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Brindabella Chorus competed at the
National Eisteddfod held in Canberra.
The chorus, quartets and an octet delivered
some really good performances, and to our
surprise and delight, we won every single
category we entered.
Brindabella at rehearsal with all their
trophies!
In the 4-8
voices, Synchronicity conquered those
stage nerves that plagued us at contest to
place first, with Starstruck Oz
coming in a close second. In the 8 - 20
voices, the two quartets combined (with one
last minute personnel change) to become an
octet called 'Pieces of Eight'. We
won the section ahead of three other groups,
all of whom had at least double the number
of singers. Then we won the Ladies Open
Choral for the fourth time in five
years.
The last
event of the night was the City of
Canberra Championship, which is the
major prize. We have competed in this
particular category for the last six years
and often come second or third, but this
year we beat some of the previous winners
and came first! The perpetual trophy is a
ridiculously large cup, the kind of thing
that football teams win at the grand final,
which is a lot of fun. I'll be putting a
photo up on our chorus website later on so
you can have a laugh over it too. The basses
are happily debating what sort of alcoholic
beverage to fill it with!
The other
award was the Conductor's Award, a
new award this year. Conductors of all the
choirs over the two days and nights of
competition, including all the school
choirs, were eligible for this award. I was
really thrilled when the adjudicator called
my name out! I think it's really a testament
to the level of education that Sweet
Adelines provides.
The
adjudicator was the director of the Pembroke
Choir in Adelaide, and has seen us perform
before. He commented on the improvement in
the chorus. It's really great to see this
recognised, and also very rewarding to see
that barbershop is being treated as a
serious artform in the choral world, as
evidenced by the success that many choruses
have had in mainstream choral contests in
recent times.
Glenda Millgate
Director, Brindabella Chorus
www.brindabellachorus.org.au
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Here
in the West we have just experienced the
most amazing time with the Musical Island
Boys from New Zealand. Thanks to a group of
people from the Barbershop Community here
who had a vision back in 2004 to bring them
to Perth they have been here this last week
and been an absolute blessing to us all.
Over 600 school and tertiary students
attended workshops and The Big Barbershop
Day Out which culminated in a marvellous
concert last night where the standing
ovations were numerous.
It
took a lot of organization and hard work by
some very dedicated people together with
cooperation of many. To be congratulated is
the Youth in Barbershop Development
Initiative committee who worked so hard
and successfully obtained grants and
sponsorship. Sponsorship of local Barbershop
Choruses and quartets also played an
important role. 