Help Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir shine in Vienna
Announcement posted by Access Public Relations 22 Feb 2017
The leader in Australian choral performance, Gondwana Choirs will host a special dinner to raise much-needed funds to take
23 talented young singers from Cairns to Austria to perform with the world-famous Vienna Boys Choir in May.
The Cairns Philanthropy Dinner will be held at the Cairns Pullman International on Tuesday, 14 March from 6:30pm for a
buffet meal, drinks, a silent auction and a spectacular live performance by the Cairns Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir.
All proceeds raised will go towards the Vienna-Cairns-Sydney Project – a world-first collaboration between two internationally
renowned children’s choirs: Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir and the Vienna Boys Choir (Wiener Sängerknaben).
The iconic choirs will collaborate throughout 2017, with the project including the creation of a new musical composition based
on traditional Indigenous stories from the Cairns region, to be performed by the two ensembles together in Cairns and Sydney in October.
Gondwana Choirs Founder and Artistic Director Lyn Williams OAM says the project will bring the two world-class ensembles together for a special cross-cultural exchange that will bridge the rich and diverse cultural heritage through a shared love of singing and performance.
“We are enormously excited to announce this unique project and trip to the world capital of music,which is sure to be a life-changing experience for our talented young Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander choristers aged 10 to 17 – many who have never before travelled overseas,” said Williams.
In May, Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir will travel to Vienna, Austria to rehearse with the Vienna Boys Choir for the first time and to perform in its esteemed venue, the MuTh. The choir will also travel to Frankfurt, Germany and Maribor, Slovenia, for rehearsals and collaborative performances with The European School Frankfurt and Carmina Slovenika.
In October, the Vienna Boys Choir travel to Sydney for final rehearsals with Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir, and the
extended massed choirs of the Sydney Children’s Choir and Gondwana National Choirs. Together they will perform at the
Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on Tuesday, 10 October before travelling to Cairns for further rehearsals and a combined
performance for the local community at the Cairns Convention Centre on Friday, 13 October. Tickets on sale soon.
Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir is offered at no cost to the talented young people selected to participate, supported
by Principal Partner Rio Tinto, and substantial additional fundraising is already underway to make this project possible. The
Vienna-Cairns-Sydney project is presented in partnership with the Austrian National Tourist Office and the Vienna Tourist Board and proudly supported by events partner, Accor Hotels and TicketSocket. A Plus 1 Funding grant has been awarded from Creative Partnerships Australia, where each individual donation will be matched by CPA up to $50,000, effectively doubling each contribution.
“We are calling on the local business community and broader community in Cairns to join us at this special event to help us put Cairns on the world stage by making this exceptional opportunity a reality for our dedicated young singers,” said Williams.
Tickets to the Gondwana Cairns Philanthropy Dinner are now on sale for $100 per adult, $40 for school-aged children. For
more information or to purchase tickets or make a tax-deductable donation, please visit gondwana.org.au/special-projects/vienna-cairns-sydney
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For media enquiries please contact:
Sarah Shields, Access PR | 02 9292 7007 | +61 408 283 091 | sarah@accesspr.com.au
About Gondwana Choirs
Gondwana Choirs is the leader in Australian choral performance, shaping the Australian sound through the creation and
presentation of innovative new work, and providing opportunities to all talented young Australians aged 10 to 26 through
world-class training by leading artists. Founded in 1989, Gondwana Choirs comprises the most accomplished choral groups
of young people in Australia and has three distinct arms: The Sydney Children’s Choir, Gondwana National Choirs and
Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir. Awarded the APRA/AMCOS award for Excellence by an Organisation for its 2014
Artistic Program and significant contribution to Australian music since 1989. gondwana.org.au
NOTES TO EDITORS
EVENT OVERVIEW
Event: Cairns Philanthropy Dinner
Date/Time: Tuesday, 14 March 2017 at 6.30pm-10:30pm
Location: Pullman Cairns International, 17 Abbott Street, Cairns QLD
Tickets: $100 full; $40 child (school-age); corporate packages available
URL: https://tickets.gondwana.org.au/event/cairns
PROJECT TIMELINE
JANUARY
- Gondwana Choirs received grant from Cairns Regional Council to commission a new work for the combined choirs based on a dreaming story of the Yidinji nation. Australian composer Owen Elsley collaborated with Yidinji elder Gudju Gudju Fourmile.
14 MARCH: CAIRNS
- Cairns Philanthropic Dinner, Pullman Cairns International.
MAY: FRANKFURT – MARIBOR – VIENNA
- Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir (GICC) flies from Cairns to Frankfurt for workshops and performances with The European School Frankfurt
- GICC travels from Frankfurt to Maribor, Slovenia, for collaborative performances with Carmina, Slovenika
- GICC travels to Vienna for rehearsals with the Vienna Boys Choir (VBC) and explore Vienna. New work by Owen Elsley rehearsed in Vienna
- GICC to perform at the MuTh, the esteemed home venue of VBC
OCTOBER: SYDNEY
- GICC and VBC arrive in Sydney for intensive rehearsal period with massed Gondwana Choirs’ ensembles
- Performance/collaborations with the Austrian Consulate General and the Austrian Trade Commission
- Gala performance in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House, Tuesday, 10 October
OCTOBER: CAIRNS
- GICC and VBC travel to Cairns for final rehearsal period and time on country with local indigenous leaders
- Exclusive performance by both ensembles at Cairns Convention Centre, Friday, 13 October