Our President, Roger Pratt, experienced a curious circularity on Thursday night when attending a talk given by astronomer Professor Fred Watson.  He writes:

“I knew that Fred is very knowledgeable and experienced in musical matters and had a chat with him after the talk, hoping to steer the conversation towards music, with which I’m more familiar than astronomy.

“Fred astounded me by pulling a CD of Karl Jenkins’ Stella Natalis from his pocket. He had been to our concert on Saturday, and was blown away by it, both by the work itself, which he’d not heard before, and by the quality of the performance. He has been to our concerts before, and was particularly impressed by the St John Passion earlier this year.

“Fred is an exceptional character, who manages to combine being the foremost astronomer in Australia with an active interest in music. He is accomplished on the guitar, and has cooperated with various Australian composers in writing and producing musical works. Amongst other things, he worked with Ross Edwards to provide the libretto for Edwards’ Fourth Choral Symphony.

“It is high praise indeed from such a musical aficionado that he was so impressed by our Stella Natalis that as soon as he got home after the performance he went straight to his computer and downloaded a CD of it to get to know it better”.

There have been many complimentary comments following our concerts last weekend. Perhaps the most pertinent and succinct came from Brian Sample, “That was indeed a triumph!”

Brian could have critiqued the score, the Choir, the soloists and the orchestra individually, not to mention our conductor, Carlos.  But his choice of words summed up the essence both of playing Tchaikovsky and of singing Karl Jenkins – it is a joint effort.  Everyone has to learn, to practice and to concentrate, to give of their own best whilst being sensitive to all that is going on around them.  It seems that is exactly what we did, led by the ever inspirational Carlos.

In the Nutcracker Suite, it seemed that the orchestra hit exactly the right combinations of fun and seriousness, levity and weight.  The carols, as always, were well received by an attentive and vocal audience.  From within the Choir, Stella Natalis went well right from the first “Celebro”.  Entries were mostly firm; there was much light and shade; we all ended sustained notes together following Carlos’ direction.  The mood of the music changed noticeably from movement to movement. It was easy as a singer to be totally absorbed in communicating the music and its message to the audience.  The standing ovations brought the reverie to a climax and then let us down back into the real world.

Special mention must be made of our soloists Anita Kyle and Anthony Aarons; Angela our accompanist; and of course the man at whose baton the buck stops – Carlos.  His relentless energy and enthusiasm at such a difficult time have been an example to us all.  He said that his driving force is the belief that music has the power to lift lives beyond the everyday.  These concerts have demonstrated such power beyond doubt.

Yesterday was December 1st.  It was quite an important day.

Firstly, December 1st marks the start of our summer, and by the look of the forecast for the next few days, it will prove an accurate marker.

Secondly, the eagerly anticipated December edition of Limelight Magazine was published, so now we can all have our own copy of Naomi’s wonderful article on community choirs and the Manly Warringah Choir in particular.

Thirdly, the final rehearsal for this weekend’s concerts went like a breeze, which was such a relief after the stresses and strains of Tuesday’s session in the unhelpful acoustic of the big school hall.  What happens between two such rehearsals cannot be explained.  Somehow all the loose parts which had been flailing around separately in space came together and slotted each into its own place with precision and no small degree of aplomb.  We made Stella Natalis sound like music – music with a message.  The message alternates around themes which are appropriate to the time of year and to our times in general; those of joy, wonder, peace and love.

However, it was sad that, for only the second time since Carlos took up the baton for MWC, his beloved wife Alexandra was not leading the orchestra.  Her place was ably taken by Catrina Hughes, Alexandra’s friend and colleague in a number of prestigious Australian orchestras and ensembles.  The themes of peace and love were very apparent as we presented Carlos with a DVD of the Choir and orchestra performing Lullay from Stella Natalis to take for Alexandra with our love and very best wishes.  Along with the practical assistance which members of the Choir have offered them recently we wanted to send a message reflecting the esteem in which we hold her and expressing our love for her and for all she means to us.

This weekend, Alexandra may not physically be with us, but we know that she will be with us in spirit. For our part, as we perform Jenkins’ quirky music with its profound message, we will certainly all be thinking of her and sending her our love.

Two things struck me at Choir practice last night.  I am not sure whether one is more important that the other, but they are certainly both worthy of mention.

The first is that we sang all the way through Stella Natalis  for the first time.  What an achievement!  This is not easy music: it has many sudden changes of mood and tempo, unusual harmonic shifts and occasionally d-d-d-d-d difficult words.  It requires skill and lots of concentration on everyone’s part.  That we managed to get all the way through is a testament to choristers and conductor, not to mention Angela, our accomplished accompanist, who has probably worked hardest of all during rehearsals.  It augurs well for the performances next weekend.

The second thing about last night’s rehearsal was occasioned by Naomi Roseth’s article appearing in the Limelight Magazine.  It is about Community Choirs, both the phenomenon in general and our own Manly Warringah Choir as an example.  In it Naomi describes the special relationship between the Choir and Carlos which is so much a part of our success. This prompted Carlos to say how much the Choir means to Alexandra and himself, and how working with us is very special to them both.  It is clear from the spontaneous reaction to Carlos that the feeling is very much reciprocated by everyone in the Choir.

We are extraordinarily fortunate to be members of a community bound together by a love of music and the wish to spread the enjoyment to as many people as possible.  With all the skill in the world, our performances would be nothing compared to what we make of them through commitment to the music, to Carlos and to each other.  Perhaps that determines which of last night’s two noteworthy events carries the prize.

The December issue of Limelight magazine features an article about Community Choirs written by our Secretary, Naomi Roseth.  Go and buy a copy of the magazine before they are all sold out!