TRANS-TASMAN REVIEW

On August 6 and 7, 2022 audiences in Ballarat and Camberwell were treated to a diverse selection of music from Australia and our trans-Tasman neighbours, New Zealand. The idea for this concert was seeded by Artistic Director and conductor, Nicholas Dinopoulos in 2021, when the only possible travel destination for Australians was across the ditch. The repertoire chosen explored the shared connection between our countries.

The programming was in an easily digestible format with 12 short pieces. The first half featured combined items with the younger singers of The Australian Boys Choir and their older counterparts The Vocal Consort.Some pieces were accompanied by the formidable Zachary Hamilton-Russell on the piano. After the interval, both choirs had a chance to shine in their own right.

The concert opened with a striking performance of Australian composer Sarah Hopkin’s, Past Life Melodies, which featured both choirs in an unusual positioning around the church. It concluded with haunting harmonic-overtone singing from some of the singers, leaving some of the audience wondering if there was any digital enhancement; there was none.

The first half continued with some quietly reflective moments, especially Crossing The Bar by Calvin Bowman, who was in the audience at the Camberwell concert. The lyrics were based on an 1889 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, about crossing from life into death. The section concluded with the Kyrie from Mass for Seven Voices by William Yaxley, and featured a beautiful solo by Isaac Field.

As expected, the Maori language was also a feature of this concert, with E Te Ariki and Kia Hora Te Marino, both by New Zealand composer David Hamilton. Kia Hora Te Marino was picked up the last time the choir toured to New Zealand in 2015. The text based on a traditional Maori proverb. A true Trans-Tasman Exchange was evident with Australian Trevor Jones’ arrangement of the Maori traditional Pōkarekare Ana. The Vocal Consort gave a rousing performance of this well-known song.

The concert concluded with a combined performance of Araluen by Australian composer Matthew Orlovich. This is an a cappella (unaccompanied) setting of Roland Robinson’s text about a gold rush shanty town in southern New South Wales. And of course no concert would be complete without an encore, in this case Dan Walker’s You, Me and the Wide Open Sky, an uplifting work that celebrates the beauty and contrast of the Australian outback.

Not only did this concert draw together inspiration and ideas from two separate countries, it did so in a cohesive way. It was a phenomenal display of the discipline and musical artistry of The Australian Boys Choir and The Vocal Consort, resulting in a thoroughly enjoyable weekend of concerts for all involved.