“The singing enveloped me. It was resonant, coming from everyone's very heart. There was no sense of performance or judgment, only that the music was breath and food.” (Anne Lamott)
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I am a member of the five year old Forever Young choir.
Thursday mornings are sacrosanct.
Our choir for older singers is the dream of Laura, our choir mistress and a music teacher at Girton Grammar.
Laura is our champion, alongside the ever capable ‘roadie’ Margaret, a parent of Girton.
Laura’s dream to create this choir was supported by Girton’s principal who enthusiastically encouraged the concept.
Any stranger visiting Girton on Thursday mornings would be astonished to observe a collected gaggle of older citizens striding, walking, and wheeling purposefully towards the hall at Girton, rugged up against winter woes and determinedly clutching well-thumbed songbooks.
Echoing across the playground can be heard the exhilarating sounds of young voices commencing their morning classes with songs, actions and chants. ‘YMCA’ is belted out!
Students greet us cheerfully as we wend our way to the hall.
We are part of their Thursday routine and they are part of ours.
Sometimes a class files in silently, seriously, to be our audience.
We sing to them. They sing to us. We treasure those times.
Every face in this choir tells a story; but they are all here on Thursdays simply to celebrate life, community and shared singing.
For some choir members this is the only outing they will participate in during the week.
In the hall the buzz of conversation is resounding. Old and new friends greet each other warmly. No one in our choir is younger than 60 years.
Singly our voices would not raise the heart beat of any choir master or mistress but together we ROCK!
Enthusiasm and the sheer joy of singing resonate through our songs.
Not for us the genteel songs of an English countryside. The songs we sing are high energy, with a few quieter ballads.
All songs are from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. We are rockers! It is our era. We are backed by the Girton Grammar Orchestra and their rock band (including the principal).
This year we share the stage with Normie Rowe at the Ulumbarra Theatre in September. Normie is singing with us, while also singing a selection of his own songs. We sing the remainder.
We have an all-Australian music list. Our songs include everything from Beds are Burning by Midnight Oil to You’re the One by Johnny Farnham.
“The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sing the best.” ( Thoreau).
Come join us on Wednesday, September 16 and enjoy our concert with Normie, our families and friends.