Or, Not-So-Young Melbourne Composers III (6 years on)The previous installments of this concert undertaking were covered
here, at length (2007) and in brief here (2004,
before and
after).
Before too long, ROCS will rack up its fiftieth world première of a new choral composition; it’s getting hard to keep track of every piece they’ve performed. A fortnight tonight, ROCS will be adding another ten or so new pieces to the
list in a concert entitled, “All things counter, original”.
This represents a substantial commitment to providing a voice to local choral composers, who may be found lurking in the ranks of many choirs near you, and whose own original works would otherwise go unheard in the general scheme of Serious Choirs™ performing Old, Frequently-Heard Works in Concert™ by Dead White European Males™ – despite the obvious generalisation, this is often true of many choral concerts. As such, these occasional ROCS concerts devoted to new pieces deserve enthusiastic support from the AICSA community in recognition of the creative endeavour found among its own members.
Which is why it pains me to say, I am perturbed and worried that this particular 2010 version will not do justice to the works that have been diligently worked on and submitted by eight composers. In this respect the current concert seems little different to the conditions ROCS suffered under in 2007, where the choir numbers gradually petered out owing to various factors such as a lack of confidence – the bane of small choirs at the level of sub-critical mass of numbers. (What
is it about members of choirs who attend every rehearsal, but drop out just before a concert?) I think it’s safe to predict some of the pieces will almost certainly
not be performed to anything like the composer’s desired intentions – as happened in 2007 during my watch as conductor.
What is to be done?If I might make an impertinent suggestion (seeing as I have no other organisational rôle in the concert, except for turning up and singing whatever I’m asked to):
ROCS is in desperate need of very good sight-readers who can offer their services for the next two Thursdays, and Friday 22.Given the difficulties of the undertaking, I would guess that Mark Tosolini and Sandra Uitdenbogerd would only be too glad to hear from you, if you can offer any assistance at this late stage.
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