society became an officially incorporated association in April 1962.

Works by Australian composers were commissioned by the Society for the Bicentennial Year in 1988 and for the Centenary of Federation in 2001, with support from national funding bodies. Premiere performances of works by resident Musical Directors have also been a feature of the choir's repertoire.

Repertoire, Performances and Programs

Highlights 1995 to 2004

In August 1995, as part of the Australia Remembers 1945–1995 program, the Society performed Benjamin Britten's War Requiem to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, and in December 1996 presented George Frederic Handel's Messiah in celebration of the Australian National University's 50th anniversary. In September 2000, the Society participated with other major Australian and overseas choirs in the gala performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 (Symphony of a Thousand) at the opening concert of the 2000 Summer Olympics Arts Festival.[4][5]

In 2003 the Choral Society performed two versions of The Seven Last Words of Christ, by Haydn and by Dubois, Stravinsky's Les Noces and Handel's Israel in Egypt. The Society also collaborated in with three other choirs, the Llewellyn Choir, SCUNA and the Oriana Chorale in Choralaid, a combined concert to raise funds for the Canberra Bushfire Appeal. In addition the Choir joined the Orange City Choir and Orange Symphony orchestra for a performance of works by Faure and Vaughan Williams.

In May 2004 it was invited to perform Britten's St Nicholas, in the Canberra Symphony Orchestra's subscription series. Other performances in 2004 included Duruflé's Requiem and Rutter's Gloria, as well as Mozart's Vesperae Solennes de Confessore (the Solemn Vespers), K339 and Thamos, König in Ägypten (Thamos, King of Egypt), K345 in its final concert for the year.

Over the years, the choir has also participated in many opera productions in Canberra and the region including Verdi's Aida (televised on ABC TV), Vaughan Williams' The Pilgrim's Progress (the first performance in 25 years) and Bizet's The Pearl Fishers (most recently under the baton of Richard Bonynge).

2009 Performances[6]

piano4te: choral music for piano 4-hands

-Poulenc Gloria; Brahms Liebeslieder; Gorecki Totus Tuus

Beethoven Symphony no. 9

- with Canberra Symphony Orchestra (and other Canberra choirs) conducted by Nicholas Milton

‘Quintessentially English’

- with Soprano Evelyn Graham, Countertenor Cameron Gill, heldentenor Dominic McKenna, organist Christopher Erskine

Purcell

- with countenor Tobias Cole

Handel’s Messiah

- with soloists Rebecca Colins, Christina Wilson, Michael Martin and Stephen Bennett

2010[7]

Verdi's Requiem

- with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra under Nicholas Milton ( with Oriana Chorale, SCUNA and Llewellyn Choir). Tobias Cole, Choir Master.

Soloists:Eva Kong soprano;Christina Wilson mezzo; Warren Fisher tenor; David Parkin bass

Easter Concert for the ABC Classic FM Sunday Live program, featuring organist Peter Young,soloist Karen Fitz-Gibbon, and with a bracket of songs conducted by Tobias Cole.

2011[8]

The Banner of St George: a concert for choir, organ and piano

A program of works by Elgar, Finzi, Vaughan-Williams and Britten selected and conducted by Rowan Harvey Martin.

Canberra International Music Festival Concerts

-Sculthorpe: Requiem (with Oriana Chorale and Vox); conducted by Brett Weymark -Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna (with other Canberra Choirs) conducted by Roland Peelman

The best choral music ever written by a German or Austrian

Handel’s Messiah

-Conducted by Brett Weymark

2012

2013[9]

Great Performances in the Albert Hall – the first 25 years

-With guest artists including Louise Page, Rachael Thoms, Rohan Thatcher, Paul Eldon, Anthony Smith, Kimberley Steele, Jack Hobbs, Joy McDonald, the Kim Harvey School of Dance and the Turner Trebles. Read newspaper articles, the concert program and more here.

Canberra International Music Festival

Handel's Theodora

-The Australian premiere on original instruments, with guest conductor Brett Weymark, outstanding soloists Greta Bradman, Christina Wilson, Tobias Cole, Stephen Bennett, & Paul McMahon, and an instrumental ensemble of Australian baroque specialists.

The Best Choral Music Ever Written by an Australian (with a Canberra Connection)

Carmina Burana with Canberra Symphony Orchestra

Handel's Messiah

A Come and Sing performance under the baton of Graham Abbott [10] with soloists Andrew Collis (bass), Janet Todd (soprano), Tobias Cole (alto), Robert Macfarlane (tenor).

2014

Canberra Voices, the Sound of our City [11]

''''''''''Great Performances in the Albert Hall – the second 25 years''''''''''

Handel's Alexander Balus

Britten A feast of St Nicholas

2015

Handel's Hercules

Double Trouble

Handel's Messiah

2016

April 2 and 3

From Byrd to Britten: 400 years of English choral music

Our performance season starts with a bang after Easter with our first concert at the recently refurbished Ainslie Arts Centre.

Toby has put together a wonderful program that will include movements of Byrd's Mass for five voices, movements of Britten's Missa Brevis, works by Parry, Elgar, Stanford, Vaughan Williams and Holst, and England's greatest composer, Henry Purcell.

May 11/12

We renew our collaboration with Canberra Symphony Orchestra under the baton of chief conductor Nicholas Milton with a performance of Beethoven’s majestic Ninth Symphony

July 23

CCS teams up with the National Capital Orchestra conducted by Leonard Weiss for a performance of Carmina Burana

September 4

Voices in Space at High Court

The Choir will make the most of the soaring spaces at the High Court of Australia for a very special Sunday afternoon concert

October 8

Canberra Choral Society will once again be part of Toby’s ambitious project to bring one of Handel’s oratorios to Canberra each year. This year’s production will be Jephtha - re-titled as "The Vow"

December 3

Schutz Christmas Story

Our end of year ‘Come and Sing’ project is the work written by the 17th Century German composer Heinrich Schütz and believed to have been first performed in 1660. This was just a decade after the end of the Thirty Years' War – one of the most destructive conflicts in European history - which devastated the musical infrastructure of Germany and forced composers like Schutz to radically alter and scale back their work to create a very different style of music

The Society

While the membership of the Society is essentially amateur, members are regularly auditioned to keep up a high standard. A professional Musical Director is engaged, and soloists and orchestral players used in performance are drawn from the professional ranks. Orchestral musicians are principally Canberra-based, while guest conductors and soloists are artists of local, national and international repute.

The Society has collaborated with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and Canberra Youth Orchestra in many presentations of major choral/orchestral works. It has also performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as well as the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in major choral concerts, as well as working with many other groups including local adult and children's choirs and orchestras.

The Society also contributes to community events. It has performed at the Canberra Multicultural Festival and during Floriade, and on special occasions such as the opening of Parliament House. For many years, the Society provided the choir for the annual Anzac Day service held at the Australian War Memorial.

A national Choral Music Lending Scheme that facilitates provision of performing scores to over 100 member choirs across the country was instituted in 1965.[12]

The Society has around 60 members, and presents between three and five performances each year in Canberra's leading concert venues, including, Llewellyn Hall at the Canberra School of Music.,[13] The Playhouse at Canberra Theatre, the Street Theatre, Albert Hall and Belconnen Arts Centre.Its repertoire ranges from well-known masterworks by J.S. Bach, Handel and Mozart, to less-often performed works, especially those of the twentieth century.

The Society had a proven record of performing new works by Australian composers. With assistance from the Federal Governments' arts funding body, the Australia Council, large-scale choral-orchestral compositions were commissioned by the Society for the Australian Bicentenary in 1988 (Richard Mills's Five Meditations from the Poetry of David Campbell) and for the Centenary of Federation in 2001 (Peter and Martin Wesley-Smith's Black Ribbon).[14] Premiere performances of works by resident Musical Directors have also been a feature of the choir's repertoire. By invitation, the Society has performed in special concerts to mark significant events and anniversaries, including the opening of the new Australian Parliament House, the 50th Anniversary of World War II, the Australian National University's 50th anniversary, the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Sydney Opera House, and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Guest conductors and soloists of national and international repute who have worked with the Society include Nicholas Braithwaite, Joan Carden, Margreta Elkins, Gerald English, Donald Shanks, Clifford Grant and Tobias Cole. Over many years, the Society has collaborated with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra[15] and Canberra Youth Orchestra in many presentations of major choral/orchestral works. It has also performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in major choral concerts, as well as working with many other groups, including local adult and children's choirs and orchestras.

Awards and Recognition

In 1992 the Society received a Canberra Critics' Circle award for its Fortieth Anniversary Concert program, which featured Carl Orff's Carmina Burana and the world premiere of Christopher Lyndon-Gee's Hymn for Sarum (Te Deum).

The archives of the early years of the Society are held by the National Library of Australia.[16]

Musical Directors

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Review of ACT Arts Facilities, ACT Chief Minister's Department (Turner, ACT: Purdon Associates, July 2001)
  2. ↑ http://canberrachoralsociety.org/sing-with-us/come-and-sing/
  3. ↑ Canberra Times, 29 June 1954:4. "The Canberra Choral Group, which has just received a grant £30 from the A.C.T. Cultural Advisory Committee, will hold a committee meeting to-morrow night."
  4. ↑ Olympic Arts Festival (19 August 2000). Symphony at the Superdome. Concert program. Sydney: Playbill Pty Ltd.
  5. ↑ Eccles, Jeremy (22 August 2000). "Technology finds balance, finally". The Canberra Times (Canberra).
  6. ↑ "Canberra Choral Society website, Come Hear Us page".
  7. ↑ "Canberra Choral Society website - 2010 program".
  8. ↑ "Canberra Choral Society website - 2011 program".
  9. ↑ "Canberra Choral Society - 2013 program".
  10. ↑ http://canberrachoralsociety.org/come-hear/2013-program
  11. ↑ "City News review".
  12. ↑ Hince, Kenneth (4 December 1965). "Finding the Lost Chord". The Australian (Canberra).
  13. ↑ http://heritage.anu.edu.au/index.php?pid=1112
  14. ↑ See list of grants in the Australia Council's Annual Report 1997–98 (Sydney: Australia Council, 1998).
  15. ↑ http://www.cso.org.au/-about_the_cso/about_history.html
  16. ↑ See catalogue of Manuscript collections (NLA MS 1519)

External links

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