Choir marks two decades

MUSIC from around the world is coming to Ballarat as part of the twentieth anniversary of the Boîte Schools Chorus.

The performance entitled Los Niños, or The Children, will include songs performed in eight languages around the theme of protecting the environment and climate change.

The choir is directed by Stella Savy and will be performed on Thursday 8 August at The Melbourne Town Hall, and on Sunday 18 August at Mount Clear Secondary College.

“I think there is something very unifying about seeing people sing all together,” said Savy.

“Having children’s voices on this particular topic is quite poignant and very moving because we leave the earth to our younger generations and here they are singing about our globe and how they can make it a better place.”

The Boîte Schools Chorus is an annual, un-auditioned choir event for schools and community youth choirs.

More than 11,000 school-age children from across Victoria have participated since 2004.

“For me, the best thing about this project is that anyone can join and it’s not a competition,” said Savy.

“Most people think kids want to compete but actually they don’t, they just want to come together.”

The program has been modified this year to be more environmentally friendly, including holding some rehearsals online to reduce transport emissions, using digital sheet music and requesting students iron a transfer onto a pre-owned T-shirt for the performance.

“You’ve got talk the talk and put your money where your mouth is,” said Savy.

“One of the things we are aware of is that clothing is one of the biggest polluters in the world.”