National Boys Choir on the Goldfields

THE National Boys Choir of Australia will bring Ballarat Trades Hall alive in classical song this weekend.

As part of their Gippsland to Goldfields series – their first tour since 2019 – the select group of 36 boys aged between 10 and 16 will perform from 7.30pm on Saturday, 15 January.

NBCA artistic director and conductor Andrew Bainbridge said the treble choir sings in a style reminiscent of King’s College Cambridge, and will even have some Disney on their set list.

They’ll also get into costume for a rendition of Batavia by Australian composer Stephen Leek.

“It’s the story of a shipwreck from 1629 that happened off the coast of Western Australia,” Bainbridge said.

“It’s a gruesome story in a way, but it’s a good story. It’s one of our feature pieces, all costumed and semi-staged, which is something we like to do when we can.”

The choir got to gig for the first time in two years at Christmas.

Bainbridge said being able to bring the boys back together, offering them and audiences musical experiences at all is “spectacular,” having conducted one-on-one tutorials remotely since the pandemic began.

“They’re really thrilled about getting into costume, and getting up in front of several audiences. There’s something quite special about them going away together too.

“A lot of them are really, really good friends. They’ve been in the choir of several years and have grown up with each other, so the social side of it is really important,” he said.

“It’s also really good for our six staff to see the boys in a different situation, living with each other and looking after each other over the course of a week.”

Supporting the boys on tour are their accompanists, including pianist Jane Matheson, and their tutors.

Tickets are available on Trybooking via bit.ly/33bXIZ6. Ballarat Trades Hall is at 24 Camp Street.