The 15th Intervarsity Choral Festival: MELBOURNE, 20-28 May 1964

Chorusmaster: Bryan Dowling
Accompanist: Bruce Macrae
Camp Venue: Ballarat (Queen’s Church of England Girl’s Grammar School, Ballarat Boys’ Grammar School, Clarendon Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Ballarat College)
Participants: UWAUCS, AUCS, MonUCS, TUCS, SCUNA, UNCS, NUCS, SUMS, QUMS, UNECS, MUCS

COMMITTEE

Convenor: Peter Turner
Secretary: Tony Radford
Treasurer: John Grutzner, Lawrie O’Bryan
ConMan: Chris Osman
Publicity: Marg Wark, Richard Kirsner
Transport/Billeting: Helen Marchant, Bert Reeh, Rosemary Clarke, Jenny Slade
MUCS Pres: Chris Simpson
Ticketing: Sue Turner
Orchestra: John Pringle

CONCERT 1

8.15pm, 26 May, Wilson Hall, University of Melbourne
Conductor: Michael Brimer; Hugh Brandon; Bryan Dowling; Rex Hobcroft; Brian Chatterton; Brian Dowling; John Winstanley; Rex Hobcroft; John Winstanley; Hugh Brandon
Soloists: [Britten] Sue Falk, Judy Clingan, Colin Matheson, Geoff Brennan
Program: Mozart Requiem (excerpts, UWAUCS); Gibbons Silver Swan, Jones Farewell, Dear Love, Farmer Fair Phyllis (NUCS+UNCS+UNECS); Clemens non Papa Adoramus te, attr. Victoria Jesu dulcis memoria, Pitoni Cantate Domino, Mozart Ave verum corpus (MUCS small group); Hassler Laudate Dominum (TUCS), Ravenscroft In the Merry Spring, Dowland Now, O now I needs must part, Festa Down in a flow’ry vale (AUCS); Walford Davies Three Poems by A.A. Milne (MUCS); Bach Sing ye to the Lord (SUMS); Britten Rejoice in the Lamb (SCUNA+MonUCS); Batten O sing joyfully, Byrd I will not leave you comfortless, Ave verum corpus, Weelkes Hosanna (SUMS Madrigal Group); Bartók Four Slovak Folk Songs (QUMS), Gaudeamus Igitur
Notes: Org: John Winstanley, Michael Brimer; Piano: Bruce Macrae, David Miller

CONCERT 2

8.15pm, 28 May, Wilson Hall, University of Melbourne
Conductor: Bryan Dowling
Soloists: Bettine McCaughan, Florence Taylor, George Hegan, Barry Purcell
Program: Verdi Requiem
Notes: Melbourne University Choral Society Orchestra. Concert moved from Melbourne Town Hall due to a power strike.
Review: John Sinclair, “Triumph for the choristers”, Herald, 29 May 1964, p.11. “The fifteenth Inter-Varsity Choral Festival ended triumphantly in Wilson Hall last night … As an amateur performance, it was surprisingly good. There were imperfections galore, but in the circumstances this was scarcely surprising … for most of the time improvised lighting was used and so, for once, we can blame poor visibility for a few tangled choral passages and for the orchestra’s tendency to play wrong notes. But most of the choral singing was splendid. These singers knew their work thoroughly and they sang with an infectious enthusiasm and a delightfully precise sense of rhythm … The inspiring feature of this concert was not so much the performance itself as the spirit in which it was done. Students taking part came from every university in Australia … [a]nd in this technological age … it is wonderful to discover so many undergraduates who are willing to plan, work and travel thousands of miles for the simple pleasure of music-making.”

OTHER COMMENTS

Camp Leaders: Jane Bligh, Sandy Hutchison, Gail Fairfoul, Sue Taylor, Robyn Thorne, Tony Radford, Neil Roy, Chris Simpson, Peter Stoker. A camp concert was held in Ballarat. Full-page spread of photographs, “Student melody makers”, Age, 23 May 1964, p.11.

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