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To celebrate our 75th anniversary we present a selection of cherished repertoire from our archives, featuring madrigals, sacred music, opera choruses, art songs, folksongs, spirituals, jazz and contemporary pieces.
Something for everyone to enjoy.
We invite you to pop some corks with us after the performance for a celebratory supper.
Sunday 18th May 2025 2.30pm
All Saints’ Anglican Church
Noble Street
Newtown
As we step into our 75th year, The Geelong Chorale extends our warmest wishes to all our followers for a happy, healthy, and harmonious New Year. This milestone is not only a celebration of the years we’ve spent making music together but also an opportunity to reflect on our rich and diverse history.
The roots of The Geelong Chorale stretch back to the late 19th century, with the establishment of the Geelong Choral Society in the 1890s. In the 1950s, under the leadership of George Logie-Smith OBE, who conducted both The GAMA Orchestra and The Geelong Choral Society, a smaller auditioned madrigal group was formed—The Geelong Madrigal Choir. This ensemble focused on performing madrigals and other works suited to a more intimate setting.
In the 1960s, the choir adopted the name The GAMA Singers to better reflect its association with GAMA and its expanding repertoire. In the 1990s, the choir embraced its current identity—The Geelong Chorale—signifying the broader and more diverse nature of our musical journey.
As we celebrate this significant anniversary, we would love to connect with you, our loyal community, by sharing more of the stories and passions that have shaped our choir over the years. If you have any anecdotes, memories, or historical insights to share, we would be honoured to include them as part of our ongoing narrative.
Please feel free to send us a private message with any stories or information you’d like to contribute. Together, we can celebrate the enduring spirit of The Geelong Chorale and its many years of musical passion.
We will update you with our superb 2025 concert series shortly.
In the lead up to Christmas, the Geelong Chorale presents a selection of music from the extraordinary wealth of choral repertoire inspired by the Virgin Mary.
Ever since the early centuries of Christian history, the Virgin Mary has played a significant role in worship. Over time, feast days dedicated to her began to appear in the church calendar, and to celebrate such feasts, more and more elaborate Marian music was composed. The 13th & 14th centuries saw a period of especially intense devotion to Mary and she became a popular subject of paintings and poetry, too, often being likened to a rose. The Reformation in England brought a pause to the singing of Marian music but in other catholic and orthodox countries, she continued to be honoured. Popular devotion to the Virgin was also given new impetus by a number of miraculous apparitions during the 19th century. Mary has provided a marvellous legacy of music. In reality, we know so little about her but she has given inspiration and solace to many.
The Geelong Chorale will present Marian music from the past five centuries, including works by Palestrina, Victoria, Rachmaninov, Bruckner, Howells, Lauridsen and Biebl.
Saturday 30th November 2024 at 5pm
All Saints’ Anglican Church
Noble Street
Newtown
Admission: $35/ $30 / Under 18 free
https://www.trybooking.com/CUXYT
We are thrilled to present Requiem by Karl Jenkins in its original version with full orchestral accompaniment. Over the centuries many composers have composed Requiems (think Victoria, Mozart, Verdi to name three) but Jenkins, in his usual fashion, creates a completely distinctive, contemporary composition.
In this deeply moving work, he combines the traditional Latin movements of the Mass for the Dead with five Japanese haiku: in this case, poems concerned with nature and the water cycle, which the Japanese view as being synonymous with life. In this journey of life and death, Jenkins utilises a wide palette of orchestral colours and rhythms (including hip-hop) whilst referencing other settings of the Requiem by Fauré, Duruflé and Lloyd-Webber.
Sunday 18th August 2024 at 2.30pm
Wesley Uniting Church
100 Yarra Street
Geelong
Admission $40 / $35
https://w.trybooking.com/CTSFK
Since October 1883, when the Orient Express made its inaugural journey, there have been numerous trains and several different routes. But the magic and romance of this luxurious train, which completely redefined long-distance travel, have remained constant. As you journey with us on the original route of this iconic train, we travel from Istanbul to Paris, pulling in at each station to enjoy musical delights from Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Austria, Germany, finally arriving refreshed and rejuvenated in France.
Sunday 5th May 2024
St Paul’s Anglican Church
LaTrobe Terrace
Geelong
POSTPONED – from Sunday May 3 to a date to be determined
Brahms – A German Requiem
Brahms’ beautiful German Requiem performed with the accompaniment in his own arrangement for piano 4 hands.
CANCELLED – Sunday August 16 at 2.30pm
Around the World in Eighty Minutes.
A veritable world tour with folksongs of many nationalities followed by a multicultural afternoon tea.
CANCELLED – Saturday December 5 at 5pm
Christmas Through the Ages
A selection of Advent and Christmas music spanning four centuries
The program for this year is
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
The most recent Singing the Classics was choruses from The Messiah by Handel. A great afternoon of singing was appreciated by about 70 keen singers.
Sunday July 7 at St Luke’s Uniting Church, Cnr Barrabool & Scenic Rds, Highton from 2.00pm to 5.00 pm.
Have you ever wanted to join a choir? Do you like the Hallelujah Chorus?
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.
So come along and see what it’s all about. We have a very exciting year ahead of us.
Venue: St Paul’s Anglican Church Hall, LaTrobe Tce, Geelong.
Date: Saturday February 3, 2018.
Time: 10am to 4pm
The second ‘Singing the Classics’ for 2018 was Mozart’s Requiem.
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.
Also thanks to our soloists and trombonist!
