• CANCELLED – Sunday 5 April Tom Healey, Dvorak Mass in D with Terry Norman
• Sunday 12 July Anne Pilgrim, Beethoven Mass in C with John Bumford
• Sunday 4 October Allister Cox (G&S)

All sessions are from 2-5pm at St Luke’s Uniting Church, Highton.

Bookings are essential because we have to hire music and plan afternoon tea. Book by email at pandapilgrim@gmail.com or phone 0412 524 316

Sunday July 7 at St Luke’s Uniting Church, Cnr Barrabool & Scenic Rds, Highton from 2.00pm to 5.00 pm.

Well we aren’t singing that this year, but we are singing Dixit Dominus and Coronation Anthems also by G.F. Handel.

2018 commences on Saturday February 3 with an all day rehearsal. Any prospective singers are welcome to join us and see what we do. If you like it, you are welcome to join us for a few rehearsals at no obligation. If you still want to continue, we will invite you to have an audition with our musical director.

We had a large ensemble of over 60 people to sing this great work.

Thanks to Malcolm John, our patient conductor for the day, and Sonoka Miyake for her beautiful accompaniment.

Review by Helen Lyth in the Choral Grapevine

https://thechoralgrapevine.wordpress.com/2017/05/27/an-american-portrait-the-geelong-chorale/

Review by Colin Mockett at Entertainment Geelong

http://www.entertainmentgeelong.com/colinmockett/Reviews.html

This unusual concert for the Chorale was reportedly not to every member’s taste. Some singers were believed to hold the view that our region’s premier choir should stick to its traditional material, drawn from classical and/or sacred musical catalogues.
But for this reviewer – and, I’d hazard, a clear audience majority – this concert was just perfect. Sure, there were some challenging moments, but for the most part, this was a concert of delight.
It took the form of five different groups of well-known American songs, each having their backgrounds explained by the knowledgeable Allister Cox before being delivered with clarity and dexterity by the Chorale.
To this history and music buff, this was concert nirvana. It was entertaining, enlightening, informative – and delivered in the most stylish musical way.
Following a short, humorous intro from Director Cox, ‘we planned this concert a year ago before political events in America overtook us..’ including a well-delivered mock Trump call, he went on to explain the context of the first group of spirituals, neatly detailing their roots in the deep south’s slavery era. Then the Chorale delivered Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, Soon Ah Will Be Done, Deep River and Ain’t Got Time To Die with joy and care if not quite the jubilation of a revivalist meeting.
Then followed a Stephen Foster medley following Allister’s potted biography which noted that the author of so many of America’s landmark tunes died with just 40c in his pocket. The Chorale, in unfamiliar but effective formation with tenors front and centre, then delivered I Dream Of Jeanie, My Old Kentucky Home and Beautiful Dreamer with sensitive élan.
A folksong section followed, with Shenandoah, The Riddle Song, Long Time Ago and Ching-A-Ring Chaw receiving the concert’s explanation before refined delivery treatment, and then a trio of Art Songs in Samuel Barber’s Sure on this Shining Night, Randall Thompson’s ironic 1940 multi-layered Alleluia and Stephen Paulus’ The Road Home.
Then came a build-up to the concert’s finale in a section titled ‘Medleys from the Shows’. This preamble told us, among other things, that George Gershwin sought classical training when he was the most successful songwriter in the world and that Judy Garland’s Over The Rainbow was almost cut from The Wizard of Oz as being too slow. Highlights in this section included an amazing number of hit references rolled into the chorale’s Gershwin medley; Helen Seymour and John Stubbings’ duet in Cole Porter’s Night and Day – and the Chorale’s enthusiastic delivery of the thigh-slapping theme tune for Oklahoma!
The concert’s finale was, almost inevitably, the rousing Battle Hymn of the Republic – but only after Director Cox had explained just who John Brown was, and why his body mouldered in the grave.
As always, pianist Kristine Mellens gave the Chorale her fine, unobtrusive support – and I believe that the enthusiastic final applause would have won over even the most sceptical chorister.
For this was a concert of unexpected delights.
— Colin Mockett

Photos here

We are seeking any interested singers who would like to augment our choir and be a part of these exciting concerts to be held at Costa Hall.
The Geelong Chorale will perform Polovtsian Dances by Borodin in the first half of the program. The second half of the concert will include the usual Proms’ fare including Jerusalem, Land of Hope and Glory, I Vow to Thee, My Country, as well as the Toreador Song from Carmen.

It is a wonderful opportunity to sing with a full symphony orchestra on the big stage of Costa Hall in front of a large audience. The conductor for this concert is Kevin Cameron, Director of Middle School Music at Geelong Grammar School.

​Rehearsals commence Monday September 4 2017, and are held weekly every Monday night from 7.30pm to 9.30pm at St Luke’s Uniting Church, Barrabool Rd, Highton. Rehearsals with the orchestra will be held on the afternoon of Sunday October 8 (venue to be advised); and in the evening of Monday October 23 at Costa Hall; and Thursday October 26 at Costa Hall.

You will need to be able to read music, sing in tune and attend most rehearsals. Our musical director, Allister Cox, will listen to you sing to ensure you are placed in the correct position in the choir. Cost will be a one off payment of $20 to cover insurance.

If you would like to join us in this very exciting venture, please let our secretary, Angela West, know your name, email address and what part you sing, and we will add you to the list!

Angela West
Secretary
The Geelong Chorale
PO Box 352
Geelong VIC 3220
(03) 5244 7285
thegeelongchorale@gmail.com