Choirs in full voice at cathedral

THE sounds of Ballarat Choral Festival will fill St Patrick’s Cathedral again this Sunday 28 July from 1.30pm.

Thirteen choirs from Ballarat, and regional areas are set to perform as part of the 26th annual event, which is free.

The festival is an initiative of the Ballarat Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and festival organiser Margaret Lenan Ellis said the cathedral’s accoustics are “magnificent.”

“It promises to be an exciting, uplifting, dynamic programme,” she said.

“To open the event will be well known music teacher and performer, Lyndell Allen’s Ballarat Voices, a children’s choir dedicated to providing excellent choral educaton and performance opportunites to the young people of Ballarat.

“Appropriately, their first song will be Wadawurrung Thank You. Another children’s choir, singing in the choral festival for the first time, will be made up of a combination of junior, intermediate and senior singers from the Ballarat Centre of Music and the Arts, directed by Paula Heenan.

“Other choirs include Vincent Sully’s Cantate Domino, and VOX, Ballarat’s long-standing, well-regarded choral ensemble, both consisting of highly trained singers, and singing a cappella, also the highly respected Ballarat Choral Society, The Ballarat Singers, St Patrick’s Cathedral Choir, With One Voice Ballarat, and the Ballarat U3A Chorale.”

The all-male Victoria Welsh Choir Ballarat chapter is always a popular ensemble on the program, directed by Rushan Hewawasham. The Federation University Word of Mouth vocal ensemble is returning after a few years’ away, featuring music theatre and acting students, and directed by Dr Richard Chew.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Ballarat Ward Choir and Deer Park’s Cairnlea Ward Choir are also set to perform.