Essential to any tour are the carers who volunteer their time to look after the boys while they are away from home. (Constance) Mary Legge, the ‘matron’, for the Tasmanian branch of the Choir’s tour around Tasmania in June 1955 kept a diary of the trip. A foreword to the diary describes her role...
In 1976, The Australian Boys Choir was one of five international youth choirs (one from each of the major continents) to be invited to participate in an International Showcase of Youth in Philadelphia to celebrate the bicentenary of the United States of America’s Declaration of Independence - signed in Philadelphia on 4 July 1776.
In 1989, The Australian Boys Choir celebrated its 50th anniversary with a momentous round-the-world tour. Accompanied by The Vocal Consort, the boys journeyed from Melbourne on September 21 to Germany, where they performed a series of concerts in Bocholt and Neuss. On to London, the choir sang at Mass at Westminster and St George’s Cathedrals and performed several concerts in the regions of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, including Kimbolton Castle, best known as the home of King Henry VII’s first queen, Catherine of Aragon.
One year before the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games opened in Japan, festivities commenced with 'Harmony that links the World', the Gala Concert of Children of
Five Continents. The ABC was invited to represent Australia and twenty boys braved the ice and snow for the choir’s second visit to Japan.
As the world nervously awaited the end of the twentieth century, fearing electronic meltdown, excitement was also building in the choir. Twenty boys were invited to represent Australia at Il Giubileo dei bambini e dei ragazzi - The Jubilee of Children and Young People - to be held at the Vatican in Rome.
AmericaFest was a ten day festival that brought together choirs of boys and men from all over the world. Held in Minnesota biannually from 1994 until 2002, the Australian Boys Choir and The Vocal Consort were fortunate to be invited to represent Australia at the 1998, 2000 and 2002 AmericaFests.
Following an invitation from the His Highness, the Sultan of Yogyakarta, the Choir and The Vocal Consort toured Indonesia in 2005. They performed alongside Blue Scope Steel Youth Orchestra from Wollongong and talented young Indonesian musicians and dancers at a Royal Command Performance at the Sultan’s Palace.
Diary excerpts from a Parent Carer who recounts the energy and vibrance of the week long 2013 Malaysian tour. From the boys breaking into song on the tour bus despite their 11 hour journey, to workshops, performances, Embassy visits and networking with dignitaries, to shopping adventures and cultural tours. This tour had it all.
In 2014, the Australian Boys Choir hosted an exhibition in the Yarra Gallery at Federation Square. A dedicated team of volunteers and Australian Boys Choir staff worked for over a year to design an exhibition and program to commemorate the Australian Boys Choir 75th year.