Praise for anthems

Spotted in the Otago Daily Times this morning (16 July) in the SMOKO column by Simon Cunliffe, he says:

"The Dunedin City Choir gave a magnificent rendition of the South African national anthem, then it was the singing mayor's turn: Peter Chin led us..."

Mmm... he seems to have forgotten to mention Claire Barton's wonderful voice, and the fact that the Choir also provided the backing for Peter Chin's singing, but never mind, this wasn't a musical review anyway.

Schubert in May 2008

Accolades for orchestra, choir

"Despite the holiday weekend and sport on TV, an extremely good-sized audience attended the town hall on Saturday evening to hear the Dunedin Youth Orchestra and the City of Dunedin Choir, conducted by David Burchell.

It was a great performance and accolades flowed, particularly for the DYO... The length and difficulty of the programme was a huge ask for these young players, who achieved an extremely commendable standard overall.
The choir, of well over 130 singers, was in good form, delivering a beautiful interpretation, despite there appearing to be insufficient male voices for a satisfactory blend. High register soprano clarity and intonation were particularly commendable.

Soloists... Lois Johnson.. Claire Barton... Andrew Grenon... Chris Bruerton... their frequent harmonic passages were perfectly balanced, refreshingly light and appealing."

(Extract from the review by Elizabeth Bouman in the Otago Daily Times of 1 June 2008.)

Performance: Franz Schubert's Mass No. 5 in A Flat, Dunedin Town Hall, 31 May 2008