The audience sat waiting, restlessly, for fifteen minutes. Then, from an uninteresting side-door, a long line of people emerged, and walked to the front. Their clothes were completely black, and each wore a bright red poppy. These were the Jubilate Singers. With them were six teenagers, five of them homeschooled. They took front-row seats as the singers opened the concert with the traditional Ukrainian New Year’s song of hope, “Shchedryk” (to the beautiful tune of ‘Carol of the Bells’). The concert was called “The Old Lie”:a phrase which refers to the words of Horace, “It is sweet and proper to die for one’s country.”
Following Shchedryk, the six teenagers who had entered the room with choir ascended the stage. Ben, Sarah, Nikita, Therese, Elizabeth, and Jacinta were announced as the senior members of GraceNotes Chorus. GraceNotes is a children’s singing group which meets in St Albans, Christchurch, each Tuesday during the school term. Rosemary Fisher directs this group and is also a member of Jubilate Singers. Rosemary has given a lifetime of service to education: preschool, primary, and secondary levels, and is passionate about empowering children to successful learning. After many years as HOD of Music (secondary), proprietor, curriculum developer, teacher and teacher mentor both in the State Education sector and in Christian Schooling, Rosemary has returned to choral music since moving back to Christchurch where she has been Chair of the NZCF Canty-West coast Branch for a number of years, Co-ordinator of the Big Sing Regionals/Nationals, and has founded the NZ Children’s Choral Academy.
Together, the Jubilate Singers and GraceNotes Chorus sang the “Boer War Te Deum”, by Arthur Sullivan, a beautiful piece written to celebrate the end of the Boer War. The voices of GraceNotes and Jubilate Singers rang throughout the cathedral as the audience watched and listened in silence. Then GraceNotes returned to their seats to listen to the rest of the concert.
Next on the programme was ‘Pro Patria’, a series of songs based on poems written during, or shortly after, World War I, and arranged and set to music by the conductor and composer, Philip Norman, of Christchurch. This work was premiered in 2015, and shows the sufferings inherent in war.
After a short interval, Jubilate Singers returned, with guests, to sing Maurice Duruflé’s “Requiem (1947)”, a piece based on traditional Gregorian Chant but overlaid with rich, impressionist textures. This work, commissioned by the Vichy Government during World War II, stands as a Requiem to all the millions who died in a conflict that was as unnecessary as it was inevitable.
The choir was joined by two choral scholars from the Royal Holloway College, University of London: James Gooding, baritone, is about to embark on a Masters thesis tracing the development of Choral Music in New Zealand, with a particular interest in that of Christchurch New Zealand. Phoebe Wakefield, a mezzo soprano, just heard three weeks ago that she has been chosen out of 145 applicants to be one of eight choral scholars studying with the Voces 8 ensemble. Phoebe was one of the soloists and sang the ‘Pie Jesu’.
The GraceNotes senior choristers are looking forward to their next invitation to sing in collaboration with Jubilate Singers.
If you are interested in further information about GraceNotes, or in joining with them to sing, please contact Rosemary Fisher at directorgnc20@gmail.com
