Something special to end the year

I've played many gigs and concerts but spent little time in a studio, other than processing for others in recent years.  This was in Snow, with an NCO of ~50 players and no audience, to record three arrangements from the Music Arrangers Guild of Australia’s National Youth Arranging Competition 2025 which were selected for workshop and professional recording.  Tim was recording and one of the three selected arrangers, Joshua, came from Townsville to view the event.  There were some tricky bits and two evening rehearsals in the weeks before.  The first tune took some settling in then the others, one considerably more complex, rolled along pretty well after we were settled into the space and the task.  There were several takes and some section repeats that will likely be dropped into the final versions.  Louis conducted, of course, and ended by thanking all for a wonderful year.  And it was.  Several challenging and successful concerts and this recording to end.  We left feeling it's all in a day's work, I guess, or at least satisfied with the night and the year.  So thanks to the arrangers, to MAGA, to Louis and Martin and all the NCO performers.

National Capital Orchestra recorded three works from the Music Arrangers Guild of Australia’s National Youth Arranging Competition 2025 in Snow Concert Hall under Louis Sharpe (MD, conductor).  Tim Lamble recorded and Joshua Weston (arranger) travelled from Townsville to view the recording session.

Vox+

This was a gloriously beautiful concert but that could be expected.  It was called B.A.C.H. with reference to the Bach motif; it was sung by Luminescence Chamber Singers so those glorious voices and harmonies; it included violinist-cum-vocalist Anna Freer as guest while one member was off the US; it included a rendition of Bach Violin Partita no.2 Dmin with its 5 movements ingeniously interspersed with Bach chorales; it started and ended with some lively early music, amusingly for me (given I did a midi take complete with whistles on Hope / The Pots) including the crab canon over palindrome Guillaume de Marchaut Ma fin est mon commencement.  I loved the violin partita and wondered over the accompanied fifth movement and admired the partita played touchingly and searchingly from memory, but what did it for me were the voices.  I consider the voice the most perfect, most complex and satisfying instrument, not surprising given it is of us  rather than an invention however impressive, and Luminescence do it so well.  Not quite perfectly, but bloody close to.  And Anna fitted wonderfully as a sit-in soprano.  Those voices and harmonies were a thing of immense beauty and exploration of harmony and rich vocalisation.  This was a concert to treasure.  Good to see that our local ArtSound recording engineer, Tim, was there experimenting with multiple mic pairings.  He does an excellent job, too.

Luminescence performed Bach and more at Drill Hall Gallery.  Anna Freer (violin, soprano) joined choir members AJ America (mezzo soprano), Veronica Milroy (soprano), Dan Walker (tenor), Lucien Fisher (baritone) and Alasdair Stretch (bass).  Tim Lamble recorded for the performers and ArtSound.