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| Tom Byrne and Bob Hardy - 'To Life' |
If finding that
Christmas spirit was proving difficult for some this year, an afternoon of
Yuletide entertainment with the ESK COMMUNITY CHOIR could surely have set the
clocks ticking for the countdown to Christmas.
From the stage of the Somerset Civic Centre in Esk, framed by a
magnificent backdrop depicting a scene from the Christmas story, to the
compelling accompaniment by Margaret Philp and under the masterful direction of
Alexis FitzGerald, the Choir delivered in song a diversity of beautiful sounds ranging
from Fiddler on the Roof to a finale including
one of the most emotive songs guaranteed to generate goose bumps if not tears, The Holy City.
The curtain was drawn
for Tom Byrne’s and Bob Hardy’s uplifting toast To Life from Fiddler on the
Roof, to be joined on stage by an ensemble of singers for a sensitive
offering of a Sabbath Prayer. The men rejoined for an inspiring rendition
of Noel, Noel and the ladies answered
with And the Angels Sang…perfect for a
choir of ladies whose singing might have been mistaken for just that. To complete the opening bracket, the entire
choir came together to fill the hall with
And the Night Shall Be Filled With Music.
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| Sabbath Prayer |
Variety being high on
the requirements for this Choir’s annual Christmas Concerts, it was the turn of
talented Nedi Granzien to enthrall the audience with Mr Mistoffeles from the musical Cats
and with a quick costume change, complement the amazing Erica, aka Eric von Nida, for one more of his highly acclaimed presentations
of Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid. Notwithstanding his
sensational performance, unused to the vagaries of wearing high heels, Eric did
manage to shuffle off the stage suffering with two different poor unfortunate
soles!
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| Nedi Granzien |
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| Erica aka Eric von Nida |
A Christmas Concert
could not be complete without the sounds of children and surely there would
have been many puffed out parents’ chests peppering the audience following a
consummate performance by the very cute kids of the Esk State School Concert
Band with their equally elated conductor, Adam Smith. Who better than Santa Claus
to then reward their spirited playing with some sweet treats!
Interwoven amongst the
mosaic of musical performances were the many raffle draws along with two very
special presentations. The first, presented by Kathleen, was to two of the
Choir’s long serving, hard-working and valued members, Leah Hayward and our resident
artist and masterful maker of many backdrops, Russell Zammit, both of whom received
the rare honour of Life Membership.
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| Life Member - Leah Hayward |
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| Life Member - Russell Zammit |
The
second was the presentation of a gift from the choir to Our House, a facility in Toogoolawah which gives so much to disabled
residents in the Brisbane Valley; whose workers nurture abilities rather than
disabilities and who provide a friendly home away from
home for both residents and carers.
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| Presentation to 'Our House' |
Forecasting the final
bracket and bursting onto the stage in a blur of black and white, The Sweethearts of Song, Kathleen,
Susie, Carolyn and Maree notched up another assortment of supporters with their
upbeat and harmonious sounds from the 60s.
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| "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" with the Sweethearts of Song |
The group who sang so beautifully at Brisbane
Sings in August did so again with an impeccable confirmation of Why We Sing and adding another level of
loveliness, Suzanne Clemence on flute accompanied with Margaret as they choir
came together for Waiting for Bethlehem’s
Light. With the audience now
suitably primed for some singing of their own, the inspiring sounds of Silent Night and the Holy City rang throughout the hall
leaving people to ponder the joys of singing whilst partaking of the pots of
tea, coffee and cake around the festively decorated tables.
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