JEM HERBERT

When love is involved, distance is no object. And Jem really loves the Choir.

Twice a week, he catches a three hour bus from Mansfield to Melbourne to attend rehearsals, and has been doing this since 2010. Now a chorister, the highest training level of the Australian Boys Choir, Jem is an incredible role model for the younger boys, with his steadfast dedication to what he loves.

And Jem isn’t the only one. In the late 1990s both Sean White and Max Ree-Goodings took that same journey down from Mansfield twice a week for several years. Not to mention boys who journey from Woodend, Bacchus Marsh and the Mornington Peninsula to rehearse in Hawthorn each week. In 1998, Christopher Goodluck from near Hamilton in Western Victoria was encouraged by his music teacher to join the Choir. When his family were unable to bring him to Choir for a period, the town set up a roster to drive him the four hour trip each way – truly a sign of great dedication.

The Choir has a long history of attracting families and boys from all over regional Victoria who understand and are committed to the importance of musical education. For them, finding the Choir is like finding a second home.