Scotch College

Scotch College Symphony Ochestra and Chamber Choir European Tour

The Scotch College Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Choir recently toured Europe. Eighty-five students and staff spent four days in London and then travelled to Paris where they presented a full concert program to a very substantial audience in the Australian Embassy. From Paris the tour headed to Belgium where the boys performed in a 500- year-old church in Asse. Andrew Loh and Anthony Kung performed a lovely rendition of the Cimarosa double flute concerto with the orchestra, and the choir responded wonderfully to the acoustics of the ancient church. From Belgium the tour headed back to the UK, and to Bishop’s Stortford. The concert at Bishop’s Stortford was received by an enthusiastic packed house, with both the choir and orchestra acquitting themselves with aplomb.

From Bishop’s Stortford the tour headed to Oxfordshire where they were once again guests of Abingdon School. The boys presented two concerts in Oxfordshire – one at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford itself, and the other Abingdon School. The cathedral concert had been arranged by Clive Driskill-Smith who is the organist at Christ Church. He retains fond memories of his performance at the Inaugural Concert for the restored organ in the Memorial Hall last year. The Abingdon concert drew a very full house, and raised 700 pounds for the Tsunami Appeal.

On Monday, 24 January the group headed back to London for its final concert at Eton College. It was good to end a trip with something so very English as watching the changing of the guard at Windsor Castle and performing a concert in the magnificent Eton College Chapel. It was also rather fitting to perform the New World Symphony, having come from an even newer world than Dvorak was envisaging, and performing in one of the oldest schools in the world.

It was a substantial tour – just short of a month – and we took a large program. The choir brought a wealth of material from sacred to secular, and from a wide range of styles and eras. The orchestra’s program was very impressive, and included six concerti as well as the Colas Breugnon Overture by Dmitri Kabalevsky and the entire Symphony No. 9 by Dvorak. Oliver Blake, Peter Chandler, Henry Hedinger, Alex Hua, Andrew Loh and Anthony Kung all performed concerto solos and it was wonderful to bring much of the program back to Australia and perform it as the Inaugural Concert Series in the Ian Roach Hall in February. My thanks go to the various staff who came on the tour – Andrew Hunter (Choral Director), Nicholas Buc (Accompanist and Assistant Conductor), Peter and Gwen Krumins, Sharon Hunter, Jocelyn Pride and Jenni Allen. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the boys of the Chamber Choir and the Symphony Orchestra for the fabulous performances for the ten concerts during the tour. They were a credit to their families, to Australian performers, and to the school.

JOHN FERGUSON
Director of Music