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TRANSCRIPT
the second 25 years (1954–1979)
GREAT PERFORMANCES I N T H E A L B E R T H A L L
Sunday 13 July 2014
Canberra Choral Society proudly presents
20 September 2014 | Canberra PlayhouseConducted by Brett Weymark
Starring Tobias Cole, Christopher Saunders and Jacqueline Porter with Christopher Richardson and Christina Wilson
ALexANDeR BALus
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Great Performances in the Albert Hall
the second 25 years (1954 – 1979)
Conductor/MC: Tobias Cole
Featuring Louise Page, Christopher Lincoln Bogg,
Anthony Smith and CCS Chorus
With Katie Cole, Barbara Jane Gilby,
Joy McDonald and the Turner Trebles Guests Veronica Thwaites-Brown and Peter Tregear
God Save the Queen (all)
1954–Vienna Boys Choir
(Turner Trebles)
Emperor's Waltz (Johann Strauss)
1955–Medea (Elizabethan Trust Theatre starring Judith Anderson)
(Katie Cole and Tobias Cole)
1956–Miklos Gafni
(Christopher Lincoln Bogg)
Recondita Armonia (Puccini)
Mattina (Leoncavallo)
Torna a Surriento (de Curtis)
1957–Leontyne Price
(Louise Page)
'Piangerò' from Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Handel)
Après un rêve (Faure)
1959–Beryl Kimber
1961–Isaac Stern
(Barbara Jane Gilby)
‘Loure’, ‘Gavotte en rondeau’ from Partita No. 3 in E (JS Bach)
‘Sonatensatz: Scherzo’ from FAE Sonata (Brahms)
1960–The Magic Pudding (Peter Scriven’s Puppets)
(Joy McDonald)
1961–The Sentimental Bloke (singalong)
3
Interval
1963–Rita Streich
(Louise Page)
‘O luce di quest’anima’ from Linda di Chamounix (Donizetti)
1965–Canberra Choral Society
‘Hallelujah’ from Messiah (Handel)
1968–Canberra Children’s Choir
(Turner Trebles)
‘Wolcum Yole’ from Ceremony of Carols (Britten)
1968–Canberra Choral Society
‘Kyrie’, ‘Gloria’ excerpt from Missa Solemnis (Beethoven)
(with Louise Page, Veronica Thwaites-Brown, Christopher Lincoln Bogg & Peter Tregear)
1969–Canberra Choral Society
‘Quando corpus morietur’, ‘Amen’ from Stabat Mater (Dvořák)
(with Louise Page, Veronica Thwaites-Brown, Christopher Lincoln Bogg & Peter Tregear)
1969–Canberra Choral Society
‘Dona Nobis Pacem’ from Mass in B minor (JS Bach)
1970–Canberra Choral Society
‘O Haupt voll Blut’ from St Matthew Passion (JS Bach)
1971–Canberra Choral Society
‘Lacrymosa’ from Requiem (WA Mozart)
1972–Canberra Choral Society
‘Conquissabit’ from Dixit Dominus (Handel)
1975–Canberra Choral Society
‘Amen’ from Messiah (Handel)
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A Message from CCS President, Alison White
Canberra Choral Society is really delighted to return for our second
in the series Great Performances at Albert Hall. This much-loved
venue has witnessed some truly wonderful performances over the
years and we have much pleasure in recreating some of those historic
performances this afternoon. I would particularly like to acknowledge
all the talented Canberra artists who have contributed to the program
and of course our dynamic and creative 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 of Handel’s
oratorio Alexander Balus, with acclaimed tenor Christopher
Saunders and our own Tobias Cole as two of the leading soloists,
along with many other talented musicians and singers. This concert
will be performed on original instruments in the Canberra Playhouse
and we look forward to seeing you in the audience on Saturday 20
September.
In the meantime I hope you really enjoy this entertaining program.
Alison White
‘While on the subject of goosebump-raising singing voices, Canberra’s
greatest vocal goosebump-raiser is Tobias Cole the counter-tenor. He
materialised (an unprogrammed surprise) singing as Queen Elizabeth I
in … Great Performances in the Albert Hall – the first 25 years.
Cole, this column’s 2012 Canberran of the year, gets that gong for 2013
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A Message from CCS Artistic Director, Tobias Cole
For its first thirty-seven years the Albert Hall served as Canberra’s
major performance venue. Whenever a singer, musician, or company
(dance, theatre or puppet) of national or international renown visited
Canberra, people would put on their finest and make their way to the
Albert Hall.
After the Canberra Theatre opened in 1965, the Albert Hall became
an affordable and preferred performance venue for community
groups including Canberra Choral Society. But when the Canberra
School of Music Auditorium (now known as Llewellyn Hall) opened
in 1976, CCS deserted the Albert Hall for the larger stage and,
arguably, better acoustics of the new venue.
I am sure you will enjoy all our guest artists this afternoon,
including Beryl Kimber and Isaac Stern (Barbara Jane Gilby), Albert,
the grumpy pudding (Joy McDonald), American soprano Leontyne
Price (Louise Page), Polish tenor Miklos Gafni (Christopher Lincoln
Bogg), Australia’s expat actress Judith Anderson (Katie Cole), the
Vienna Boys Choir (Turner Trebles), and many famous
accompanists and local orchestras (Anthony Smith).
I have drawn my information from three main sources: the online
digital newspaper collection on the National Library’s Trove website,
Peter Campbell’s book on the history of Canberra Choral Society and a
very insightful conversation I had with local writer Lenore Coltheart,
whose history of the Albert Hall will be published very soon.
Enjoy this glimpse of what it might have been like for Canberrans of the
50’s, 60’s and 70’s to experience a performance in our Albert Hall.
Tobias Cole
as well, in part for staging things so progressive, so unpretentious and so
excellent. Concert-going, music loving Canberrans speak of him with the
fondness with which, in his heyday, football-loving Canberrans used to
speak of Mal Meninga.’
(Ian Warden, Canberra Times, 31 December 2013)
Great Performances Scrapbook 1954-1979
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My Sentimental Bloke (Singalong)
Bill! You're the man that I adore
Bill! You're the man I've waited for
All my life I knew that someone soon
Would come to me out of my dreams
Bill! When you say you'll love me true
Bill! When you say I'll do for you
My heart tells me now that I'm bespoke
I know I'm yours, My Sentimental Bloke. Music by Albert Arlen, lyrics by Nancye Brown
8 March 1961
Great Performances Scrapbook 1954-1979
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All articles in our Great Performances Scrapbook come from the
Canberra Times via the amazing resource trove.nla.gov.au.
19 October 1970
Our Artists
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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
and was recently appointed a
Distinguished Artist in Residence at
the ANU School of Music. As CCS
Artistic Director, his inspiring long-
term vision includes presenting one
Handel dramatic 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 presented two of
Handel’s dramatic oratorios under Tobias’ leadership: Saul
(2012) and a sellout Theodora at the Canberra Playhouse in 2013.
2014 will see the Australian premiere of Alexander Balus.
Tobias is also one of Australia’s most successful countertenors,
travelling the country as a soloist in opera, oratorio and theatre.
Last year he performed in a staged production of Bach’s St
Matthew Passion with Opera Queensland, Dido and Aeneas for
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Theodora for the Canberra Choral
Society, concerts at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, the
Canberra International Music Festival and the Woodend Winter
Arts Festival, Carmina Burana for the Canberra Symphony
Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah for the Queensland Symphony
Orchestra and a number of guest appearances with the Song
Company.
This year Tobias has appeared in the Canberra International Music
Festival and in New Zealand with the Christchurch Symphony
Orchestra. In August he will perform the title role in Philip Glass's
Akhnaten with the State Opera of South Australia.
Our Artists
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Louise Page
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 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, and in recital for Musica
Viva, the ABC, the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, the
Canberra International Music Festival and many others.
Louise has recorded six CDs with accompanist Phillipa Candy,
varying from Lieder to operetta, Australian music and
Christmas songs. Her awards include a Canberra Critics Circle
Award for music (2007), Canberra Times Artist of the Year (2007)
and an OAM for services to the performing arts (2013).
Christopher Lincoln Bogg
Chris began his enthusiasm for music and theatre as a keen
amateur while growing up in his native Canberra. His first
opera solo role and his first oratorio were performed in the
Albert Hall as a boy soprano, and he later sang as a member of
CCS before embarking on a professional career.
This career has included major roles at some of the world's
leading opera houses and touring throughout Europe and the
USA. Chris has also been soloist with Opera Australia and
Our Artists
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many of the regional orchestras, opera
companies and choral organisations in
Australia and New Zealand. His wide
solo repertoire includes favourites and
rarities in both traditional and
contemporary opera, most of the great
concert choral classics as well as an
eclectic mix of recital and art song. He
has also appeared in operettas,
musicals and plays and in diverse
venues from intimate cabaret stages to giant arenas.
Chris has recorded for the Orfeo label, Move Records Australia
and made many radio broadcasts. His awards include the
Dame Joan Sutherland Society Scholarship, the Bond Family
Scholarship for Tenors and the German Operatic Award. He
was nominated for a Helpmann Award for his performance in
Opera Australia's Madeline Lee.
Anthony Smith (piano)
Anthony Smith is one of Canberra’s
leading accompanists. Répétiteur for
CCS since 2005, 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 Smith is also a musicologist
and composer who has written chamber music, solo piano
works, a work for small orchestra, and music for theatre. CCS
was proud to give the first complete performance of his first
essay in the choral medium, Mass in C minor ‘Latin’, at our
Canberra Voices concert in March 2014.
Our Artists
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Canberra Choral Society
From humble beginnings in 1952 as a small group of people
singing for pleasure, the Canberra Choral Society (CCS) has
become one of the most innovative and exciting choirs in the
capital. Led by Artistic Director Tobias Cole, CCS is known
both for traditional choral repertoire such as Handel’s Messiah,
and for surprising audiences with new music, new venues,
and new ways to experience old favourites.
A recent feature of CCS programming has been works by local
composers, beginning with The Best Choral Music Ever Written
by an Australian Composer with a Canberra Connection (2013).
Not only did this concert have the longest title in the Canberra
Centenary program, it also showed that Canberra composers
can be cheeky, uplifting, political, ethereal, rhythmic,
entertaining, sublime, and everything in between. Canberra
Voices (2014) continued the exploration, and proved that it
really is possible to sell out a concert dedicated solely to choral
music by local (and still living) composers.
A complementary theme has been the showcasing of local
performers and local musical history. Concerts such as Great
Performances in the Albert Hall—the first twenty-five years (2013)
featured many local guest artists, and entertained audiences
with familiar and forgotten musical gems and intriguing
stories about the early years of Canberra’s first performance
venue. Today’s concert, Great Performances in the Albert Hall—
the second twenty-five years, continues this theme.
To round out the musical picture, Tobias Cole is also leading
CCS on an ambitious long-term project to perform all of
Handel’s dramatic oratorios. 2014 will see the Australian
premiere of Handel’s Alexander Balus in the Canberra
Playhouse on 20 September, conducted by Brett Weymark and
starring Tobias Cole, Christopher Saunders and Jacqueline
Porter, with Christopher Richardson and Christina Wilson.
Our Artists
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CCS Chorus
Sopranos
Lyndal Callister
Bronwyn Clark
Kelly Corner
Alison Cozadinos
Rachael Eddowes
Margaret Evans
Brenda Gill
Evelyn Graham
Jenny Grierson
Deborah Hayes
June Howell
Ursula Hurley
Jenny Landsberg
Christine Mahe
Nathalie O'Toole
Erika Parkinson
Carole Shearer
Margot Skinner
Doris Stokes
Catherine Stuart
Jeanette Weeden
Janelle Weissman
Alison White
Altos
Barbara Austin
Elizabeth Clement
Susan Cowan
Judy Evans
Sandra Gray
Barbara Inglis
Trish Levick
Atja Maier
Beverley Payne
Yvonne Scales
Sylvia Shanahan
Lyn Stevens
Sarah Sutcliffe
Laura Tingle
Lynne Webb
Christiane Weissbach
Tenors
Arko Chakrabarty
Brenton Lovett
Peter May
Simon Tiller
Basses
Murray Basnett
Phil Bloomfield
Gary Faehse
Ian Gilkes
Rowan Grigg
John Inglis
Rick Musial
Michael Pidcock
David Short
Katie Cole
Katie Cole is a singer, musician,
songwriter, arranger and choral
director. Currently, she directs the
German Harmonie choir and the
ABBA choir Andante Andante.
In 2013 Katie performed in Sandra
France’s new opera From A Black Sky
and presented a solo show Una Voce—
a collection of popular and operatic
songs—in the foyer of the National
Library of Australia and at the Yarralumla Woolshed Arts Fair.
Other recent performances include Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don
Giovanni (CAMRA 2013), the Witch of Endor in Handel’s Saul
(CCS 2012) and Morgana in Handel’s Alcina (CAMRA 2011).
Our Artists
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Barbara Jane Gilby (violinist)
Barbara Jane Gilby returned to
Canberra in 2000 after studying
and working in USA and Europe
followed by fifteen years as
Concertmaster of the Tasmanian
Symphony Orchestra. She teaches
violin, is Concertmaster of the
Canberra Symphony Orchestra
and is frequently invited to
adjudicate at music competitions.
Barbara appears on numerous
recordings on the ABC Classics
label including Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and String Concerti of
Richard Mills. In 2014 she has performed as soloist with the CSO
and led the Corpus Medicorum Orchestra in Saint Petersburg.
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
puppeteer, in various shows
including ABC TVs Playschool.
In later years Joy 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.
As part of Canberra’s Centenary, Joy’s puppet production for
adults and children, The very Sad Fish-lady, was performed at
the Street Theatre with music by David Pereira. She is
Our Artists
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currently taking a puppetry workshop as part of the
Messengers Program for young
people in Tuggeranong.
Albert Pudding
The Magic Pudding puppet in
today’s performance was made in
1970 and travelled to Osaka, Japan to
appear in Expo ‘70. He has travelled
to the Albert Hall from Sydney,
where he usually lives in semi-
retirement in a puppet archive.
Turner Trebles
Tobias Cole
established the
Turner Trebles at
Turner School at
the start of 2013
as a choir
dedicated to
giving boys with
treble voices the
opportunity to develop their singing and performance skills.
Last year they performed in two concerts with the Canberra
Choral Society and in Carmina Burana with the Canberra
Symphony Orchestra.
This year Tobias established a separate girls choir, the Turner
Girl Trebles. The combined choirs' first performance was at the
CCS Canberra Voices concert in March 2014.
Hannah Bagheri
Cayde Ball-Curry
George Banks
Leif Bodilsen
Gabriel Cole
Jessie Cole
Marcel Cole
Ashwin Phillips
Scarlet Price
Thomas Rush
Julius Stoljar
Hugh Windeyer
Oliver Windeyer
Our Artists
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Veronica Thwaites-Brown
Veronica Thwaites-Brown studied
music and German at the University of
Sydney (2001), and piano performance
under teacher Phillip Shovk. She
worked as a repetiteur, accompanist
and choral conductor for musicians and
choirs in Sydney and Canberra before
shifting her focus to singing in 2004.
Veronica has performed principal roles
in musical theatre productions, sung in
recitals including a Lieder recital for Art Song Canberra, and
performed for private functions with her opera trio, Three’s A
Crowd. Veronica currently sings with the chamber choir Coro,
and performed in the 2014 Canberra International Music festival.
Later this year she will perform the role of ‘Speranza’ in
Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo at Llewellyn Hall.
Peter Tregear
Head of the ANU School of Music,
bass-baritone Peter Tregear is a
graduate of King’s College,
University of Cambridge, where he
was a Choral Scholar. He later joined
the Choir of London, and still
regularly performs with them in the
UK, Europe and Middle East.
Since returning to Australia in 2006,
Peter has worked with Victorian
Opera and Melbourne Opera and performed extensively as a
vocal soloist and conductor. In 2008 he co-founded the
Consort of Melbourne. Peter is conducting a new production
of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo in Llewellyn Hall on 21-22 August
this year.
Our Supporters
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CCS gratefully acknowledge our sponsors.
Supporters Program
CCS sincerely thank all our generous supporters.
ARIA ($100-$199) Barbara Austin
David Short
CHORUS ($200-$499) Judy Evans
Tricia Levick
Bruce Lindenmayer
Margot Skinner
Bob Swainson
ORATORIO ($500-$999) Laura Tingle
Capital Wines
CMAX Advisory
Kreab Gavin Anderson
PASSION ($1,000 & above) Tobias Cole
Carole Shearer
Dr J O Ward
The Hyatt Hotel
Donations to CCS are recognised for 12 months from the time of
donation. This list is current as of July 2014. Donations are tax-
deductible. If you are interested in becoming a donor or in-kind
supporter, please contact us at [email protected]
Sing with CCS!
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CCS offers you a number of choral options.
Our Come and Sing is a great way to test the waters. There’s no
audition, you get learning resources and lots of support
through the rehearsals, and you’re part of a massed choir. At
the end you perform in Llewellyn Hall with a full orchestra
and professional soloists under a top class conductor. It’s a
real buzz, as our previous guest choristers will attest. Our
Come and Sing program this year is A Feast of Saint Nicolas
with music by Britten and Vivaldi (performance 13 December).
Details will be announced on our website.
Our youth choir, CCS New Voices, is a great option for
talented young singers. The choir performs a wide range of
choral repertoire, including opera choruses, music theatre,
world music and pop songs. For more information see
canberrachoralsociety.org/sing-with-us/new-voices/.
We also welcome enquiries from singers who wish to join the
CCS Chorus on a permanent basis. Email [email protected]
to find out about our audition workshops.
Acknowledgements
ABC Radio, ArtSound FM, the Canberra Times, Canberra Weekly,
the Chronicle and City News for helping to promote our concerts.
Yvonne Scales, Trish Levick and The Silk Road Gallery in
Kingston for loan of their lovely furniture.
Capital Wines for their generous donation of wines for our
raffle, and for their ongoing support for our concerts.
The ACT Government for ongoing support.
Cover design by Gillian Worrall
CCS Committee
Alison White (President), Brenda Gill (Vice President),
Rowan Grigg (Treasurer), Erika Parkinson (Secretary),
Kelly Corner, Jenny Landsberg, Nathalie O’Toole, Beverley Payne,
Bettina Söderbaum, Lyn Stevens, Doris Stokes.
Program written and compiled by
Kelly Corner, Canberra Choral Society, July 2014.
the second 25 years (1954–1979)
20 September 2014 | Canberra PlayhouseConducted by Brett Weymark
Starring Tobias Cole, Christopher Saunders and Jacqueline Porter with Christopher Richardson and Christina Wilson
ALexANDeR BALusin the Australian premiere of Handel's
Love, friendship & loyalty are put to the test
Tickets 6275 2700 www.canberraticketing.com.au Presented by the Canberra Choral Society | www.canberrachoralsociety.org