Kór St. Michael”s Grammar School

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Kór St Michael”s Grammar School fer í sína fjórðu tónleikaferð um Evrópu í júní og júlí 2010 en fyrri ferðirnar þrjár voru farnar árin 2003, 2005 og 2008. Í kórnum eru 30 meðlimir sem valdir hafa verið úr fimm kórum eldri nemenda skólans ásamt því að hafa þreytt inntökupróf. Kórdeild skólans hefur verið í þróun síðustu 20 árin af 107 ára sögu skólans, fyrst af Ian Harrison og síðan Dr Gary Ekkel frá 1996. Ásamt sínum reglulegum skuldbindingum syngja kórarnir vikulega í guðsþjónustu í skólanum og flytja árlega stórt kórverk með hljómsveit t.d. Requiem eftir Mozart og Fauré, Nelson Mass eftir Haydn og Messías eftir Handel. Nýlega hefur kórinn einnig fengist við konsertuppfærslur af verkum eins og Dídó og Eneas eftir Purcell, Carmina Burana eftir Orf og African Sanctus eftir David Fanshawe.

Á þriðja tónleikaferðalagi kórsins í júní og júlí 2008 kom kórinn fram á ellefu tónleikum, þremur messum, nokkrum námskeiðum og einni alþjóðlegri keppni á Ítalíu, Þýskalandi, Hollandi, Frakklandi og Ástralíu t.d. í San Marco basilíkunni í Feneyjum, Notre Dame dómkirkjunni í París, York Minster á Englandi ásamt minni sögulegum kirkjum og stöðum í Evrópu. Kórinn hefur komist tvisvar í úrslit í Llangollen Eisteddfod í Wales, vann Ehrenpreis árið 2005 í Mixed Choirs Competition of the Vienna International Youth and Music Competition og varð þess heiðurs aðnjótandi að koma fram á verðlaunaafhendingu keppninnar.

Kórar skólans hafa tekið upp þrjá geisladiska. Fyrst árið 1999 og inniheldur sá diskur Beatus vir eftir Monteverdi og Gloriu eftir Vivaldi. Annar diskurin, gerður árið 2002, ber yfirskriftina Christmas at St Michael’s og sá þriðji var tileiknaður tónleikaferðalaginu árið 2005 og inniheldur m.a. frumflutning á nokkrum verkum. Jóladiskur kórsins sýnir sérstöðu kórsins í 20. og 21. aldar tónlist sem inniheldur fjögur verk sérstaklega samin fyrir kórinn. Nú er verið að vinna að útgáfu á diski frá tónleikaferðalaginu 2008.


The Choir of St Michael’s Grammar School will undertake its fourth European Choir Tour in June-July, 2010, following three successful European Choir Tours in 2003, 2005 and 2008.  The European Tour Choir is an auditioned choir of thirty singers drawn from the five choirs in the Senior School.   The choral program at the Senior School has been developed over the last twenty years of the School’s 107-year history, first under Ian Harrison and since 1996 by its present Director of Choral Music, Dr Gary Ekkel. In addition to their regular concert commitments, the choirs sings in a weekly Eucharist service at the School and perform an annual major vocal work with orchestra, such as the Requiems by Mozart and Fauré, Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Handel’s Messiah.  More recently, the choir has also presented semi-staged works such as Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Orff’s Carmina Burana and works incorporating multi-media, such as David Fanshawe’s African Sanctus.

During its third tour of Europe in June and July, 2008, the Choir performed in eleven concerts, three services, a series of workshops and one international competition in Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, France and Austria, singing in venues such as San Marco Basilca, Venice, Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris and York Minster in England, as well as many smaller historical churches and sites throughout Europe.  The European Tour Choir has twice reached the finals of the Llangollen Eisteddfod in Wales and in 2005, won the Ehrenpreis in the Mixed Choirs Competition of the Vienna International Youth and Music Competition and received the honour of performing in the Festival’s Awards Ceremony. Some of the highlights of the three European Choir tours have included performances in Chartres Cathedral, France (2003), Cologne Cathedral Germany (2005), St Asaph’s Cathedral, Wales (2003) and Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris (2005, 2008).

The School’s choirs have made three CD recordings: the first in 1999, featuring Monteverdi’s Beatus vir and Vivaldi’s Gloria; the second in 2002, entitled Christmas at St Michael’s and the third commemorating the 2005 European Choir Tour. The Christmas CD demonstrates the choir’s specialty in 20th- and 21st-century music with its inclusion of four original works written especially for the choir.  The 2005 CD, similarly, includes a première recording of The Valleys Wild by the Australian film composer, Frank Strangio, especially composed for the 2005 European Choir Tour, as well as recordings of two other Australian contemporary works.  A recording is currently being made of the 2008 European Choir Tour.