CHORAL WORKSHOP
LUCY SMITH, YEAR 6 ANNANDALE STATE SCHOOL
A DREAM come true is a miracle moment when something you have aspired to, for a long time, comes true.
It was a dream come true for 79 students who took part in a recent choral workshop.
From June 22–25, Year 5 and Year 6 choral students from across Townsville participated in a fourday workshop held at The Willows State School.
Students from seven different state schools were given the chance to participate including Annandale, Belgian Gardens, Currajong, Hermit Park, Magnetic Island, Mundingburra, Willows and Weir.
Over the four days, the students rehearsed under the direction of guest conductor William Brown.
As well as teaching piano and classroom music, Mr Brown is also director of the school choral program at St Laurence’s College at South Brisbane.
He is part of the artistic team at Voices of Birralee and is in high demand as a composer, arranger, accompanist and conductor.
During the choral workshop, students learned five songs, worked on vocal technique and performance etiquette, developed and refined music reading skills and sang a variety of choral songs from different cultures and different languages.
At the end of the workshop, the students performed a concert featuring all five songs they had practised for the community to enjoy.
What they had accomplished in such a short amount of time was truly remarkable.
The audience was taken on a musical journey as students performed varied repertoire.
The concert opened with Sea Song by Ruth Mccall and Nicole Thomson, followed by a Finnish folk song, Vem Kan Segla which means “Who Can Sail”? The third song on the program showed off the skills of guest conductor Mr Brown, as students performed his original work, Bell-birds, based on the famous poem Bell-birds by Henry Kendall.
The audience was in awe of bird calls made entirely by selected students in the choir.
An African American spiritual song, Let Me Fly, was the fourth song of the afternoon leaving the audience with a feeling of happiness through the spiritual experience.
The finale was Don Gato, a Mexican Folk Song with a twist.
The choir showed off its ability to change tempo and dynamics, going from loud to soft and back.
The dramatic piano accompaniment provided by Julie Sullivan assisted in creating the dramatic quality of this piece.
A clear showstopper, this piece was a favourite for the choir to sing and for the audience to enjoy.