DEAN KOCH | ADELAIDE BRANCH

With the Australian Boys Choir’s expansion in the early 1950s, the Adelaide branch was established in 1953. Robert Murray was the State Director, with considerable input from Richard Flynn, the choir’s SA representative until 1979.

Dean Koch recalls with great fondness his days with the Adelaide branch. “I still recall auditioning and attending practice at the Adelaide Town Hall and the Philosophical Society building in King William Street - catching the tram home in the dark on Friday evenings, running down George Street, afraid of the shadows!”

“The music the ABC introduced me to entranced me. I loved singing and would sing anywhere, anytime."

Alongside the thrill of performing, Dean reflects on the unexpected benefits of the choir, discovered when attending his first job interview. “I walked erect, head up, controlling my nerves with breath-control as ABC taught me. There were 54 applicants and I got the job.”

“…The ABC introduced discipline by encouragement... It allowed me to overcome my lack of confidence. I responded to instruction of good manners, listening attentively, deportment, breathing, diction and I always looked forward to the next Friday night choir practice.’

In addition to performing in their own right, boys from the Adelaide branch joined the Melbourne and Hobart boys on music camps and tours. Dean recounts “attending at least two choir visits to Melbourne, travelling by train”, and a visit from the Vienna Boys Choir.

Dean still sings, currently with Tasmania’s Sing Australia group, and enjoys playing piano and sharing his music with the wider community and those less fortunate, rejoicing in seeing their “faces light up”.

“Evidently my time with the ABC was successful… As young as I was, I tried as hard as I could to learn my part and be part of the choir. The ABC nurtured and encouraged us all.”’

Unfortunately the Adelaide branch was short lived, discontinuing in 1955.