A personal view from the artistic director of the Moorambilla festival about the Regional Children’s Choir 2007.

The Regional Children’s Choir aspect of the Moorambilla festival is for me the single most important musical and social thing I perhaps will ever do. It allows children from the region I grew up in to work collaboratively to pursue an artistic goal. They are chosen on capacity alone and are stretched and extended musically to forge a new and meaningful body of choral work written especially for them, for this festival. They have the opportunity to work with musicians and composers of the highest calibre – all in Baradine and Coonamble! It is now in its second year – with 150 children!

This is a group of children that normally would have few opportunities to get together. The opportunities for the friendships and respect across such a broad range of life experiences cannot be underestimated. Our huge scholarship program created a level playing field for participants which socially was just so important. However having your peers recognise that you have ‘it’ is perhaps the most satisfying thing of all. In my opinion nothing builds self-esteem more than this and a success that has been worked for.  And they worked hard. The choir’s pride in the final product, and the pride of their parents, community members and teachers was just amazing – and they knew they deserved all the accolades and standing ovations they got this year.

It has really only been 12 months between the very first regional residency for the boys in 2007 and this year’s boys and girls extravaganza. We have grown from 48 boys to 65 boys and 85 girls, auditioned from over 1600 children. The change in attitude of the teachers, community members and the children themselves to the project has been nothing short of amazing – the audition process was light years easier this year. The boys who completed this year as their second year showed obvious skill development, both chorally, with their pitch, quality of tone and memorising, and most notably in their ability to lead, mentor and perform to a standard that benchmarked the level that the new kids needed to get to. The girls too showed their capacity to be ‘heard’ metaphorically and literally, and the sense of positive competition between the sexes was healthy, real, and vibrant, forging a wonderful choral sound and energy in the performances.

I truly believe that the arts and choral singing in particular will be the catalyst for positive social change in this region, and I for one plan to give all those able to participate the opportunity to experience the unique social, and intensely creative environment this choir offers. We will be auditioning right out to Broken Hill in 2008, and are planning to extend the choirs to include not only primary boys and girls choir, but also a youth choir for children in years 7 – 9.

But how do you explain to someone who wasn’t there what it feels like to stand in front of a choir of women and girls from some of the most remote towns in the state, 130 strong, literally letting their hair down in the final piece of a suite written especially for them for the festival? Words fail to adequately describe their rush of adrenalin, and sheer ‘girl-power’ energy pulsing through the 600 audience members when they first came in with the lanterns, singing in parts. Perhaps the only response left was the automatic standing ovation they received at the end of the concert - of all-Australian music! Their performance of this work by Dan Walker articulated so well the shape our lives take because of our mothers’ influence, the power of friendships and the importance of positive self-esteem in our young women.

Did I mention the lanterns? The beautiful candle-lit egg shapes and nests, made by the community with the help of Light’n Up for the parade with the shape of every participant’s hand placed on them in the colours of the vast sunsets from home. The procession of lanterns at dusk from the peace tree was just magic, and a tangible reminder of the power of communities working together – something the audience members from the entire region saw so powerfully, as all the women and girls sang as one on the stage with the orb of two massive glowing eggs behind them, and the indigenous basket weaving and bird sculptures created by Louise Marne.

Oh and that was just the girls! My boys created the most intensely moving atmosphere when they sang with the men in concert on the Saturday lunchtime – there was not a dry eye in the house (they didn’t believe me when I told them this could happen if they performed well in rehearsals!). There is something unique about the quality of a boy’s voice before it changes, and watching them look up to the men whose voices had changed made me realise how important that role modelling is. Last year’s commissioned work looked so well at the male life cycle from boyhood to leaving home, and the distance between father and son. All that could possibly follow in performance was a farm yard symphony!

Plough bits, bullock bells and broomsticks in between - the concentration and raw energy that the boys delivered in that final piece was palpable. All of the ‘instruments’ were created from things found on property dumps in Baradine during the camp. As you can appreciate getting 65 primary aged boys to hit things is easy…but in time? With at least three different parts going at once? As a cohesive performance of ten minutes? The rhythmic unison of broomsticks hit on a wooden floor literally lifted the roof in the finale. How refreshing to see boys showing musical tenderness and strength in public.

These things don’t happen without a dedicated team of regional volunteers and local support on every level. Without the support of festivals Australia and DCITA the outstanding team of musicians and tutors would not have been possible. I say a heartfelt thank you on behalf of all those involved.

Moorambilla is planning to rewrite the logo, I think. Not Sing for Life, but Singing IS Life.

www.moorambilla.com