Brisbane Birralee Voices

Voices of Birralee is a children’s community choir organization that has performed at venues around the world. Voices of Birralee is based in Brisbane, Australia. It gives young people the opportunity to participate in an internationally regarded community choir.

The choir was founded in 1995 by Julie Christiansen OAM. It now has around 500 members from Queensland. The choirs sing Australian and international repertoire and rehearse once a week. Entry to the choirs is auditioned.

The organization has released ten CDs: 'So Far' (Resonance only), 'Towards Infinity' (Blokes only), 'Sing We Now of Christmas', 'Among Friends', 'World Full of Colour', 'Can You Hear Me?', 'Within Reach!', 'Come To The Music', 'A Live Anniversary Concert' (2005) and 'Walls Come Tumblin' Down' (Blokes only).

Participation

Julie Christiansen is the organisation's artistic director. She has been a conductor for over 25 years and chose to start the then "Brisbane Birralee Voices" to allow gifted singers in Southeast Queensland to perform to their full potential. The organisation runs six choirs, although there are two of each of the three younger ones, who rehearse on different days, and come together for performances. Each member is placed in a choir according to age and skill after an audition. The choirs are named The Birralee Piccolos, The Birralee Kids, The Birralee Singers, Brisbane Birralee Voices, The Birralee Blokes and Resonance of Birralee.

Voices of Birralee has a number of conductors for its choirs, including Julie Christiansen OAM (Brisbane Birralee Voices & Birralee Singers), Paul Holley OAM (Birralee Blokes & Resonance of Birralee), Jennifer Moon (Assistant Conductor - Brisbane Birralee Voices), Peter Ingram (Birralee Recycled), Kate Thompson (Birralee Kids & Assistant Conductor - Birralee Blokes), Katherine Ruhle (Birralee Piccolos), and Clare Finlayson (Assistant Conductor - Birralee Singers).[1][2]

Accompanists include Justine Favell, Brendan Murtagh, Claire Preston and Kate Littlewood.[1][2]

The Birralee Blokes, directed by Paul Holley, is the choir for men or boys whose voices have changed and allows young men to continue singing through this change. The Birralee Blokes won the ABC Choir of the Year 2006, and Choir of the World in the Powell River International Choral Kathaumixw in 2012.

Performances

The choirs have performed at events such as World Vision International Children’s Choir Festival 2004–Korea. At this event the choir was shown on free-to-air television once a day for a seven-day period. At this event the choir was invited, along with choirs from around the world, to represent Australia and the South Pacific. In 2005 the choir performed at the Pacific International Children’s Choir, or Piccfest, being the guest choir.

Other venues the choir has performed at are the Cathedral of St Stephen, Brisbane's Concert Series, hosting the Dresden Philharmonic Kinderchor, An Evening with President Clinton, Australian of the Year Awards, World of Children's Choirs International Festival - Vancouver, Brisbane City Council Carols in King George Square and Brisbane Riverstage, Brisbane Lord Mayor's Christmas Carols, with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra at BCEC, QPAC and other venues, at the Old Museum, Government House, City Hall and many venues in and around Brisbane. Choristers from Voices of Birralee also performed at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games held on the Gold Coast, Qld, in 2018.

Awards

  • The Birralee Blokes won the ABC Classic FM Choir of the Year award in 2006.[3]
  • Brisbane Birralee Voices won all six categories in the annual Winter Sonata, in Prague, 2010.
  • The Birralee Blokes won Choir of the World in the Powell River International Choral Kathaumixw in 2012.

Tours

The choirs have toured to locations including the United States of America, Canada, Singapore, Korea, Tasmania, New Zealand, England, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic and Italy. Brisbane Birralee Voices, with director Julie Christiansen, is the organization's most renowned vocal group. This choir tours every two years. In 2005 they performed at Piccfest and in 2006 they participated in Songs of Sanctuary (Karl Jenkins) in Melbourne during the Commonwealth Games.

In 2014, Voices of Birralee commenced a 5 year contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide choral music to the centenary commemorations of World War 1 on the Western Front in France and Belgium. This commitment involved over 200 singers during the course of the contract, with the organization mounting 2 and 3 tours per year. To mark the significance of this commemoration, Voices of Birralee commissioned new repertoire, some of which was celebrated in the "Poppies and Poems" concert at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) in Brisbane on 2nd September 2018.

References

  1. 1 2 "Artistic Team - Voices of Birralee". www.birralee.org. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  2. 1 2 "Artistic Team - Voices of Birralee". 2017-02-01. Archived from the original on 2017-02-01. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  3. ↑ 1962-, Harrison, Scott D. (Scott David), (2009-01-01). Male voices : stories of boys learning through making music. ACER Press. ISBN 9780864319524. OCLC 430960304.
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