Naomi writes:
Back in June Richard posted a blog about a concert performed by the Sydney Conservatorium of Music he and Anne attended.  The Con Orchestra and Choir performed Elgar’s ‘The Dream of Gerontius’, and the concertmaster on that occasion was my oldest grandson, Noam, now in third year violin studies at the Con.  I was in Paris at the time and while you could say “how tough!” and yes, I did enjoy being in Paris, but just on that evening I would have preferred to be at the Con. I was so grateful to Richard for posting the blog, sending me a detailed e-mail about the evening and even attaching a clandestinely taken photo.

So when another concert came along last Friday with Noam as concertmaster, I mentioned it to Richard.   He and Anne were there with me at the Con, along with John, my daughter and son-in-law (the parents of the concertmaster!), granddaughter and several of their friends.  What a privilege: family, friends, the Verbugghen Hall, a large, youthful orchestra and a concertmaster grandson performing, among other pieces, that sublime symphony, Beethoven’s seventh.

I will let Richard describe the musical side of the evening.  For two reasons:  first because his grasp of the musical aspects of the evening is more proficient than mine and second, when a grandson is the concertmaster there is no way I can be objective.  Noam comes onto the stage to the acclaim of his mates, the ‘cheer squad’ at the back of the hall; he is smiling, confident and so handsome!  He takes a bow and starts tuning the orchestra.  The music takes over.  Tears of pride and affection well in my eyes and I am so glad to be in Sydney and not in Paris….

Richard writes:
For a concert with the “blood connection” described by Naomi, this was, appropriately, full blooded Beethoven.  Not for the Con a pared down orchestra of gut strings, transverse flutes and the like.  No way!  There were twelve first violins, matched by comparable forces in the remainder of the string section, along with modern woodwinds and brass.  What a sound they made in the resonant cavern of the Verbrugghen Hall!

The opening work – Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, was played with alternating vigour and empathy, showing off the ensemble’s accuracy and expressiveness.  Then the strings accompanied a delightful Marimba Concerto (one of only two in the repertoire, we were told) which required both musicianship and athleticism on the part of the soloist.

And then, with a change of conductor, came Beethoven’s Symphony No 7.  Comprising one of the longest symphonic introductions in the repertoire and one of the most abrupt endings, with loads of musical variety in between, this is not an easy work to play well.  But the Con Orchestra and their dynamic conductor excelled themselves.  In all its variety, the music flowed coherently from idea to idea.  As musical ideas were developed, the tension was gradually heightened, and yet it was always resolved satisfactorily to the ear before moving on.  The final movement seemed somewhat frenetic at times.  However, the following day a broadcast of Daniel Barenboim conducting the East-West Divan Orchestra in the same work was just as frenetic, so the approach of the young conductor at the Con, Tae-Soo Kim, was more than justified.

Just one minor criticism – with all those strings playing fortissimo, sometimes the woodwind and brass were lost.  Had they been positioned higher, their sound would have come over more effectively.

Perhaps the last thing to say is that this was not just a good concert by student standards.  It was an excellent concert by any standard, comparable with professional orchestras heard in more prestigious venues.  A wonderful evening’s music making indeed.

Some of our more eagle-eyed members may have noticed Carolynn Everett’s unusual absence from rehearsal the other Thursday.  Here she tells us why she was absent………

It’s Thursday night, and we are walking into the school grounds for a 7.30 start – but this week we are not at Collaroy Plateau PS, and there will be no choir here. Instead, we are at Epping West PS for the Pre-Tour concert of their award-winning Concert Band.

The school hall is abuzz, with lots of excited families waiting …  and then the band, looking very smart in their black pants and black polo shirts, file in, and take their places – almost 40 of them.

And so the concert begins: this is a tight ensemble, and the kids quickly get into the swing of things.

Perennial school band favourites such as ”Gonna Fly Now” (the theme from the movie “Rocky”) and “George of the Jungle” are all played with great style. These children understand that different kinds of music have a different ‘feel’, and they adapt easily to each new chart. We tap our toes as they play “The best of ‘Queen’ ” and a medley of Henry Mancini tunes, “Jai Ho” (from “Slumdog Millionaire”), a calypso medley, and Sia’s “Cheap Thrills”, amongst other musical treats.

There are some outstanding band members, including a fantastic kit-drummer, who is rock-steady, and rarely takes his eyes off the conductor. The girl who leads the trumpet section is another stand-out: a confident player, with a very nice tone.

This band is very fortunate to have a very experienced, highly-skilled musician as their conductor. He shows us the latest trophies the band has won, and these are passed around the audience during the concert for us all to admire.

The conductor tells us about their forthcoming tour, which will take place in the first week after the school holidays. The band will travel to the Blue Mountains, where they will visit four schools: at each school they will do a workshop with the local school band, and then they will do a concert. They will be working hard, but it will be a fantastic experience, and they will learn such a lot.

During each concert the various sections of the band will be introduced, and the members of each section will play a few bars of their part from the band’s next number. Tonight may well be the first time that some of these children have played a ‘solo’ like this, but they all do very well.

After about an hour, it’s all over. With a final reminder that, in spite of tonight’s concert, “There will be band practice tomorrow morning before school!” the band plays their last number. We, the audience, have had a great night, and the band has too.

How lucky these children are to have the opportunity to play in a concert band like this! Not only are they learning to play an instrument, but they are learning how to be team players, and they are being exposed to many different kinds of music. Hopefully they will continue to enjoy music, as players and/or as listeners, throughout their school years, and beyond! Many of them have already performed on the Sydney Opera House stage, so who knows just how far some of them will go …

PS I will, of course, be back at Choir next week!

PPS I should probably ‘confess’ that the conductor mentioned is our younger son, Mike, and our grandson, Harrison, who is 14, was helping out on tuba.

I can’t be absolutely sure, but I think I first heard this phrase at a rehearsal of the work we are preparing at the moment, JS Bach’s Magnificat.  I seem to remember that some of us from a local choir were joining a bigger choir to sing in the chapel of a local public school – this being England, of course a public school is anything but public and this one demanded huge fees from financiers, stockbrokers, country gentlefolk and the like, no doubt in exchange for a very good education for their sons and, latterly, daughters.

Curiously, this said chapel is not unlike the Cardinal Cerretti Chapel where we sing – rows of tiered seats facing each other down the side with forward facing seats in between; an organ at the wrong end of the building; but without the altar or canopy (which I have recently discovered is called a baldalcino – useless fact no 9938a) which add to the atmosphere and are beautiful but prove rather impractical when arranging a choir.

Anyway, that must be why I was reminded of the phrase last night.  Our conductor back in England was a lovely man called Murray.  In many ways he was like Carlos – modest, gentle and unflustered, a consummate musician who was never happier than when sharing his deep knowledge of the music with us amateur singers, neither talking over our heads nor dumbing us down.

At one of the early rehearsals the singing was rather tentative, perhaps a bit like us last night.  “Come on”, said Murray, “let’s have a bit more.”  Nothing happened.  Then “molto, molto”, he urged us.  Again, nothing happened.  “Can you give it a bit more welly?” was his next encouragement, but yet again to no avail.  In desperation, he uncharacteristically spoke quite loudly over the singing, “CON MOLTO WELLY!!”

It had the desired effect.  Everyone responded to this ridiculous combination of high Italian and slang English.  “Thank you,” he said.  “Now I can hear what you are singing – the right notes and the wrong ones – and I am pleased to say that there are many less of the latter than I was expecting.”

Maybe there is a message for us.  After all, rehearsals are for making mistakes – it’s only in the performances where we need to be perfect.

So, let’s carry on making lots of loud mistakes – and of course, correcting them – as we learn this exquisite music in the capable hands of our friend and wonderful musical director, Carlos.

It was a bit of a coming down to earth last night.

Sunday’s wonderful concert had been euphoric.  We had sang to great acclaim.  We had sung gustily, majoring in style, bravura and panache.  The audience loved it – and so did we.

And then last night we began to study and sing JS Bach’s Magnificat, a work of intricate polyphony by a master of the art, many would say THE master of the art.  We were all at sixes and sevens.

It was down to earth with a massive thud.

And yet – in a few weeks’ time we will be wondering what all the fuss was about.   After some hard-working rehearsals, supplemented of course by study of the score with the practice CDs and the Dropbox based practice material at home, we will be singing the work of this great master with consummate ease and great confidence.

Carlos made two great observations last night.  He talked about the last concert being one adventure, and the forthcoming concert as another.  Adventures often start hesitatingly – who was it said that the most difficult step on a journey is the first? But then there is a huge sense of achievement when the mission of the adventure is accomplished.  And by the end of last night’s rehearsal we were already beginning to get to grips with the first two choruses, a sign of good things to come.

Carlos also said that we have to “change channels” from the last adventure to this one – from a channel embodying style and panache to one based on precision and perfection.  Again, we could feel that last night as we wound our way around the tricky runs and modulating keys of those first two choruses.

On a personal note, it was great to see some “old” faces again last night; and to catch up with people who for various reasons had dropped out of the Choir for the last concert.  It was also good to welcome some prospective new members – we hope that they get as much enjoyment out of singing with us as we “old-timers” do.

I think that’s it for this week, apart from apologising for the corny title.  I could not think of anything better – sorry!

It is hard to know what to write about the Choir’s hugely successful concert yesterday afternoon at the Chapel.  After all the difficulties encountered during the preceding week, it was astonishing how everything came together to produce a concert which was evidently enjoyed enormously by the audience, and gave us in the Choir a huge sense of satisfaction.

Credit is due to many people for this success.

Firstly, to the orchestra, and especially to our wonderful Concertmaster, Catrina Hughes, for their stylish and graceful playing of the Serenade for Strings and the Schubert Mass.

Secondly, out two soloists were spot on, Ryan singing both tenor and bass solos with dignity and aplomb, and Naomi, standing in at very short notice for a voice-less Anita, thrilling us all with the warm tones of her beautiful voice.

It was a real coup to have Los Inkas join us, as they gave Misa Criolla a real sense of authenticity both musically and visually, in addition to adding some unexpected but very effective spontenaity from time to time.

Then we have to acknowledge Bethany’s tireless work at the piano both for the performance and in the extended rehearsal programme, sensing precisely when we needed support and when we could be left to our own devices.

And last, but by no means least, we salute the man who stands where the buck stops, our Conductor, Carlos.  He has been amazing once again in melding together musicians of all abilities, styles and levels of experience, to create an artistic event worthy of the highest praise.  And this time he has not only masterminded the whole concert ensemble, he has not only conducted us: he has not only accompanied us on the guitar, but he also sang very beautifully two of the solo parts.  He is a man of outstanding talent and character, and we cannot remind ourselves too often how fortunate we are to have him as our Conductor.

Tempting as it would be to rest on our laurels, we have to start preparing for the December concert next Thursday.  It will be very different – Bach, Handel and Christmas carols.

But then variety is the spice of life.