[styledbox type=”general” width=”680″ ]NEWSFLASH: Birralee Blokes won the Choir of the World at Kathaumixw Award! They also won First Prize in the Youth Choir Competition. Soloist Daniel Smerdon won First Prize in the Vocal Solo Competition (over age 25). Congratulations![/styledbox]
Visiting musical ensembles can sometimes be inspirational. From time to time, these gems drop into the lap of a community, and this was the case when the Birralee Blokes performed at the Pender Harbour School of Music as guests of the Pender Harbour Choir.
The charming young men of this choir from Brisbane, Australia sang with polished enthusiasm, amazing professionalism and impressive vocal technique. Highly acclaimed by national and international audiences, the Blokes lived up to their reputation.
Repertoire selections included folk, sacred music, show tunes, gospel, pop songs and a couple of specially commissioned pieces. In addition, they sang well-loved numbers that honour Canadian culture as well as pieces that showcase their own Australian history.
The highlight of their Canadian tour will be participating in Kathaumixw, a five day international choral festival held in Powell River. They will wrap up their tour in the days to come with concerts on Vancouver Island.
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What a wonderful afternoon of exceptional choral music! The young men’s chorus treated the audience to a mixture of Canadian, Irish, Scottish, Australian and African folk music, southern American gospel and some classical repertoire. Several excellent solos were featured, and audience participation plus a little musical theatre added to the fun! Both the choir and their director were most engaging and proud to share the strong choral traditions of Brisbane.