Feel like a pro

Feel like a pro?  Nothing to do with money.  What I loved was a program that we could get together in a week, admittedly just for one half, but we had just one fairly short orchestral rehearsal, then a rehearsal with the choir, then a playthrough warmup on the day, on the mighty and very pro Llewellyn stage, then the gig.  We were a group of 19 strings from NCO invited to play with Qwire, our local LGBTQI+ choir, unauditioned but taking on significant complexity and very varied works with considerable competence.  The first half had Qwire on stage unaccompanied, singing a range of musics from 1100CE to today, a mix of renaissance, classical and well arranged pop.  Hildegard von Bingen and Jennifer Cook and John Tavener, through Arthur Sullivan to Dylan, Enya, Jake Runestad (there were some names I didn't know), Cyndi Lauper and kd lang, with an entrance song gifted from Aboriginal supporters.  You can feel the power and insinuousness of a great pop song: I'm singing some still.  The second half had us strings up on stage.  First with an intro of Elgar Serenade for strings mvt.2, very lovely and larghetto.  Then our major work, Ola Gjeilo Sunrise Mass, a modern work in four movements with latin text by the Norwegian composer.  Not difficult for the basses despite some powerful and driving lines and much counting but some very tricky string patterns working essentially as effects for strings down to cellos and some lovely solo violin from concertmaster Laura Lay.  It reminded me of The armed man that we played with CCS in 2025, modern and seemingly fairly simple while immensely powerful in the whole.   The concert was a pleasure, the choir members were inviting and thankful for our string presence and the audience response was resounding, so a very pleasureable outing of considerable artistic value.

Canberra Qwire performed at Llewellyn with strings from the National Capital Orchestra under Callum Tolhurst-Close (musical director).  Concertmaster was Laura Lay (violin 1) and the bottom end was Lizzy Collier, Mel Fung and Eric Pozza (basses).  

Our annual songs meet

I love my jazz and other gigs but my longed-for favourite each year has to be NCO with CCS.  That's a full orchestra and choir at Llewellyn; 120 or more on stage and some fabulous music.  I've played a string of these including Beethoven, Carl Off, Monty Python (?!), Haydn, Brahms... Playing in such orchestral strength with a capable massed SATB choir is a huge thrill.  This year was perhaps more modern, story-telling, filmic with 2 modern pieces.  First up was the occasionally jovial recounting of the experience of migration to Australia and the surprises and loves of process and outcome created by 2 immigrants, composer Elena Kats-Chernin and librettist Tamara-Anna Cislowska, telling stories from Chinese migration at the time of the gold rush, post-WW2 migrants, Vietnam refugees and more.  The lyrics were lengthy and not always so easy to catch but suffice to recognise an ode to Vegemite and an immigrant's surprise at topless bathing at Bondi.  How Aussie!  The bass could be repetitive, other than for one fiendishly tricky quick movement, so perhaps the voices defined the pleasures, but I languished in the pleasure and good humour of it all.  Then an interval and surprisingly similar approach (repetitive accompaniment, filmic accompaniment, more complex lyrics with inviting melodies) from a one-time member of Soft Machine and now composer of a British Classic FM Hall of Fame no.2 hit.  This was the Kosovo-inspired mass for piece, The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins.   Again inspiring if mostly for the voices, but quite touching and apt for out times.  Suffice to say, this was again a deeply thrilling outing and another for the diary.  And as for the post-concert party and Martin's dip, well, that's another story of joy.

National Capital Orchestra and Canberra Choral Society under Louis Sharpe (conductor, NCO MD) and Dan Walker (CCS MD) performed Human Waves and The Armed Man at Llewellyn with soloists Jillian Halleron (soprano) and Liam Meany (cello) and Bilal Berjaoui (vocals) performing the Call to prayers.  The bottom enders were Henry South, Juliet Flook, Mel Fung, Jeremy Tsuei and Eric Pozza (basses).