Bendigo Chorale celebrates 60 years of music spanning countries and centuries | Video

The group of 30 women formed a year earlier and had been busy perfecting their madrigals – part-songs of the Renaissance era – and other harmonious tunes under the guidance of musical director Mavis Webster.

A reporter for the Bendigo Advertiser attended this inaugural concert, and would not have realised how prophetic the report would prove to be.

“It is certain that if they continue to improve on the accomplished performance of last night, they have a busy future ahead of them in the entertainment world,” the report read in the following day’s newspaper.

Sixty years later, and after changing its name to the Bendigo Chorale and accepting male members, the group continues to sing works spanning countries and centuries.

And each week these deep and historic tunes still resonate around the hall – now known as the Uniting Church hall.

It has become one of the longest-running music groups in Bendigo.

Glenis Pitson was a part of the original choir and remembers the opening recitals well, as well as the hundreds that followed in Bendigo.

She was in the choir when it sang at the Sydney Opera House and won a national choral award in Adelaide in 1965.

Mrs Pitson said the members enjoyed exploring new types of choral music – made possible by the differing tastes and interests of the group’s four conductors over 60 years.

“It’s a great credit to the conductors that we have had over those 60 years, to hold the interest, and to present the standard of music. Audiences are very discerning,” she said.

“We have an extensive repertoire of choral work.”

In recent years that repertoire has been pushed into bold new directions.

The choir had sung spiritual works in Latin in the past, but with the arrival of Russian conductor Elena Varshavskaya in 2011 they were presented with works in languages such as Swedish, Russian and Croatian.

Ms Varshavskaya is an accomplished conductor and was once part of a national choir in Russia, which resulted in her performing in front of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

She travels to Bendigo from Melbourne each week to lead the choir, and said she was encouraged by the breadth of works they had covered in the past.

“I love them,” Ms Varshavskaya said.

“They invited me to be a guest conductor so I started to work with them and I understood how they are a different type of choir.

“They are so enthusiastic, they really want to embrace the music. They listen to you, they follow you.”

And if a song is written in Swedish, then it should be performed in Swedish, she says.

“They are very good with pronunciation because they are very good musicians, all of them,” Ms Varshavskaya said.

“You just follow the character of the music.”

Introducing more foreign-language music was just one of the main changes that have occurred in the chorale’s history. 

While the choir was women-only in the early days, the acceptance of male members further expanded the range of songs available with tenors and basses joining the voices.

David Wright joined the group in 1984 after singing musical theatre and in choirs for much of his life, as well as being a church organist.

“I just enjoyed the challenge of the part-singing as a tenor, and in particular I enjoyed the oratorio music,” he said.

“The highlights for me over the last 33 years have been singing the Messiah on numerous occasions, and when we did a performance with the orchestra in Sacred Heart Cathedral.

“We went to Wagga for our 40th anniversary and competed in choral competitions. That was a great memory.”

The Bendigo Chorale has far more women members than men – like many community choirs.

Mr Wright said men should not be put off if they want to sing.

“It doesn’t seem to appeal to men as much, it is very challenging to be able to master being able to sing the part,” he said.

“But it gives you great satisfaction.”

The longevity of the choir was sure to have delighted its original members, and founder Mavis Webster.

Numbers have fluctuated in the past, but it still has at least 30 members and continues to attract young singers.

Emily Prince joined the group last year and is the youngest member. She sang in the Bendigo Youth Choir and was keen to continue her passion after finding work and having a child.

She said the Bendigo Chorale was a perfect fit.

“I needed to do something again for myself and really missed singing as a group,” Ms Prince said.

“I was convinced the first night I joined the choir, just with the breadth of repertoire we looked at.

“The speed we managed to go through things was a positive, which is the advantage of having people who have either been in choirs for a long time, or have some musical background. There’s just that little bit of knowledge there that makes it an easier learning process.”

People with limited choral experience should not be put off either, Ms Prince said.

“Elena in her way of taking the choir is very supportive of those who don’t have as many skills as other people, but manage to get the best out of everybody’s voices as a unit and as individuals,” she said.

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The Bendigo Chorale has been rehearsing for its 60th birthday concert with the Bendigo Youth Choir, to be held at the Forest Street Uniting Church at 5pm Saturday night.

They will cover Vivaldi’s Gloria, George Gershwin, Solveig’s Song and others, spanning the Bendigo Chorale’s 60-year history of performance.

As a gift to the Bendigo community, the concert is by donation only.