History - Cranbourne Chorale

History

History - Cranbourne Chorale

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HISTORY OF THE CHOIR

 The Cranbourne Lions Choir was formed in July 1991 by the Cranbourne Lions Club. In December that year, the Choir gave its first performance at the Cranbourne Senior Citizens' Christmas party. 1992 saw an increase in both membership and performances. These were mostly unison songs and it was not until Jeremy Richards was appointed as Musical Director that four part harmony became the norm. Jeremy was soon followed by another talented musician, Phillip Smith. This proved to be an exciting year with the Choir learning a great variety of choral numbers under Phillip's unique and entertaining style.

 In 1994 the Choir had its first taste of competition against other Choirs. A placing of third at the Camberwell Eisteddfod was a wonderful result and set our sights on future competitions. The Choir was also now in demand by the local community and received several invitations to perform locally. One unforgettable highlight in 1995 was an invitation to perform at the McClelland Gallery in Langwarrin before Dame Elizabeth Murdoch. This was the Choir's best performance to date but Phillip's last with the Choir.

Ms Chris Child was our next MD who started in June 1995,at the same time as Simon Loveless, our talented pianist. We were delighted to record our first Eisteddfod win - in the Community Groups section of the prestigious Royal South Street Eisteddfod, Ballarat.

 Chris moved on in December 1995. Christopher Stock , who came from an Army Music background , was chosen to lead us. The expansion of our repertoire, together with the enthusiasm of our new Musical Director, set the tone for the beginning of 1996.

 Our repertoire expanded and we welcomed many new members. We again placed at Ballarat in '96, '97 and -˜98. Our 10 Year Anniversary Concert was a huge success as we celebrated the growth of the Choir over this period.

 We have received several Cultural and Initiative Grants from the City of Casey and used them to successfully mount 3 -œCasey Stars at Twilight-� free outdoor concerts at Wilson Botanic Park at Berwick. The first of these was awarded -œCommunity Event of the Year-�.

Chris Stock remained with us until December 2006. 2007 was an interesting year. 25 members joined with the Yarra Valley Singers, Diamond Valley Singers, Yarra Valley Grammar School Choirs and the Maroondah Orchestra to perform Carmina Burana and Polovetsian Dances. During the year we were assisted by Cathy Northey but mainly by our wonderful accompanist and Assistant Music Director Simon Loveless. Towards the end of the year, Anne Credlin, Musical Director of the Australian Welsh Male Choir spent several months preparing us for our Christmas performances and we are delighted to say that Anne has now been appointed as our new Musical Director.

At the beginning of 2008 Simon left us as accompanist but he has been made a Life Member of the Choir. Tom Buchanan followed for 12 months and now we are delighted to have Jonathan Baker as our accompanist