Last night’s rehearsal was notable for many things.  Two stand out for me. Firstly, it was good to have Carolina Estrada present, not only to guide us through unfamiliar pronunciation of the Catalan text, but also to tell us something of Granados’s life and what she feels he was expressing in the Song of the Stars.

Secondly, so as to create the two choirs required for the Song of the Stars, we were all moved around – what a shock!  I am used to sitting in the front row, where  I get quite cross when Carlos stops beating time and people behind me carry on singing.  Last night I was relegated to the back row, and guess who carried on singing when Carlos stopped conducting – yes, of course, it was me.  I simply had not realised how with your head in the score in the back row you do not see Carlos’ arm movements from the corner of your eye, as you can in the front row.  So, maybe we should allow ourselves to be moved around more often, so as not to get too set in our own ways.

Rehearsals for our next concerts started on Thursday January 22nd. The Choir was at full strength with around 70 current members plus two prospective members.  It was great to be back singing again, and to catch up with old friends.

Haydn’s Mass in a Time of War proved to be a piece with lots of colour and contrast.  In keeping with much good music, it looks straightforward, but in reality there were some changes in key which challenged the sight-reading skills of even some of our our more experienced singers.

Next week (January 29th) we will get to know more about the two Spanish pieces, Song of the Stars by Granados and Song of the Birds by Casals, when Carolina Estrada  from the Sydney Conservatorium comes to introduce them to us and to share something of her research into how they came to be composed.

Rehearsals for the next concert start on Thursday 22 January.

It’s an exciting programme of music, comprising Haydn’s Paukenmesse (Mass in a Time of War), plus two little-known but delightful Spanish works : Cant de les Estrelles (Song of the Stars) by Granados and Le Cant dels Ocells (The Song of the Birds) by Casals.

In addition and continuing the Spanish theme of the first half of the concert, there will be the orchestral / piano piece, Nights in the Gardens of Spain by de Falla.

We will also be taking part in the Australian Premiere of Granados’ Cant de les Estrelles,at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on March 24th.  There will be special rehearsals for this performance during the previous week, details to be confirmed.
For information on this concert, click here. 
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More details for Choir members is available here.

The final concert of our 2014 season was Handel’s Messiah, conducted by Dr Carlos Alvarado, with soloists Jenny Liu (Soprano), Ellen Malone (Contralto),Joel Scott (Tenor) and Greg McCreanor (Bass).

The performances were very well received by near-capacity audiences.  Sunday’s performance was memorably interrupted for a few minutes by the Fire Alarm, which had been triggered by a lightning strike elsewhere in the College.  We kept calm and carried on, once the alarm had been silenced.   One member of the audience was heard to comment that, with the torrential rain and lightnig strikes outside, she felt that the safest place to be was inside the Chapel, in the company of The Messiah.

It is two weeks since we sang the Brahms German Requiem up at the Cardinal Cerretti Chapel, and the music is still resonating through my head at all sorts of unexpected moments.  Talking to other Choir members, it is clear that I am not alone in experiencing these “flashbacks” to yet another wonderful musical experience.  It must be some combination of the text, the music and the connections which Carlos made between them, which have fixed themselves in the unconscious, to surface later at the least provocation.

It was a memorable concert for several reasons.  Firstly, the weather on the day left no doubt that we would be able to have the planned refreshments outside afterwards.  It was an hour and a half after the concert finished that the last audience members went home, so that could be counted as one success.

Then there was the accompaniment of the two pianos.  Some of us were initially nervous about not having an orchestra.  But at the final rehearsal, any doubts were dispelled.  Angela and Gregory played masterfully.  When the Choir was singing quietly, their touch was so light that we could be confident of being heard.  And when a full orchestral-style sound was required, they challenged us to join in a torrent of well-controlled, ever expressive, phrases, creating continual contrasts in tone and colour.

Lastly, as always, Carlos made sure at rehearsals that we understood what we were singing.  That, to me, is the mark of a great conductor.  The music is not there for its own sake: it is there as an integral part of communicating ideas and feelings deeply held by the composer. Our role as performers is to channel the communication from composer to audiences.  From feedback received, it is clear that we did exactly that, and we did it very well.

Congratulations to everyone who had a part in making the concert such an enjoyable and satisfying event.