The 47th Intervarsity Choral Festival: CANBERRA, 5–21 July 1996

Patron: Sir William Deane (Governor General)
Chorusmasters: Patricia Shaw, Kynan Johns
Accompanists: Sally Whitwell, Michael Winikoff, Elizabeth Wells
Camp Venue: Southern Cross Motor Inn, Berridale, NSW
Participants: SCUNA, AUCS, FUCS, MUS, MUCS, MonUCS, MuscUTS, PUCS, QUMS, SUMS, TUMS
FIBS: CHICKEN (Cool Handbook Increasing Choristers’ Knowledge of Everything Necessary)

COMMITTEE

Convenor: Liz Keogh
Secretary: Jeff Christiensen
Treasurer: Jon Price
Camp Officer: Andrew Murray
ConMan: Jillian Harding
Fundraising:
Librarian: Crit
Publicity: Alan Girvan
Social Secretary: David Cannell
Transport & Billeting: Craig Miller
General Dogsbody(s): Michael Sawer
Advisor: Mark Chapman
SCUNA liaison: Cameron Neylon
Ombudsperson: Jeff Christiensen
Mascot: Solomon (the Rubber Chicken)

CONCERT 1

8pm, 13 July, Llewellyn Hall, Canberra School of Music
Conductor: Emily Cox
Soloists: Kerry Henderson
Program: Pärt Te Deum, Liszt Les Preludes, Walton Belshazzar’s Feast
Notes: With the Sydney Youth Orchestra and Band of the Royal Military College, Duntroon
Review: W.L. Hoffmann, “Few highlights in a shaky program”, Canberra Times, 17 July 1996: 17. “The first public concert of this year’s festival, in Canberra, promised much but delivered only minimal rewards. It started poorly with a very hesitant performance of the Te Deum … This was a puzzling selection to open the program [as it] demands utmost precision in both singing and playing. Unfortunately, this is just what the performance did not have … The major work of the concert was Walton’s stirring choral masterpiece, Belshazzar’s Feast … here the massed choir and orchestra at last got into the spirit of the night and looked and sounded as if they were enjoying themselves, with singing and playing that was assured and energetic. And if the emphasis was more on energy than finesse, at least it made a lively conclusion to this oddly assorted and sadly rather disappointing program.”

CONCERT 2

8.30pm, 20 July, St Christopher’s Cathedral, Manuka
Conductor: Patricia Shaw, Kynan Johns
Soloists: Deborah Grace, Peter Campbell, Jon Paxman
Program: Tippett Five Negro Spirituals from "A Child of Our Time", Jacqueline Atherton Tableaux of Space, Earth and Sea [World premiere], G. Gabrieli O Quam Gloriosa for four choirs, Górecki Miserere
Notes: The Atherton work was winner of the 47th IVCF Composition Contest. The concert was dedicated to the memory of “our friends and peer”, Timothy Richard Golding.
Review: Margaret Legge-Wilkinson, “Stimulating song from Intervarsity choir”, Canberra Times, 24 July, 1996: 14. “The members of the 47th Intervarsity Choral Festival choir gave a memorable and stimulating evening of choral singing on Saturday night … Tableaux of Space, Earth and Sea was conducted by Patricia Shaw, who took particular care to bring out the various effects … and to bring shape and direction to the performance … For Gabrieli’s O Quam Gloriosa the choir was positioned antiphonally … This was a joyous though roughly hewn performance. Henryk Gorecki’s Miserere conducted by Kynan Johns was emotionally and spiritually fulfilling with Johns holding the reins softly and tightly until the choir exploded into double forte … The basses reached into their depths.”

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