STOP PRESS
Beaumaris Concourse Christmas Event
Beaumaris Concourse (street singing)
Fri 29 Nov 6pm
Last minute call for this neighbourhood singing opportunity. Meet on The Green (Reserve Road end of the concourse). Contact Helen hmkezilas@gmail.com .
Choir event updates
Bayside Carols
Dendy Park, Brighton
Tues 10 Dec 2024 7.30–9.30pm (choir assemble 6.30pm)
Joining with our Mosaic neighbours, we will have a choir of over 100 voices for this iconic event.
The choir will sing six featured items with the Southern Area Concert Band, including My Grown Up Christmas List, which is an original arrangement by SACB Musical Director Andrew Mathers. The choir will also provide backing for eight other songs in the program.
Rehearsals kicked off at the Beaumaris Hall last week, including a run-through with the band and choir with three of the soloists. The next three rehearsals (on 30/11, 7/12 and 8/12) are at the Brighton Town Hall (see the Summary of Dates below).
Important notes for Bayside Carols singers
- The final rehearsal on Sunday 8 December is 4.00–7.30pm at the Brighton Town Hall. It is a full cast rehearsal (all soloists), so it's really important to be there. A barbeque dinner will be provided.
- Dress for the concert on 10 December is choir blacks with your Vocally Wild performance top (or long sleeved black shirt if you don't have one).
- Arrive to assemble behind the stage at 6.30pm — allow time for traffic and parking. Bayside will provide us with parking passes.
- There are light refreshments for the choir courtesy of the Bayside Council after the fireworks at 9.30pm.
More details at rehearsals.
Vocally Wild Community Carols
Beaumaris Community Centre
Wed 18 Dec 2024 pm 6.00–7.30pm
It's great that we have over 50 choir members performing in our first singalong concert in the neighbourhood.
We are delighted to welcome Jack Raudys as our soloist to help launch the new event. Jack recently completed his VCE with music performance subjects at St Leonards, Brighton, and is also making his mark as a composer.
As well as featured Christmas items by the choir, there will be a good selection of popular carols and Christmas songs for the audience to singalong. We'll provide song sheets with the words for the audience, and Russel is also trialling projecting words to songs on a screen.
There are rumblings that we'll have a very big turnup from the Vocally Wild friends and family network, obviously all dying to be able to get to sing themselves for a change — so please make sure you've spread the word so yours don't miss this special occasion.
Mayflower Christmas Carols
Mayflower Aged Care, Brighton
Thur 19 Dec 2.00–3.00pm
xx
Check the sign up sheet.
Any queries contact Pat on patlow5@bigpond.com
Other choral events
Big Spring Sing
Billilla Gardens, Hallifax Street Brighton
Sat 14 Dec 2024 1.00–4.00pm
The last rehearsal for this event (on Sunday 8 Dec) unfortunately clashes with the Bayside Carols final rehearsal. If you are involved in the Big Sing, please just make your way to the Brighton Town Hall as soon as you can after your Big Sing.
 Summary of dates
| 2024 |
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| Fri 29 Nov |
Beaumaris Concourse Carols |
6.00pm |
Beaumaris Concourse |
| Sat 30 Nov |
Bayside Carols rehearsal 2 |
10am–1.00pm |
Brighton Town Hall |
| Tue 3 Dec |
Breakup, with Open Mic |
7.30–9.30pm |
Beaumaris Community Centre |
| Sat 7 Dec |
Bayside Carols rehearsal 3 |
10am–1.00pm |
Brighton Town Hall |
| Sun 8 Dec |
Bayside Carols full rehearsal |
4.00–7.30pm |
Brighton Town Hall |
| Tue 10 Dec |
Bayside Carols |
7.30–9.30pm |
Dendy Park |
| Sat 14 Dec |
Big Spring Sing |
1.00–4.00pm |
Billilla Gardens, Brighton |
| Wed 18 Dec |
Vocally Wild Community Carols |
6.00–7.30pm |
Beaumaris Community Centre |
| Thu 19 Dec |
Mayflower Christmas Carols |
2.00–3.00pm |
Mayflower Aged Care Centre |
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| 2025 |
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| Tue 4 Feb |
First rehearsal for Term 1 |
7.30–9.30pm |
Beaumaris Community Centre |
| Sun 14 Sep |
SACB/VW/Mosaic Concert |
tbc |
Kingston Town Hall |
Vocally Wild resources
Go to Members/Song Library
Or click here.
A late reminder for that there are practice tracks available for these numbers for the Christmas Concerts:
- My Grown Up Christmas List
- From a Distance
- Hallelujah Chorus
Emma’s tracks for all these new 2025 songs are available in the Song Library.
Just the thing for a quick warble while your sipping a pina colada or two on the deck over the Christmas break:
- A Tribute to Queen
- Die Nachtigall
- Va Prospiero (Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves)
- Go Down Moses
- Drift Away
Go to Members/Teaching Resources
Or click here.
There are spunky new support resources for Va Prospiero:
- Italian and English lyrics as per the score, plus a literal translation (so you can appreciate how much is lost in finding English to fit the timing).
- A stunning You Tube guide to pronunciation by James Boag – the yogi one, not the beery one. (Risky, this: the richness of the poetry and the sheer beauty of the Italian, not to mention James, could have people running off to Mysore instead of Beaumaris.)
If you missed Bill's email this week and (like me) were not familiar with Grown Up Christmas List, you can now listen to Emma's tracks, catch an SATB version and hear Kelly Clarkson doing her thing.
If you are having any issues with accessing, playing or downloading Emma's tracks, or using the other resources, chat to Derek or Clint or email Clint at learnwks@bigpond.net.au .
Reports
Great Romantics Competition
Recital Centre
Sun 22 Sep 2024
Congratulations to Jamie Miles (Bill’s son) for being one of just 10 young Australian musicians chosen as the finalists to compete in this year’s ‘Great Romantics’ competition.
A group of us from Vocally Wild joined Bill at the Recital Centre for a super treat across the afternoon of Sunday 22 September. Like others, my husband Trevor and I were delighted by the whole afternoon. It was such a pleasure to watch and listen to each of the finalists because all were such accomplished players.
From the program we learnt of the significant achievements and recognition each musician had made and been recognised for from their musical studies and their past performances in both Australian and international competitions. Even so, to be present at the concert was special because all in the audience knew how important the event was for each of the participants.
The repertoire we heard was very exciting. I assume the music choices were made with the three competition judges in mind, so each piece was complex, varied and very demanding from the following Romantic period composers: Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Ponchielli, Schumann and Tchaikovsky.
We heard from a string quartet, 2 pianists, 2 violinists, 1 violist (Jamie) and an oboist. Pianist accompanists were provided.
The three judges definitely had a difficult job for which no-one in the hall would have felt any envy. The winner was Shen-Yuan Lynch, a pianist from Tasmania.
Thanks Bill for providing us with the opportunity to enjoy such musician excellence from each of the competitors. It was a great afternoon.
Trish Mundy
Altos
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