Peter Sculthorpe composes for climax of choral festival

July 07, 2006

About 90 people over the age of 60, from NSW, Queensland and Victoria, have come together in Newcastle this week to rehearse for a choral concert they will present tomorrow [Saturday 8 July].

The internationally renowned Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe (pictured here), the Patron of the event, will attend the public concert, for which he has composed a new choral work.

The inaugural Australian National Seniors’ Choral Festival is a joint project of The University of New England (UNE) and the University of Newcastle. Dr Terrence Hays from UNE, the Artistic Director of the festival, said it was a celebration of the passionate engagement of many older people with music.

“There are five intense days of workshops, which began last Tuesday,” Dr Hays said. “These will culminate in tomorrow afternoon’s concert. The music they’re singing is challenging for any choir, and includes anthems, traditional and modern spirituals, arrangements of well-known folk songs, and Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs.”

“The festival grew out of my realisation of the need for activities that would engage older people in music at a high level,” he explained, “and that would provide opportunities for those who have a passion for music to connect and share their enthusiasm.”

Dr Sculthorpe said he felt honoured to be Patron of the National Seniors’ Choral Festival. “I am 76 years old and still composing full-time,” he said, “just as people of my age and more still sing in choirs.”

The ages of participants in the festival range between 60 and 85. “What they’re achieving is phenomenal,” Dr Hays said today. “They’ve been working very hard – from 9 am to 4.30 pm every day. It’s been a fabulous experience for them to rehearse with Heather Buchanan, the festival’s Principal Conductor. Heather is Director of Choral Activities at Montclair State University, New Jersey, USA, and has worked with some of the great conductors in New York.”

The workshops have all been in the Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall, where the concert will take place at 2 pm tomorrow [Saturday]. The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew, and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Newcastle, Professor Nicholas Saunders, will both attend the concert.

Media contact: Dr Terrence Hays on 0410 562 452.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at July 7, 2006 02:38 PM