Performing with the Brisbane Choral Community

We were thrilled to be part of Brisbane Sings 2023, a concert held on 27 August at the Concert Hall in the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. This usually-annual event brings together choirs from all over Brisbane to form a huge (~600 member) mass choir, in addition to featuring a number of choirs in individual performances. The event was back for the first time since COVID, so we were keen to be part of the fun! Also, we had the opportunity to sing our own song on the Concert Hall stage!

Over the last couple of months, we’ve had two rehearsals with the other choirs to practice the joint songs – The Carnival Is Over/I Honestly Love You, Riversong, Let Us Rejoice and an epic Queen Medley (all your favourite Queen songs in a 9-minute arrangement)! We also had a visit during one of our own rehearsals from Craig Allister Young – composer, arranger, musical director and co-producer – to see how our preparations were going. Then, the week of the performance, we spent some time in the concert venue, at an evening rehearsal and walk-through.
 

 

Pics from our two rehearsals with the Brisbane Sings 2023 contingent

The excitement was building, and finally the day of the concert arrived! Our Sunday started with a full dress rehearsal with all the other performers, which was exciting as we finally saw the individual performances from other ensembles. We also solidified the mass songs and tested out our on-stage costume changes!
 

Then we had time for food and a wander around Southbank before heading back to the QPAC Concert Hall for the big event. It did not disappoint! There were beautiful soloists, a wide variety of choirs singing their hearts out, impactful performances by our huge mass choir, hilarious MCs, and of course we got to debut our latest song. We performed this with parody lyrics so were thrilled when the audience laughed at our jokes! It was also gratifying after the show to hear from people who loved what we put on stage.

We can’t wait to see all of the photos, particularly with the performers in our glam rock costumes (so colourful and blingy), so there will be more to come – check out our social media for updates!

Another wonderful part of Brisbane Sings is that they support a charity partner at every event, and this year’s charity partner was the Actors’ & Entertainers’ Benevolent Fund. Australian performers frequently make free appearances in support of deserving charities. When performers are in need, the Actors’ & Entertainers’ Benevolent Fund provides emergency assistance and we are proud to have done our little bit to support their amazing work. Brisbane Sings raised $9000, which was presented to the Actors’ & Entertainers’ Benevolent Fund during the concert.

Thank you to Brisbane Sings for letting us be part of this event and for putting on such an epic project year after year. And a big thanks to our Musical Director, Julie, for leading the way - and writing some very funny lyrics!

 

Top left: Waiting for the show to begin, on stage in the choir seats. Top right: Our performance! 
Bottom:  In our glam rock costumes with Craig Allister Young