The 18th Intervarsity Choral Festival: SYDNEY, 22 May-2 June 1967

Camp Venue: Marsden College, All Saints’ College, Bathurst
Participating Choirs: AUCS, SCUNA, FUCS, LaTUMusAssn, MUCS, MonUCS, NUCS, UNCS, QUMS, TUCS, UWAUCS, SUMS

COMMITTEE

Convenor: William Griffiths
Secretary: Bob Gilbert
Treasurer: Katherine England
ConMan: Terry Marler
Publicity: Peter Williams
Transport/Billeting: Bob Gilbert, Katherine England
Finance: Brian Crabbe
SUMS Pres: Sue Brown

CONCERT 1

8pm, 30 May, University of New South Wales Science Theatre
Conductor: Ralph Middenway; Walter Stiasny; Bob Karboh; Val Pyers; Peter Seymour
Program: Kodály Hymn to King Stephen, Norwegian Girls, Seiber Yugoslav Folksongs, Bartók Four Slovak Folksongs (AUCS+FUCS+SCUNA); Elgar Songs from a Greek Anthology (UNCS+UWAUCS+QUMS); Brahms “Blessed are they that mourn”, “How lovely are thy dwellings” from A German Requiem (TUCS+MonUCS+NUCS); Handel Judas Maccabaeus (MUCS+LaTUMusAssn); Britten Hymn to St Cecilia (SUMS).
Notes: “Festival Recital”
Review: Romola Constantino, “The universities sing”, Sydney Morning Herald, 31 May 1967, p.14. “The honours of the evening were unquestionably shared by [MUCS and SUMS], both of which performed with a keen mettle suggestive of friendly rivalry … [MUCS] sang with polished and assured response and possessed rare clarity and strength in the men’s voices … The other six groups involved on the one hand in a scrappy little set of Elgar songs … sounded as if they needed further rehearsal among other things, to improve the blending of voices.”

CONCERT 2

8pm, 1 June, Sydney Town Hall
Conductor: Peter Seymour
Soloists: Marilyn Richardson, Florence Taylor, John Main, Alan Light
Program: Gaudeamus Igitur, G. Gabrieli In Ecclesiis, J.S. Bach Magnificat, Orff Carmina Burana
Notes: Intervarsity Festival Orchestra
Review: Fred Blanks, “Voices in hot pursuit”, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 June 1967, p.10. “The lusty enthusiasm of 400 young voices in hot pursuit of three choral masterworks … led to some rafter-ringing excitement in the Town Hall last night. Even if not all their efforts brought solace to the souls of musical purists, there was a vividly infectious power in this alliance of 12 university choirs … Despite repetitive rhythms as demoralising as the Chinese water torture … [Carmina Burana] does have an earthy spell which is ultimately irresistible when captured as vigorously as last night.”

OTHER COMMENTS

Camp Parents: Jenny Browne, Michael Roberts, Sue Brown, Larry Turner. Held as part of the First Australian Universities’ Arts Festival. Photograph of choir in Town Hall, SUMS Archives, University of Sydney, box 4.

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