Last Saturday’s concert was a great success.  We have received many positive comments from audience members, one of whom, who heard us for the first time on Saturday, has already booked tickets for our next concert!

No doubt we all have different memories of such an event.  For this writer, it started with Carolina’s masterful yet sensitive playing in the Cant de les Estrelles.  Then the combined orchestral and piano playing in the Nights in the Gardens of Spain proved powerful and convincing.  As for the Haydn Mass, we in the Choir seemed to have mastered the dynamics, and the soloists sounded wonderful, both individually and particularly when singing together.

To add to this, the concert was a sell-out.  Not only does that help the finances, but it’s also much better singing to a full house.

Many thanks to everyone who had a part in making another MWC Concert truly memorable.

As you may know, our Conductor, Carlos Alvarado, also conducts a number of other choirs and orchestras.  He was recently appointed Principal Conductor of the Ryde Hunters Hill Orchestra.  The first concert of their 2015 season took place on Sunday May 3rd the Ryde Civic Hall, with Carlos conducting.  It was a beautiful programme with connections to Gallipoli.  For full details of the programme, click here.

The first part comprised a number of popular pieces, and after the interval there came one of Carlos’ masterpieces of programming.  Arutunian’s Trumpet Concerto, played brilliantly be Andrew del Riccio, set a military scene.  Then came Frederick Septimus Kelly’s wistful Elegy for Strings “In memoriam Rupert Brooke”, in which the string section of the orchestra captured Kelly’s evocation of the personal losses sustained in war in with poise and sensitivity.  Another thoughtful piece followed – “Nimrod” from Elgar’s Enigma Variations, in which Carlos masterfully brought off the long, sustained build up to the climax. By way of a Grand Finale, Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 was played with bravura and panache.  There were almost sufficient members of MWC there for us to sing along with “Land of Hope and Glory”, but it would not have done to drown the magnificent sound of the orchestra.

“Per ardua ad astra” is the motto of the Royal Air Force in the UK – “To the stars through hard work” is a rough translation.  The Choir has been putting in a lot of hard work recently rehearsing Granados’ “Song of the Stars” and we finally reached the stars last night as we participated in the work’s Australian premiere at the Conservatorium in Sydney.  Following two piano pieces played masterfully by Carolina Estrada, and a delightful solo song by Anita Kyle, the time finally came to show off Granados’ musical evocation of the heavens.  And,,judging by the applause, it went down very well.  The concert ended with Pablo Casals’ “Song of the Birds”  – a very effective conclusion to a programme dedicated to Catalan music reflecting on the transient nature of human passions compared to the eternal immensity of the cosmos.

What a delight it was to sing at the open acoustics at the Verbrugghen Hall at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music last night.  It took us a while to organize ourselves into two choirs, but once we did, the music began to flow.  It was exciting to sing in a hall that is different to the one we are used to and is so significant in the musical life of Sydney.

It has been somewhat difficult rehearsing this piece so it was very satisfying to finally have a run through which showed the music in its true colours.

Manly Warringah Choir is delighted to be taking part in the Australian Premiere of Granados’ recently found work, The Song of the Stars. The performance will take place at the Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music on Tuesday March 24th at 7.00pm.  The work is the subject of research by Lecturer at the Conservatorium, Carolina Estrada, and will be performed again on Saturday May 9th as part of the Choir’s own concert at the Cardinal Cerretti Chapel, Manly.

Although entry to the performance on March 24th is free, audience members are encouraged to book in advance and to make a donation towards the funding for Carolina’s research.

For full details of the performance on March 24th, click here.

For details of the performance and links to further details of Carolina’s research project, click here.

For an article on how the music was lost and then was found again, click here.