A Message from CCS President, Alison White I warmly ... · Words and music by Jack Lumsdaine...

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A Message from CCS President, Alison White

I warmly welcome you to the Albert Hall and our performance which

celebrates this lovely venue and relives some of the great concerts

which were held here in Canberra’s early years. There is something

for everyone in this afternoon’s concert and I would like to

acknowledge all the talented local Canberra artists who have

contributed to the program and of course our creative and talented

conductor and Artistic Director, Tobias Cole.

I would also like to thank the very hard-working members of the

Canberra Choral Society committee and choir members who devote

hours of their time to the choir and without whose hard work we

could not possibly put on these performances.

The Canberra Choral Society relies in major part on funding from

ticket sales and donations and I gratefully acknowledge those donors

who have so generously supported this concert. You too can choose to

support us and by doing so help us to present high quality and

creative performances for Canberra audiences. All donations to the

Canberra Choral Society are tax deductible.

Our next performance will be the Australian premiere on period

instruments of the Handel oratorio Theodora, with acclaimed

soprano Greta Bradman, guest conductor Brett Weymark from

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and our own Tobias Cole, along with

many other talented musicians and singers. This concert will be

performed in the Canberra Playhousea first for the CCS and a really

exciting venture. We look forward to seeing you in the audience on

Sunday 23 June.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy today’s entertaining program.

Alison White

Canberra Choral Society (CCS)

CCS aims to facilitate the performance of choral music to the highest

professional standard, to foster a love of music generally and to

encourage young musicians. In 2013 CCS has established a youth

choir, New Voices, for singers aged 16-26 years to further ensure the

future of choral singing in Canberra.

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A Message from CCS Artistic Director, Tobias Cole

Welcome to Canberra Choral Society’s first concert for this special

centenary year. It is great to be returning to the Albert Hall with the

opportunity to unleash the sonic memories that are trapped deep

within the plasterwork of this lovely building.

Two ideas led to this program. The first was my fascination with a

thesis that Peter Campbell had written entitled Limestone Plains-

Song, Choral Music in Canberra 1913-1993. I wondered, ‘How

could I make a concert out of this study?’ The second idea started in

a conversation with a friend and arts patron, Colin Milner, who told

me of Lotte Lehmann’s recital in the Albert Hall in 1939. Once I

realised that the Albert Hall was the venue for performances in

Canberra’s early days I embarked on the research for Great

Performances. Until then I had very little idea of the rich

international talent that annually performed in the Hall when

Canberra’s population was fewer than 10,000!

I am indebted to the National Library of Australia’s Trove website. It

has enabled easy access to newspaper articles, in particular to all-

important concert reviews. How wonderful it is, also, to be able to

download historic sheet music like Canberra’s Calling to You! I

also availed myself of many not-yet-digitalised books and pieces of

music at the NLA. One book which I was thrilled to discover was

Interrupted Journeys by Alan Gill. In it was the tragic story of the

Vienna Mozart Boys Choir.

But I’ll never forget travelling to the National Archives in Sydney’s

Chester Hill, in the rain with a flat bike tire, to pour (pardon the pun)

over ABC programs from the 1940s.

Finally, I must thank all in Canberra Choral Society for their

continued support of my vision for choral music in Canberra.

Tobias Cole

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Great Performances in the Albert Hall

the first 25 years (1928 – 1953)

Conductor: Tobias Cole Louise Page, Rachael Thoms, Rohan Thatcher, Paul Eldon

CCS Chorus

Anthony Smith (piano), Kimberley Steele (piano)

Jack Hobbs (cello), Joy McDonald (puppeteer)

Kim Harvey School of Dance, Turner Trebles

1927–Dame Nellie Melba at Opening of Parliament House

(Rachael Thoms)

God Save the King

1928–Canberra Musical Society, Raymond Beatty (Rohan Thatcher)

The Erl King (Schubert)

1929–Canberra Musical Society, Harold Williams (Rohan Thatcher)

Sailing at Dawn (Stanford)

1931–Canberra Combined Church Choirs

And the Glory (Handel)

The Heavens are Telling (Haydn) (with Louise Page, Rachael Thoms, Rohan Thatcher, Paul Eldon)

1938–song to mark Canberra’s 25th Anniversary (singalong)

Canberra’s Calling to You (Lumsdaine)

1939–First Australian Ballet School (Kim Harvey School of Dance)

Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky) - Act 2 Waltz

1939–Lotte Lehmann (Louise Page)

Dear, thou art like a flower (Schumann)

Dedication (Schumann)

Ständchen (Strauss)

Morgen (Strauss)

Covent Garden (James)

Love's Philosophy (Quilter)

1939–Vienna Mozart Boys Choir (Turner Trebles)

Vienna of our Dreams (Strauss)

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Interval

1942–Canberra Ladies Choir

Sing we and chant it (Harris)

Hindu Song (Rimsky-Korsakov)

The Cachucha dance (Sullivan)

1946–Joan Hammond (Rachael Thoms)

Depuis le jour (Charpentier)


Long live Elizabeth / Peaceful England (German)

1946–Edmund Kurtz, Margaret Schofield (Jack Hobbs, Kimberley Steele)

Cello Sonata no 2 Opus 99, 2nd movement (Brahms)


I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General (Sullivan)


Hallelujah Chorus (Handel)

1949–Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Margaret Schofield

(Rachael Thoms, Kimberley Steele)

Vergebliches Stänchen (Brahms)

1950–Canberra Male Singers, Joan Sutherland (Joy McDonald)

Soldier’s Chorus (Gounod)

Dich, teure Halle (Wagner)

Ah! Di contento (Donizetti)

Anvil Chorus (Verdi)

1953–Coronation of Queen Elizabeth the Second

God Save the Queen

All accompaniment by Anthony Smith unless otherwise stated

Great Performances Scrapbook 1928-1953

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As seen through extracts from the Canberra Times

3 September 1928

24 October 1929

20 May 1927:

Opening of Parliament House


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1 December 1931

3 June 1938

4 May 1939


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1 June 1939

7 July 1939

Lehmann and Garran – a Canberra Connection

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German-born soprano Lotte

Lehmann (1888-1976) first

performed in Canberra in 1937.

When she returned two years

later the clouds of war were

gathering in Europe, and she

had moved from Vienna to the

United States.

Robert Randolph Garran

(1867-1957) was a ‘Father of

Federation’ who served as the

first Secretary of the Attorney-

General’s Department from

1901 to 1932. It is fitting in

this centenary year to recall the

contributions he and his wife

Hilda made to this growing

community after public

servants and their families

began moving here in

considerable numbers from

Melbourne in 1927. He would

be remembered by some as the

‘Father of Canberra’. Garran

was indeed a man of many

parts - even playing second

clarinet in Canberra’s first

orchestra!

Garran tells the story behind

the 1939 concert in his memoir

Prosper the Commonwealth.

Lehmann had been introduced

to Garran’s translations by a

mutual friend. The two she

sang in Canberra were

evidently as they would appear

in Garran’s Schubert and

Schumann: Songs and

Translations, published in

1946. Interestingly, in the

Heine poem, Garran had

changed his first word – an

addition required to replace a

syllable he had literally lost in

translation – from ‘Love’ in the

version he had published in

1924 (in a translation of

Heine’s Book of Songs) to

‘Dear’ in the later one.

One of my voice teachers, the

late South African baritone

Alexander Schwartz, had

studied with Lehmann. I recall

him telling me about the

wonderful presence she had as

a performer. May we sense

something of Lotte Lehmann’s

wonderful presence on the

Albert Hall stage – with

Garran’s in the audience too,

no doubt – as we hear these two

beautiful songs again today.

Colin Milner


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16 July 1942 4 September 1946

All articles in our Great Performances Scrapbook come from the

Canberra Times via the amazing resource trove.nla.gov.au. For a

full listing of references visit our website canberrachoralsociety.org.


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22 August 1946 25 September 1946

19 August 1947


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12 December 1947 12 September 1949


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18 September 1950

25 May 1953

4 June 1953

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Singalong

Canberra's Calling to You

Words and music by Jack Lumsdaine (Sydney: Chappell & Co., c. 1938)

Sheet music available through the National Library of Australia:

nla.gov.au/nla.mus-vn2061067

Menzies declaration of war 1939 from

the collection of the National Film and Sound Archive

Recordings of Joan Sutherland from

Sutherland Rarities Vol 1: The early years. Desiree Records

http://nla.gov.au/nla.mus-vn2061067

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Tobias Cole, CCS Artistic Director

Tobias Cole has gained a

reputation as a highly sought

after choral trainer and

innovative concert programmer.

As CCS Artistic Director, his

inspiring long-term vision

includes presenting one Handel

oratorio in Canberra each year.

He is well qualified for the task,

with a Helpmann Award

nomination in Handel’s Julius

Caesar (Opera Australia, 2007) and a Green Room Award in

the title role of Handel’s Xerxes (Victorian Opera, 2009). CCS

has now presented two Handel oratorios under Tobias’

leadership: Messiah (2011) and Saul (2012), with Theodora to

come this year.

Tobias is also one of Australia’s most successful countertenors,

travelling the country as a soloist in opera, oratorio and

theatre. He has just returned from a staged production of

Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Opera Queensland, conducted

by Graham Abbott:

‘…Tobias Cole's "Erbarme Dich" is a highlight…’ (The Australian)

2013 engagements include Dido and Aeneas for Sydney

Philharmonia Choirs, Theodora for Canberra Choral Society,

Carmina Burana for the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and

Handel’s Messiah for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

In 2012 Tobias reprised the role of Oberon for Opera Australia

in their famous Baz Luhrmann production of Benjamin

Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He also performed the

role of La Speranza in Monteverdi’s L'Orfeo for the Australian

Brandenburg Orchestra in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

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Louise Page, Soprano

Louise Page is one of Australia’s

most highly regarded singers and

has performed in opera, operetta,

oratorio, cabaret, recital and

broadcasts throughout Europe and

Australia. She is the winner of the

inaugural Mietta's Song Recital

Competition, the vocal grand final of

the ABC Young Performer of the Year

Award, the Robert Stolz/Apex

scholarship to Vienna, and the

Belgian Radio and Television Opera en Bel Canto City of Ghent

Prize. Louise has performed throughout Europe, including

roles at the Vienna State Opera as a member of the young

artist program.

Now based in Canberra, she has performed with the Sydney,

Queensland, Canberra and Central Coast Symphony

Orchestras and the National Capital Orchestra. She has

appeared in recital for many organisations including Musica

Viva, the ABC, the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and

the Canberra International Music Festival.

In 2007 Louise received a Canberra Critics Circle Award for

music and was named the Canberra Times Artist of the Year.

With accompanist Phillipa Candy she has recorded six CDs of

music varying from Lieder to operetta, Australian music and

Christmas songs. Until recently she was a Lecturer in Voice at

the Australian National University School of Music.

In the 2013 Australia Day Honours List Louise was awarded

an OAM for services to the performing arts.

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Rachael Thoms, Lyric Soprano

Rachael Thoms is one of a new

breed of truly versatile singers.

Accomplished in both jazz and

classical performance, she is the

only graduate of the ANU School of

Music to have completed a Jazz

BMus Performance degree with First

Class Honours in Classical

Performance. Rachael was the

recipient of the 2011 Canberra

International Music Festival Young Performer Award and a top

100 finalist in ABC’s Operatunity Oz. She completed her Master

of Music degree at ANU School of Music in 2012 and travelled

to the UK and Europe for an intensive period of professional

development working with some of the world's leading voice

experts.

Rachael sang twice with the Canberra Choral Society in 2012: as

featured soloist in the CCS Concert in Tribute to Dame Nellie

Melba and at the official Bali Bombing 10th Anniversary

Memorial Event at Parliament House (broadcast live nationally

on ABC television and radio). Other broadcast credits include

ABC Classic FM Sunday Live, Artsound FM, and ABC 666. She

has appeared as soloist in Mozart’s Mass in C Major ‘Coronation

Mass’, Bach’s Wachet Auf, and Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor

among many others.

Rachael released her debut jazz recording, The Great Unknown,

in 2011 with improvising pianist and composer Luke Sweeting.

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Rohan Thatcher, Baritone

Rohan Thatcher studied Voice for a

Bachelor of Music at the Sydney

Conservatorium. He has been a regular

soloist with many Sydney performing

ensembles. Oratorio performances

include the Radio Community Chest’s

annual Messiah in the Sydney Town Hall,

Haydn’s Creation, cantatas by JS Bach

and Mozart’s Requiem.

Rohan has recorded broadcast recitals

for ABC Classic FM, toured as a principal artist with OzOpera

and Opera Hunter and been a regular casual chorus singer with

Opera Australia. Roles include Count Almaviva in The Marriage

of Figaro and the title role in Don Giovanni.

In 2003 Rohan went on his first tour with OzOpera in the role

of Schaunard for their touring production of Puccini’s La

Bohème. OzOpera touring roles include Peter in Humperdink's

Hansel and Gretel, Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, and Prince

Yamadori and the Bonze in Puccini's Madame Butterfly directed

by John Bell.

In 2012 Rohan featured in the title role in the Canberra Choral

Society performance of Handel's Saul. He has also performed

locally for Artsong Canberra, the University of Canberra choir

and the ANU's Premier Concert series.

Paul Eldon, Tenor

Paul was trained in the English choral

tradition at the Oratory School in Berkshire

where he was appointed Head Chorister in

his final year. He lived in Beijing from 2001

to 2009 where he sang with the International

Festival Chorus, performing in a number of

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China premiere performances and working with singers and

conductors including Emma Kirkby, Justin Lavender and

Liang Ning. In Canberra Paul sings tenor in the Pocket Score

Company (winner, Best ACT Choral/Vocal Group 2012

MusicACT Annual Music Awards) and in 2012 co-founded

chamber music ensemble Coro (finalist in the same awards).

Solo work includes Mozart’s Requiem and the role of David in

From a Black Sky as part of the 2012 First Seen series of

programmes at the Street Theatre.

Anthony Smith (piano)

Anthony Smith is one of Canberra’s

leading accompanists. He has been

repetiteur for the CCS since 2005, and

his knowledge, skills, and insightful

feedback make him an invaluable part

of our rehearsals. It is always special to

be able to feature Anthony on stage

where our audience can appreciate his

wonderful accompanist skills.

Anthony’s 2011 performance highlights include recitals at the

Australian Flute Festival with international artists Molly Barth

and Alexa Still. He is also a musicologist, composer and arranger.

Kimberley Steele (piano)

Kimberley Steele (formerly Michael) has

performed with Sydney Sinfonia Orchestra,

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and with

artists including cellist David Pereira,

soprano Amy Corkery and baritone

Alexander Knight. Her performances have

been broadcast on 2MBS FM, ArtSound FM

and ABC Canberra to critical acclaim.

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Kimberley graduated as Margaret Smiles Accompaniment

Competition winner from the Australian National University,

and was awarded the Geoffrey Parsons Australian Scholarship

at Sydney Conservatorium of Music. In 2010 she was

appointed Head of Accompaniment at the Conservatorium

High School. Since returning to Canberra in 2012 Kimberley

has been lecturing at the Australian Catholic University and

freelancing as a teacher and pianist.

Jack Hobbs (cello)

Jack grew up on a dairy farm on the far

south coast of NSW. In his last year at

school, Jack imagined studying science.

However after a year working in the

cheese mines, it was to playing music

that he wished to give the next few years.

In 2012 he completed a BMus with

Honours, studying with David Pereira.

In the last few years Jack has performed with the Canberra

International Music Festival, the Australian Youth Orchestra’s

National Music Camp and the AISIO orchestral summer

school in Hobart. He has always been most drawn to the

intimacy of chamber music, and in both 2010 and 2011 was

part of ensembles that reached the final round of the Friends

of the SoM Chamber Music Competition.

Jack teaches cello at Orana, and has tutored at music camps in

Canberra, Albury and Bega. When not playing the cello Jack

brews, bakes and turns his compost heap.

Joy McDonald (puppeteer)

Joy McDonald left her teaching career to begin as a puppeteer

in the late 1960s with Peter Scriven’s Tintookies at the

Elizabethan Theatre Trust, Sydney. She continued her work

with Richard Bradshaw, Australia’s leading shadow

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puppeteer, working in various shows

including ABC TVs Playschool. In later

years she became a practising artist on the

north NSW coast and then as a graduate

of the National Institute of the Arts, ANU

in Canberra where she now lives and

works as a multi-disciplinary artist.

Her current work includes a puppet

production for adults and children at the Street Theatre with a

show called “The very Sad Fish-lady” to be performed with

David Pereira’s music in September this year as part of the

Canberra Centenary.

The puppet of Joan Sutherland was made 23 years ago as part

of a two-hour show titled ‘Black and Beyond’ constructed and

directed by Joy in 1989-90. Joan is delighted to make a

‘comeback’ from last century for this wonderful celebration at

the Albert Hall commemorating a significant part of

Canberra’s history.

Kim Harvey School of Dance

Gabrielle Carter

Montanna Cloos

Olivia Hendry

Vanessa Lawson

Cassady Mann

Charlotte Scott

Emily Tokic

Natalie Whalley

Understudies:

Zahra Dixon

Hannah Minchie

Turner Trebles

The Turner Trebles is a non-auditioned boys choir that was

established at the start of 2013 at Turner School with a view to

getting more boys singing. The Trebles, ranging in age from 7 to

13, meet once weekly and are directed by Tobias Cole, eminent

Australian singer and Artistic Director of the Canberra Choral

Society. This is the Trebles' debut performance.

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CCS Chorus

Sopranos

Maureen Boyle

Lyndal Callister

Julie Carmody

Helen Catchatoorian

Bronwyn Clare

Kelly Corner

Alison Cozadinos

Rachael Eddowes

Margaret Evans

Brenda Gill

Karen Halliday

Deborah Hayes

June Howell

Jenny Landsberg

Christine Mahe

Nathalie O’Toole

Claire Parkhill

Erika Parkinson

Kerry Parkinson

Brenda Potter

Irene Reid

Alice Richardson

Carole Shearer

Sandra Shumack

Margot Skinner

Bettina Söderbaum

Doris Stokes

Altos

Jess Aan

Elizabeth Clements

Susan Cowan

Judy Evans

Sandra Gray

Barbara Inglis

Trish Levick

Colette Lucas

Margaret McElhinny

Atja Maier

Lorraine Newman

Beverley Payne

Yvonne Scales

Sylvia Shanahan

Margot Skinner

Lydia Stanhope

Helene Stead

Lyn Stevens

Sarah Sutcliffe

Kaye Sweeting

Laura Tingle

Susan Tonkin

Lynne Webb

Christiane Weissbach

Annabelle Wheeler

Tenors

Cody Christopher

Michael Gill

Brenton Lovett

Peter May

Peter Morris

Simon Tiller

Basses

Jarrah Bloomfield

Philip Bloomfield

Arko Chakrabarty

Gary Faehse

Paul Gardner

Ian Gilkes

Rowan Grigg

Marcus Hurley

John Inglis

Geoff Millar

Brian O’Connor

Michael Pidcock

David Short

Trevor Shumack

Sing with the Canberra Choral Society!

Ever wanted to sing Handel’s Messiah? With a full orchestra

and soloists? Without having to audition? Then join our

mailing list so you hear when we open applications for our

‘Come and Sing Handel’s Messiah’. It’s first come, first served

– last year we had to turn people away, so don’t miss out! Fill

out the form on your seat or email [email protected].

mailto:[email protected]

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CCS Ventures into Crowdfunding!

CCS has decided to join the cutting edge of twenty-first

century financing and use crowdfunding to partially fund our

production of Handel’s Theodora. This is an innovative way to

raise money through friends, supporters, and “the crowd” of

music lovers around Australia.

Theodora will be a very special event with top quality guest

artists such as soprano Greta Bradman and conductor Brett

Weymark, and an orchestra to die for playing on period

instruments – an Australian first for Theodora. It will also be

our first venture into the gorgeous Canberra Playhouse.

You’ll be able to “pledge” as little or as much as you like, and

we’ll be offering different rewards for different amounts.

Pledges are only released if we reach our funding target, so we

hope you’ll let all your friends know!

Please fill in the form on your seat to join our mailing list and

be kept informed, or watch canberrachoralsociety.org.

Acknowledgements

ABC Radio, ArtSound FM, the Canberra Times, Canberra Weekly,

the Chronicle and City News for helping to promote this concert.

The Silk Road Gallery in Kennedy St, Kingston for the lovely

furniture.

The ACT Government and Capital Wines for ongoing support.

Greta Bradman photo by Pia Johnson (2012)

Cover design by Gillian Worrall

Program written and compiled by

Kelly Corner, Canberra Choral Society, April 2013.

http://www.canberrachoralsociety.org/

A Message from CCS President, Alison White I warmly ... · Words and music by Jack Lumsdaine...

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Transcript of A Message from CCS President, Alison White I warmly ... · Words and music by Jack Lumsdaine...