To celebrate over ten years of community singing in the Hilltops region and beyond, the Hilltops Choir recently hosted a reunion.
The 2008 foundation musical director of the Choir of the Southern Cross, Mark Shiell, travelled from Melbourne for the occasion, which was held at the Young Services Club.
The event commenced with a powerpoint presentation capturing choral singing in the district, which brought back many cherished memories of joyful experiences many local choristers have had over the past decade.
Following dinner, guests were treated to a special item, “Shenandoah”, conducted by Hilltops Choir’s Rodney Clancy with accompanist Stewart Bruce. This song was the signature piece taught by Mark Shiell all those years ago. Mark spoke briefly about how his vision for a community choir based in Young came to fruition and how choir members grew in confidence from “Shenandoah” to a broad repertoire encompassing spiritual, classical, musicals, movies and jazz.
The evening concluded with the Hilltops Choir singing a selection of songs from their current repertoire. Some of these may be performed at the Hark Hallelujah! Concert, which will be held at St John’s Anglican Church on the Sunday afternoon of the Cherry Festival weekend.
The Hilltops Choir is a non-auditioned community choir and is always looking for new members. If you love to sing with others, head down to the Young Uniting Church hall and join in. The Choir meets on Monday evenings between 7.30pm and 9.30pm. For enquiries, please contact Secretary Tracey Clark on 0418 672 622.
