The latest concert in my choir’s season, Requiem[sup]2[/sup], is being broadcast live tomorrow night (Saturday). It’s a lovely program:
(1) a contemporary setting of the Requiem by Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe, with Aboriginal lullaby themes and didgeridoo motifs interwoven with the traditional Latin text; and
(2) the well known and gorgeous setting of the Requiem by French composer Gabriel Fauré.
The broadcast begins at 8.00pm* Sydney time on Saturday night on ABC Classic FM. Just click on the Listen Now link.
11.00 pm NZ
9.00 pm TAS
8.00 pm QLD, NSW, ACT, VIC
7.30 pm SA, NT
6.00pm WA
11.00 am UK
6.00 am Canada/USA eastern
Cunctator, tell me about your choir! Is it a professional group or a bunch of talented and dedicated amateurs? How big is the group? What part do you sing? The Fauré Requiem is one of my favorite works, and the Sculthorpe Requiem sounds REALLY interesting! (I’m not sure I can drag my butt out of bed Sunday morning to listen…) 
I just had an amazing choral experience. I was invited to be part of a choral group that was being put together for an area church’s sesquicentennial. Singing in my dinky little church choir, I’d forgotten how exhilarating it is to sing in a large group of really accomplished choral singers. Best of all, our performance was conducted by Robert Page, one of this country’s finest choral conductors.
We did a reprise of the concert last night for a local music society, and now I’m really sad it’s over.
So…you go, dude! Congrats on your performance!
We’re not professional singers freckafree. Simply talented amateurs who like to think that we approach the gigs in a professional manner.
The choir organisation runs three choirs:
- a chamber choir of about 30-40 singers;
- a symphonic choir of about 80-90 singers; and
- a massed choir of 200-400 singers for major events.
The first two are auditioned but the third is open to all comers and tends to be used in “bigger” concerts e.g. the four annual Messiah performances, the “screamy” bits in Carmina etc. Our normal performance venue is the Opera House.
I’m in the first tenors.
One of the aspects about the choir that I enjoy is the opportunity that it provides to sing under the baton of distinguished foreign conductors. For the current concerts we have the Dutch conductor, David Porcelijn, who’s great.