In July, the Australian Chamber Choir takes off on its eighth concert tour of Europe.
A group of Friends is invited to travel with the Choir through Belgium, Germany, Austria and Italy.
Founding Director, Douglas Lawrence, a veteran of eighteen such tours, explains “There is something powerful about making friends with people when you’re in their country. It’s been a great pleasure to be able to tour with students and young professional singers, some of whom are overseas for the first time. From the start, we thought it would be wonderful to share this experience with a wider group”. On the last three tours, a small group of Friends has travelled with the Choir. “We had no idea how rewarding it would be, both for the singers and for the Friends”.
Return invitations to sing in the cathedrals of Bonn and Berlin and to appear as special guests in the International Organ Festivals of Flanders and Darmstadt are testament to the choir’s reputation.
“Quite simply phenomenal” General Anzeiger Bonn (Bonn Daily News), Germany
“Australian Choir in Super League” Dagbladet (Daily Paper), Denmark
Why does the ACC attract such comments? “There’s something that comes across in their singing,” says Douglas. “Maybe it’s the joy of being on a journey with like-minded people. Audiences everywhere can hear joy.”
The Friends group will join the ACC for the 16-day journey from Bruges (known as the Venice of the North, due to its network of canals), to Venice. They’ll hear three different concert programs over six concerts and two church services (Berlin Cathedral and St Mark’s Venice). They’ll enjoy meals, post-concert celebrations and sight-seeing with the choir, beginning with a canal boat ride in Bruges.
A special optional feature is the Friendly Choir (pictured), where Douglas Lawrence, ACC singers and Friends sing together just for fun.
A Friendly Choir session in the Spitalkirche, Nördlingen, 2015
Sometimes it’s the smaller places that capture the imagination: Nördlingen (pictured) is a ‘Free City’ of the Middle Ages, situated in Bavaria and surrounded by a 14th century wall. In perfect medieval symmetry, St George’s Church, where the Choir performs, is situated at the exact centre, and is the tallest building in town.
Nördlingen, Bavaria
The tour culminates in Venice, where the ACC is joined by the period instrument orchestra of the Benedetto Marcello Conservatorium. Together, in the Baroque splendour of the Pisani Palace, they will present the first performance in three hundred years of a cantata, written by Agatha della Pietà. Born without the fingers of her left hand, Agatha was abandoned to the Venetian orphanage known as the Ospedale della Pietà. Here she benefited from an excellent music education, overseen by Antonio Vivaldi. In 2022 the ACC premiered Agatha’s cantata in five concerts around Victoria and four more will take place in April/May this year. During the Venetian premiere, the ACC will hand over the completed work to the Benedetto Marcello Library, where the incomplete manuscript parts reside. Aptly, the premiere will be followed by a Venetian festa, with pro secco and antipasti!
Agatha’s Cantata, violin I, page 1, Benedetto Marcello Library, Venice
You are invited to travel with the Australian Chamber Choir for 16 days in July on their concert tour of Europe. Register your your interest now!
More about the European tour here >>
The ACC’s first concert program for 2024 is entitled ‘Transports of Delight’
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