The Australian Rugby Choir will make its debut at the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre this Friday and Saturday, in a show which will cater to the whole family according to choir president Bob Nield.
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Although the choir began as a group of diehard rugby union fans who wanted to perform at live matches – and who have performed at every Brumbies home game since the team’s inception in 1996 – it has quickly earned international renown.
They have since performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City and at the Royal Albert Hall in London ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games, along with regular performances at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
This Friday and Saturday, the choir’s show will be under the theme of ‘Songs from Stage and Screen’. There will be a broad repertoire of numbers performed, including Nothing Like A Dame from South Pacific, You’ve Got A Friend In Me from Toy Story, Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and All I Ask Of You from Phantom of the Opera, among many other numbers on the night.
“[There will be] a huge variety of numbers, and we want to get a wider [audience],” Nield said.
“We typically have an older age group of our main supporters, but we want to attract younger people to come along.”
The choir is coming to Queanbeyan as part of a move to “stretch our legs a bit” as Nield said, in order to refresh their repertoire and their membership.
“We just wanted to try something different this year. Initially the annual concerts were a major fundraising activity to keep ourselves afloat.
“But now we’re wanting to stretch our legs a bit, a lot of the guys are getting on a bit now, some of them are in their 70’s.
“We want to try and renew our membership as well, and try and challenge our members and try and attract perhaps younger choristers as well.”
The most regular performance platforms for the choir have traditionally been their Brumbies appearances and regular appearances at National War Memorial events.
“We also sing at the War Memorial, for a number of years we sung at the Dawn Service and the National Service,” Nield said.
“We still sing at wreath-laying ceremonies at the War Memorial.”
Their commitments with the War Memorial are due to a number of members who have military histories, Nield explained.
Tickets for the performances at the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre are still available through theq.net.au, or by calling 6285 6290.
The performances will begin from 8.00pm on Friday November 23 and 2.00pm for the Saturday November 24 matinee.
