Fine singing by N.S.W. children

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33942, 8 September 1975, Page 14

Fine singing by N.S.W. children

Last evening in Christ- < church Cathedral a children’s choir of 68 perform- [ ers, ranging in age from eight to 18, gave perform- ■ ances remarkable for precision, accuracy in mem- ; ory, and in establishing rapport with their audience.

Captain Rex Harris, of the Church Army, is their trainer and director, and the children come from the parish of St Mark, Green Valley, New South Wales, a new housing district, near Sydney. It is as astonishing as it is praiseworthy that Captain Harris should have been able to establish, within one parish’s boundaries, such expertise among young people, and give them such excellent social service. There was spontaneity, enthusiasm. excellent rhythmic verve, and an ordered discipline which enabled the young performers to use a very small stage without crowding one another.

They began with selections from “Godspell,” and were accompanied bv a piano, drums, and guitars, played with good cohesion and keeping reasonable balance with the voices. Such music demands a special tvpe of

’Voice production, and the performers were able to [achieve it. i One has some reservations ■ and apprehension about what this type of singing will I eventually do to young and ’developing voices. It is to be [regretted that so much of this type of performance

seems to demand copying of Negro vowels and consonants. Such copying generally [involves inexpert reproduction and exaggeration, and j the result has deleterious : effect upon clarity, and upon the language generally. After a few items from the [choir’s general repertoire, a performance was given of [“lt’s Cool in the Furnace,” a modern musical telling the [ story of Nebuchadnezzar’s casting of the Three Holy Children into a fiery furnace for not obeying his order to bow to the idol he had put up in the market place. This was competently performed, the cast showing excellent memory, ordered and precise movement in a re-

stricted place, and remarkably good precision in that thev had to sing with a recorded accompaniment. This >s difficult, for the slightest hesitation could cause a ? devastating collapse. —C.F.B.