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Oriana singing in the Chiesa di Sant’Andrea Apostolo at Toscolano.
Oriana enthralled patrons at the Hlahol Concert Hall in Prague which dates back to the 1860s.
The power of song By Erle Levey Paper planes in Prague and the last dinner in Venice under a vine-covered pergola. For the past five years or so it has been a privilege to be associated with the Sunshine Coast’s Oriana Choir as a paton. None so important as these times under Covid when extra stress is placed on everyone. It is at a time such as this that if we don’t have a strong support base we can fracture. Oriana has provided that strength to everyone and anyone. Someone has always been there to ask “Are you OK?’’ Always ready to offer a hand. Perhaps no greater example was the live performance at St John’s in Brisbane before the Christmas past. Not only was it perhaps that Oriana were the first choir to give a live concert during Covid but the fact it was live-streamed around the world to give people hope. And the way the performance was dedicated to the people of Italy who had been so hospitable during our 2019 performance tour. In the time I have been associated with Oriana the choir has been able to perform at a wide variety of music events throughout Queensland and around the world. That has included major venues, community halls, some of the biggest cathedrals and most historic churches in Europe, and at community services throughout the Sunshine Coast and surrounding regions. Oriana has toured England, Wales, Belgium and France in 2012; Hungary, Slovak Republic, Austria and Czech Republic in 2016; then Italy in 2019 - from Rome through the northern regions to Venice. At times they have asked if I would sing with them. Well, obviously they have not heard 18 SENIORS TODAY SUMMER: DECEMBER 2021
me ... except for that night after a performance where we went to a centuries-old restaurant in Budapest, or the time we started singing Waltzing Matilda to a bewildered group of people at a beer garden overlooking a picturesque lake in Austria. More recently, it was joining in with six to eight choir members in a bit of Boho Rhap at the Yellow Penguin gelataria in Italy the night after a magnificent evening of music and hospitality on the shores of Lago Di Garda. What this ever-changing group of singers has been able to do is engage with communities and audiences and bring not just music but fellowship to a wide range of people. That’s the beauty of song. It embraces people no matter what their background. It doesn’t matter if it is a cathedral in Gympie or Brisbane, Prague or Budapest, Paris, London or Rome. The message is the same if it is in St Marks at Buderim or St Marks in Venice, if it is at the farming town of San Miniato or the fishing village of Sestri Levante. The choir members are as passionate about the planet and all of mankind as they are about their music. They have shown they can be caring and understanding of people from different cultures. That it is an honour to be invited into their homes and treat each and every one of them with dignity and respect. Such memorable times – The Armed Man at Brisbane City Hall certainly stands out. A commemoration of 100 years since the end of World War One. The afternoon in the cathedral at Lucca … such a wonderful setting. The people were so gracious and welcoming of all, no matter what your class, colour or creed. Riding the carousel at Montecatini Terme after the concert, the funicular journey up the mountain – and even the ambulance trip in Orvieto when a tour member slipped and fell during an
afternoon Tuscan thunderstorm. Who could forget? The village of San Miniato near Verona, and how the people put on the most heart-felt supper. The way the choirs joined together, not just there but Sestri Levante – and the welcome they gave by the second or secret bay. Then there was the evening of song and another supper at Toscalano on the shores of Lake Garda. The small but historic cathedral in the farming community of Aqua Negri … the standing ovation from villagers who had tears in their eyes. It was the same in 2016 at the final concert in Prague’s Hlahol concert hall … a full house and standing beneath the mural by Alphonse Mucha with a local. He was engrossed. It must have been raining inside as his eyes were wet. Where did this journey start? Probably at the Mothers Day concert at Matthew Flinders in 2016 when the choir sang Prayer for the Children. You had me by the first chorus. That was bookended on the Tour of Italy by Even When He Is Silent. What have I learned about this journey? Travel ... it’s a matter of understanding the cultures, not imposing yourself on them. Asking permission, for we are in your house. A sense of being invited in. Appreciating the easy come and go lifestyle of the Italian people. The history built up over centuries. To be welcomed into their house, so to speak, and enjoy the food, wine and hospitality provided to us after an evening of much more than music and song. For me, it was a reminder of the need for graciousness and humility. That these people welcomed us so warmly into their hearts. It was up to us to return that honour and trust. Musical excellence is one thing, tech-
nical ability another, but professionalism is essential at all times - the ability to inspire and encourage, to extend a hand when needed ... that is the real character of a person or a group. That is true success. To be able to change one person’s life, to be able to make the planet that bit better, no matter how much or how little. For the greatest journey starts with the first step. COME TO THE WOODS The latest performance by Sunshine Coast Oriana Choir is Come To The Woods, an amazing piece of choral music by young American composer Jake Runestad. It’s a work of many moods, which takes the listener on a stimulating day’s outing in the woods. It is a stirring, uplifting, delightful programme of choral music by American composers from across nearly one hundred years. It is a program of great variety, with choral arrangements of songs by the likes of Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim, George and Ira Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein and many more. Styles as diverse as jazz, spiritual, musical theatre, art-song and original choral works, of great beauty and emotional depth, make up a concert that has something for every taste. It is Oriana’s great pleasure and privilege to have renowned choral conductor and educator, Paul Holley as musical director for Come to the Woods. He is currently artistic director of Voices of Birralee, based in Brisbane. Paul has more than 25 years of teaching experience in secondary schools and many years of working with adult community choirs, and his work preparing Oriana for this concert programme has been inspirational. There is an enormous treasury of wonderful American music, and Come To The Woods is a small, but representative sample of that treasury. For bookings visit oriana.org.au
