Author: Niki

Anniversaries (2009)

Saturday, 7 November 2009, 8 pm
Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew

Subscription Concert 4

Four diverse composers are here thrown together by the accident of their dates of birth or death. 2009 commemorates the 400th anniversary of Croce’s death, the 350th anniversary of Purcell’s birth, the 200th anniversary of Haydn’s death, and the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth. The result is a program spanning some two and a half centuries, giving us tastes of the Late Renaissance, High Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras.

PROGRAM

Henry Purcell Remember not, Lord, our Offences
Henry Purcell I was Glad
Henry Purcell Hear my Prayer, O Lord
Joseph Haydn Die Heiligen Zehn Gebote als Canons
Giovanni Croce Laudans exsultet gaudio
Giovanni Croce Anima mea liquefacta est
Giovanni Croce Regina caeli laetare
Giovanni Croce Quaeramus cum pastoribus
Felix Mendelssohn Drei Psalmen, Opus 78
1. ‘Warum toben die Heiden’ (Ps 2)
2. ‘Richte mich, Gott’ (Ps 43)
2. ‘Mein Gott, warum’ (Ps 22)
Felix Mendelssohn Sechs Sprüche, Opus 79
1. ‘Weihnachten’
2.  ‘Am Neujahrstage’
3. ‘Am Himmelfahrstage’
4. ‘In der Passionszeit’
5. ‘Im Advent’
6. ‘Am Charfreitage’
Felix Mendelssohn Three Motets, Opus 69
1. ‘Nunc dimittis’
2. ‘Jubilate Deo’
3. ‘Magnificat’

SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS
Deborah Summerbell Belinda Wong Peter Campbell Julien Robinson
Carol Veldhoven Jennifer Mathers Tim van Nooten Kieran Rowe
Fiona Seers Rebecca Woods Matthew Thomson Chris Potter
Maria Pisani Gowri Rajendran Daniel Thomson Alistair Clark
Claerwen Jones
Kathryn Pisani

2009 North American Tour Itinerary (2009)

Ensemble Gombert North American Tour 19 Sep – 5 Oct 2009

Singers
Soprano: Deborah Summerbell, Carol Veldhoven, Claerwen Jones, Maria Pisani, Kathryn Pisani
Alto: Belinda Wong, Niki Ebacioni, Rebecca Woods
Tenor: Peter Campbell, Tim Van Nooten, Vaughan McAlley
Bass: Kieran Rowe, Chris Potter, Andrew Fysh
Director: John O’Donnell
Tour Manager: Julie Drummond
Tour Extras: Tony McCarthy, Marshall Barker, Suzie Byrne, Jacky Ogeil, Arianna O’Donnell
Tour Committee: Fiona Seers, Julie Drummond, Niki Ebacioni, Claerwen Jones, Vaughan McAlley, Maria Pisani, Peter Campbell

SEPTEMBER Sat 19 0830 Check-in Tullamarine Airport, International Terminal
1120 Melbourne – Sydney (1 Hour 25 Mins) UA 840
1445 Sydney – San Francisco (13 hours 26 mins) UA 870
1111 Arrive San Francisco San Francisco Airport, International Terminal
Shuttle to hotel Grant Hotel, San Francisco

Sun 20 1330 Rehearsal Grace Cathedral
1500 Evensong Grace Cathedral
O/N Grant Hotel, San Francisco

Mon 21 Free Day
O/N Grant Hotel, San Francisco

Tue 22 1100 Check-out and meet in foyer Grant Hotel, San Francisco
1133 “BART” train: San Francisco – Millbrae Powell St BART Station
1300 Hotel check-in Travelodge SF Airport, Millbrae
1355 Caltrain: Millbrae – Palo Alto Millbrae Station
1700 Rehearsal Memorial Church, Stanford University, Palo Alto
2000-2115 Concert Stanford Memorial Church
2201 Caltrain: Palo Alto – Millbrae Palo Alto Transit Centre
2233 Arr Millbrae Station
O/N Travelodge SF Airport, Millbrae

Wed 23 0700 Shuttle to Airport
0730 Check-in San Francisco Airport, Terminal 3
0850 San Francisco – Chicago (4 hours 4 mins) UA 134
1555 Chicago – Detroit (1 hour 19 mins) UA 106
1814 Arrive Detroit Detroit Metro Airport, Terminal N
1845 Meet Robert Q Shuttle Detroit Metro Airport
2015 Arrive Windsor All Saints’ Anglican Church, Windsor
O/N Billets Windsor

Thu 24 1800 Rehearsal All Saints’ Anglican Church
1930 Concert Windsor All Saints’ Anglican Church
2130 Dinner with hosts Mick’s Irish Pub, 28 Chatham St E, Windsor
O/N Billets Windsor
Fri 25 0730 Meet Coach North end Ouellette Ave, Dieppe Park, Windsor
0800 Windsor – London
1100 Rehearsal Recital Hall, University of Western Ontario, London
1230-1320 Concert London University of Western Ontario, London
1430-1520 2nd Year Conducting Lecture London UWO, London
1600 Coach London – Guelph (via Stratford) Sightseeing, Stratford
2100 Arr Guelph – meet billets Harcourt Memorial Church, Guelph
O/N Billets Guelph

Sat 26 1200-1400 Rehearsal (with Guelph Chamber Choir) St Georges Anglican Church, Guelph
1400 Walking Tour Guelph
1630 Pre concert dinner with billets
2000 Concert Guelph (with Guelph Chamber Choir) St Georges Anglican Church, Guelph
O/N Billets Guelph

Sun 27 0800 Meet Coach Harcourt Memorial Church, Guelph
0830 Guelph – Toronto
1000 Rehearsal Metropolitan United Church, Toronto
1100 Service Toronto (sing from 1035) Metropolitan United Church Church, Toronto
1200 Coach to hotel & check-in Delta Chelsea Hotel, Toronto
1400-1500 Concert Toronto MU Church, Toronto
O/N Hotel Delta Chelsea Hotel, Toronto

Mon 28 Free Day
O/N Hotel Delta Chelsea Hotel, Toronto

Tue 29 0800 Toronto – Niagara Falls
1430 Niagara Falls – Rochester
1700 Rehearsal St Marys, Rochester
1745 Dinner at church St Marys, Rochester
1845 Meet billets St Marys, Rochester
1930 Concert Rochester St Marys Catholic Church, Rochester New York
O/N Billets Rochester
Wed 30 0845 Meet Coach St Marys, Rochester
0900 Rochester – Worcester Massachusetts
1600ish Arrive Worcester
O/N Hotel Crowne Plaza, Worcester
OCTOBER 0900 Coach to Boston (sightseeing)
Thu 1 1500 Boston – Worcester
1800 Rehearsal College of the Holy Cross, Worcester MA
1900-2000 Concert College of the Holy Cross, Worcester Massachusetts 
Dinner with hosts College of the Holy Cross, Worcester
2145 Coach to hotel
O/N Hotel Crowne Plaza, Worcester

Fri 2 0830 Coach to College of the Holy Cross
0900-1100 Seminar College of the Holy Cross, Worcester
1130 Worcester – Old Saybrook
1800 Rehearsal St Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Old Saybrook
1930 Concert Old Saybrook St Paul ELC
Dinner with hosts
O/N Billets Old Saybrook

Sat 3 1100 Meet Coach St Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Old Saybrook
1115 Old Saybrook – New Canaan
1300 Rehearsal First Presbyterian Church, New Canaan
1630 Meet at Concert Venue First Presbyterian Church, New Canaan
1700 Concert New Canaan First Presbyterian Church, New Canaan
1900 New Canaan – New York
O/N Hotel Hotel Grand Union, New York

Sun 4 1400 Rehearsal Church of the Transfiguration, New York
1500-1615 Concert New York Church of the Transfiguration
2000 End of Tour Dinner Heartland Brewery, Empire State (350 5th Ave)
O/N Hotel Hotel Grand Union, New York

Mon 5 1100 Check-out of hotel Hotel Grand Union, NY
1315 (TBC) Shuttle to airport
1430 Check-in JFK Airport, Terminal 7
1755 New York – Los Angeles (6 hours 16 mins) UA 25
2235 Los Angeles – Melbourne (18 hours 5 mins) UA 839

Tue 6 Lost Day (No Birthday, JO’D!)

Wed 7 1040 Arrive Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, Terminal 2

Tour repertoire: 2009 North American tour (2009)

Ensemble Gombert North American Tour 19 Sep – 5 Oct 2009
Singers
Soprano: Deborah Summerbell, Carol Veldhoven, Claerwen Jones, Maria Pisani, Kathryn Pisani
Alto: Belinda Wong, Niki Ebacioni, Rebecca Woods
Tenor: Peter Campbell, Tim Van Nooten, Vaughan McAlley
Bass: Kieran Rowe, Chris Potter, Andrew Fysh

Stanford, New York

Elliott Carter                                       Musicians wrestle everywhere

Josquin Desprez                                Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria

Jean Mouton                                      Quis dabit oculis nostris

Nicolas Gombert                                Hodie nobis caelorum Rex

Thomas Tallis                                     Loquebantur variis linguis

Clemens non Papa                             O magnum mysterium

Morten Lauridsen                               O magnum mysterium

Vaughan McAlley                               In principio erat verbum

Peter Campbell                                  Sunrise on the Coast

Johann Sebastian Bach                      Jesu, meine Freude

Windsor

Healey Willan                            3 Motets in the Honour of Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary

Josquin Desprez                       Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria

Jean Mouton                             Quis dabit oculis nostris

Nicolas Gombert                       Hodie nobis caelorum Rex

Clemens non Papa                    O magnum mysterium

Morten Lauridsen                       O magnum mysterium

Vaughan McAlley                      In principio erat verbum

Peter Campbell                           Sunrise on the Coast

Calvin Bowman                         Death, be not proud

Johann Sebastian Bach             Jesu, meine Freude

London

 

Healey Willan                                     3 Motets in the Honour of Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary

Josquin Desprez                                Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria

Nicolas Gombert                                Hodie nobis caelorum Rex

Clemens non Papa                             O magnum mysterium

Thomas Tallis                                     Loquebantur variis linguis

Vaughan McAlley                               In principio erat verbum

Peter Campbell                                  Sunrise on the Coast

Calvin Bowman                                  Death, be not proud

Guelph

 

Healey Willan                                     3 Motets in the Honour of Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary

Josquin Desprez                                Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria

Jean Mouton                                      Quis dabit oculis nostris

Thomas Tallis                                     Loquebantur variis linguis

Clemens non Papa                             O magnum mysterium

Morten Lauridsen                               O magnum mysterium

Vaughan McAlley                               In principio erat verbum

Peter Campbell                                  Sunrise on the Coast

Intermission

Calvin Bowman                                  Death, be not proud

Philippe de Monte                              Super flumina Babylonis (combined with Guelph Ch Choir)

William Byrd                                      Quomodo cantabimus (combined with Guelph Chamber Choir)

Toronto

 

Healey Willan                                     3 Motets in the Honour of Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary

Josquin Desprez                                Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria

Jean Mouton                                      Quis dabit oculis nostris

Nicolas Gombert                                Hodie nobis caelorum Rex

Clemens non Papa                             O magnum mysterium

Vaughan McAlley                               In principio erat verbum

Peter Campbell                                  Sunrise on the Coast

Johann Sebastian Bach                      Jesu, meine Freude

Worcester

Elliott Carter                                       Musicians wrestle everywhere

Josquin Desprez                                Ave Maria…virgo serena

Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria

Jean Mouton                                      Quis dabit oculis nostris

Nicolas Gombert                                Hodie nobis caelorum Rex

Clemens non Papa                             O magnum mysterium

Morten Lauridsen                               O magnum mysterium

Vaughan McAlley                               In principio erat verbum

Peter Campbell                                  Sunrise on the Coast

Johann Sebastian Bach                     Jesu, meine Freude

Rochester, New Canaan, Old Saybrook

 

Elliott Carter                                       Musicians wrestle everywhere

Josquin Desprez                                Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria

Jean Mouton                                      Quis dabit oculis nostris

Nicolas Gombert                                Hodie nobis caelorum Rex

Clemens non Papa                             O magnum mysterium

Morten Lauridsen                               O magnum mysterium

Vaughan McAlley                               In principio erat verbum

Peter Campbell                                  Sunrise on the Coast

Intermission

Calvin Bowman                                  Death, be not proud

Johann Sebastian Bach                      Jesu, meine Freude

 

Voices of our Time (2009)

Saturday, 12 September 2009, 8 pm
Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew

Subscription Concert 3

With Barber, Carter and Lauridsen we make our first foray into American music. Barber’s wonderful 1938 setting of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ God’s Grandeur naturally invites comparison with Kenneth Leighton’s 1957 setting of the same poem, while Britten’s Hymn to St. Cecilia has been a long-standing request. The second half of the program features works by members of Ensemble Gombert, past and present.


PROGRAM

Elliott Carter Musicians Wrestle Everywhere
Morten Lauridsen O magnum mysterium
Samuel Barber God’s Grandeur
Kenneth Leighton God’s Grandeur
Benjamin Britten Hymn to St Cecilia
Peter Campbell Sunrise on the Coast [World première]
Vaughan McAlley In principio erat verbum [World première]
Vaughan McAlley Veritas de terra orta est [World première]
Calvin Bowman Missa Vexilla regis [World première] *

* Writing of this work was assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council.

SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS
Deborah Summerbell Belinda Wong Peter Campbell Julien Robinson
Carol Veldhoven Jenny George Tim van Nooten Kieran Rowe
Fiona Seers Niki Ebacioni Vaughan McAlley Chris Potter
Maria Pisani Rebecca Woods Stuart Tennant Alistair Clark
Claerwen Jones
Kathryn Pisani

 

REVIEW

Monday, 14 September 2009, The Age [Melbourne], page 14.
New is old as exemplary choir sings premieres
Clive O’Connell

It all depends on what you mean by “our time”, but the most recently written segments of the Ensemble
Gombert’s latest subscription recital sounded noticeably old-fashioned, if not antique.
After offering a small selection of American and British works, John O’Donnell and his exemplary choir sang
world premieres of short pieces by two of the Gombert tenor personnel.
First was Peter Campbell’s staid, only slightly adventurous Sunrise on the Coast, a setting of an A. B.
Paterson lyric; then came Vaughan McAlley’s responses to two Latin liturgical texts written in a vocabulary
recalling Renaissance masters and the Gabrielis’ Venice.
Calvin Bowman’s new Missa Vexilla regis uses parts of the eponymous plainchant and moves rapidly
through the familiar texts with a pleasure in candid sonorities, spiced by unexpected sideways harmonic
moves. Like his Australian colleagues on this night, Bowman avoids grinding dissonances, making this new
mass easy to assimilate.
The most contemporary-sounding music came in centenarian Elliott Carter’s Musicians Wrestle Everywhere,
a bristling 1945 mesh of polyphonic devices, against which Britten’s almost contemporary Hymn to St Cecilia
sounded tame, if rather rushed in this performance.
But the most affecting music-making emerged during two juxtaposed settings of the Hopkins sonnet God’s
Grandeur by Samuel Barber and Kenneth Leighton: similar but individual, sung with evenly spread
accomplishment right through to their spell-binding final bars.
Clive O’Connell/Courtesy of The Age

 

Music for a King (2009)

Saturday, 6 June 2009, 8pm
Sunday, 7 June 2009, 8pm
St Ambrose Church, Woodend

Woodend Winter Arts Festival

PROGRAM

George Frideric Handel Music for the Royal Fireworks
George Frideric Handel Coronation Anthems
1. ‘The King shall Rejoice
2. ‘My Heart is Inditing’
3. ‘Let thy Hand be Strengthened’
4. ‘Zadok the Priest’

SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS
Deborah Summerbell Jennifer Mathers Tim van Nooten Kieran Rowe
Carol Veldhoven Belinda Wong Vaughan McAlley Samuel Allchurch
Fiona Seers Peter Campbell Stuart Tennant Tim Daly
Claerwen Jones Rebecca Woods Chris Potter
Maria Pisani Niki Ebacioni
Kathryn Pisani Helen Hughson

–
Accademia Arcadia
John O’Donnell – conductor

Victimae paschali: Music for Eastertide (2009)

Saturday, 9 May 2009, 8 pm
Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew

Subscription Concert 2

Following three years of Passiontide observance we turn our attention this year to a High Renaissance Easter celebration. This is also our first concert in three years to feature music by Nicolas Gombert. In addition to three of his motets, including the twelve voice Regina caeli laetare that has been one of our signature pieces over the years, we are singing the great six-voice Easter Mass, whose final Agnus Dei also ventures into twelve parts.


PROGRAM

Heinrich Isaac Resurrexi
Jean Mouton Nos qui vivimus/In exitu
Gregorian chant Victimae paschali laudes
Adrian Willaert Victimae paschali laudes
Jean Richafort Christus resurgens
Mozarabic chant Gaudete populi
Cristóbal de Morales Christus resurgens
Nicolas Gombert Haec dies
Nicolas Gombert Ego sum qui sum
Nicolas Gombert Regina caeli laetare
Nicolas Gombert Missa Tempore paschali


SOPRANO ALTOS TENOR BASS
Deborah Summerbell Belinda Wong Peter Campbell Julien Robinson
Carol Veldhoven Jenny George Tim van Nooten Kieran Rowe
Fiona Seers Rebecca Woods Vaughan McAlley Chris Potter
Maria Pisani Niki Ebacioni Stuart Tennant Tim Daly
Claerwen Jones
Kathryn Pisani

 

Arvo Pärt: Passio (2009)

Tuesday, 7 April 2009, 8pm
St Patrick’s Cathedral, East Melbourne

Ormond College Presents

 

PROGRAM

Arvo Pärt Passio Domino nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem


SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS
Carol Veldhoven Jennifer Mathers Peter Campbell Julien Robinson
Claerwen Jones Belinda Wong Stuart Tennant Kieran Rowe
Maria Pisani Niki Ebacioni Chris Potter
Kathryn Pisani Rebecca Woods

Choir of Ormond College
Ensemble Gombert

Jerzy Koslowski (Jesus)
Matthew Thomson (Pilate)
Emma Jenvey, Yi Wen Chin, Daniel Thomson, Alistair Clark (Evangelists)
Calvin Bowman (organ)
Instrumental ensemble
Conducted by John O’Donnell

 

 

Jean Mouton, French royal composer (2009)

Saturday, 7 March 2009, 8pm
Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew

Subscription Concert 1

This concert commemorates the French composer Jean Mouton some 550 years after his birth. The first part of the program is a succession of motets composed for auspicious occasions in the life of the French court, to which Mouton was attached for the last two decades of his life. The second part is devoted to a single Marian motet followed by a Mass based upon it by the Spaniard Cristóbal de Morales.

PROGRAM

Jean Mouton O Christe redemptor, O rex omnipotens
Jean Mouton Caeleste beneficium
Jean Mouton Non nobis Domine, non nobis
Jean Mouton Quis dabit oculis nostris
Jean Mouton Missus est angelus Gabriel
Jean Mouton Domine salvum fac regem
Jean Mouton Exalta Regina Galliae
Jean Mouton Benedicta es caelorum regina
Cristóbal de Morales Missa Benedicta es caelorum regina


SOPRANO ALTOS TENOR BASS
Deborah Summerbell Belinda Wong Peter Campbell Kieran Rowe
Carol Veldhoven Jennifer Mathers Tim van Nooten Julien Robinson
Fiona Seers Jenny George Vaughan McAlley Chris Potter
Maria Pisani Niki Ebacioni Stuart Tennant Tim Daly
Claerwen Jones
Kathryn Pisani

 

REVIEW
Tuesday, 10 March 2009, The Age [Melbourne], page 14.
Vocal display of grace and balance
Clive O’Connell

Under director John O’Donnell, the Ensemble Gombert opened its five-concert annual series with a
program consisting largely of motets by one of France’s greatest composers during the middle Renaissance.
Unusually for this expert choral group, much of Saturday night’s music-making required only four lines, the
effect in the recital’s first half one of piercing clarity, particularly in the sequence of apostrophes that occupy
much of the length in O Christe redemptor: one of several addresses to the Almighty to increase the
child-production rate of that unfortunate lady Anne of Brittany, who married three times without producing
the requisite son.
Not that Mouton’s music turns to the lugubrious when referring to the daughter-cursed queen; the fluency of
the eight motets sung by the Gomberts demonstrated the composer’s grace of utterance, sense of dynamic
balance, proportionate weighting of vocal layers, and interesting if unadventurous textures. Mouton had an
eye for textual highlighting, shown by his rare repetition of focal lines and employment of homophonic
movement when words held high significance, as during the deploration on Anne’s death, Quis dabit oculis
nostris.
Probably the most striking music of the night sounded the most atypical. The solid Missus est angelus Gabriel
tells the annunciation story pretty close to St Luke’s version but in a polyphonic five-line onslaught that
prefigures the sonorous grandeur of the Gabrielis’ Venice. The Gomberts produced a powerful sound, as
impervious to disruption as a waterfall, an engrossing display of vocal consonance in action.
Later, the ensemble sang another Marian motet, Benedicta es caelorum regina, and the Mass based on its
content by Morales. Apart from some coarseness from the tenors at the motet’s opening, this half of the night
generated the same impression of mastery, with the added benefit of the Spanish composer’s longer-breathed
melodic lines, his Mass ending in a moving Agnus Dei that started in the orthodox four parts, moved to
plainchant, then concluded in a full-bodied six-line texture displaying the female voices in this fine group.
Clive O’Connell/Courtesy of The Age

Christmas to Candlemas (2008)

Saturday, 13 December 2008, 8 pm
Xavier College Chape, Barkers Road, Kew

Subscription Concert 5

This is not the celebrated Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, but a selection of vespers music from his large 1640 compilation. While the earlier collection is often associated with St Mark’s, Venice, it was actually composed in Mantua, before Monteverdi’s Venetian years. The music of the 1640 publication, however, is true Venetian music, perhaps composed over a period of a quarter of a century, yet all of these pieces demonstrate Monteverdi’s undiminished creative powers.

PROGRAM

Monteverdi’s Christmas Vespers (from his 1640 publication)

Claudio Monteverdi Versiculus et responsorium
Paulo Quagliati [organ] Toccata dell’ottavo tuono
Claudio Monteverdi Dixit Dominus
Andrea Gabrieli [organ] Intonatione del secundo tono
Claudio Monteverdi Confitebor
Andrea Gabrieli [organ] Intonatione del quinto tono
Claudio Monteverdi Beatus vir
Andrea Gabrieli [organ] Intonatione del ottavo tono
Claudio Monteverdi Laudate pueri
Andrea Gabrieli [organ] Intonatione del settimo tono
Claudio Monteverdi Laudate Dominum omnes gentes
Paulo Quagliati [organ] Canzona
Claudio Monteverdi Christe, Redemptor omnium
Andrea Gabrieli [organ] Intonatione del primo tono
Claudio Monteverdi Magnificat primi toni

SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS
Deborah Summerbell Jennifer Mathers Peter Campbell Kieran Rowe
Carol Veldhoven Belinda Wong Tim Van Nooten Tom Henry
Fiona Seers Niki Ebacioni Daniel Thomson Chris Potter
Kathryn Pisani Jenny George Matthew Thomson Tim Daly
Maria Pisani
Claerwen Jones

Instrumental ensemble
John O’Donnell – chamber organ

REVIEW

Monday, 15 December 2008, The Age [Melbourne], page 16.
Spirit soars in simple hymn of repemption
Clive O’Connell

FOLLOWING a pattern set in last year’s Christmas-to-Candlemas recital, the Ensemble Gombert presented
interleaving Venetian works: psalm-settings, a hymn and Magnificat from Monteverdi’s so-called Christmas
Vespers, interspersed with organ intonations and toccatas by Andrea Gabrieli and Quagliati supplied by the
conductor John O’Donnell.
Pairs of violins and bass viols, one violone, a sackbut and Samantha Cohen’s theorbo supplied a solid
instrumental support for the voices that offered added interest.
The tenor line now enjoys two more high-flying voices in Daniel and Matthew Thomson, while Peter
Campbell’s stalwart efforts have a worthy foil in Tim van Nooten whose timbre has broadened in colour and
confidence. A similar invigorating experience emerged hearing sopranos Fiona Seers and Claerwen Jones
take on heavy responsibilities, notably in the Magnificat.
But the evening’s surprise came through a simple hymn, Christe, redemptor omnium. No clever detail here;
just a shapely melody treated with sensitivity and a crisp sparkle, spot-on for this season’s celebrations.

Clive O’Connell/Courtesy of The Age

2008 Queensland Tour Itinerary & Repertoire (2008)

Ensemble Gombert 2008 Queensland Tour 20 – 27 September 2008

PROGRAMS
St Stephen’s Cathedral, Brisbane
Sunday 21 September 2008
Josquin Desprez Praeter rerum seriem
Nicolas Gombert Lugebat David Absalon
Thomas Tallis Gloria in excelsis Deo from Missa Puer natus est nobis
Philippe de Monte Super flumina Babylonis
William Byrd Quomodo cantabimus?
Orlando Gibbons O clap your hands
Interval
Calvin Bowman Holy Sonnets of John Donne (original title of Death, be not Proud)
Frank Martin Mass for Double Choir
Johann Sebastian Bach Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied

Program for Buderim, Ipswich, Toowoomba & Stanthorpe
Josquin Desprez Praeter rerum seriem
Nicolas Gombert Lugebat David Absalon
William Byrd Quomodo cantabimus?
Orlando Gibbons O clap your hands
Calvin Bowman Holy Sonnets of John Donne (original title of Death, be not Proud)
Frank Martin Sanctus from Mass for Double Choir
Johann Sebastian Bach Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied

SINGERS
Soprano: Deborah Summerbell, Carol Veldhoven, Fiona Seers, Helen Gagliano, Claerwen Jones, Kathryn Pisani
Alto: Belinda Wong, Gowri Rajendran, Niki Ebacioni, Yi Wen Chin
Tenor: Matthew Thomson, Tim Van Nooten, Vaughan McAlley, Stuart Tennant
Bass: Chris Potter, Philip Nicholls, Andrew Fysh, Alistair Clark
Director: John O’Donnell
Tour Managers: Fiona Seers & Niki Ebacioni
Tour Extras: Tony McCarthy (also bus driver), Jacky Ogeil, Arianna O’Donnell, Emma Gagliano
Tour Committee: Fiona Seers, Niki Ebacioni, Claerwen Jones, Vaughan McAlley

SCHEDULE
Sat 20 1405 Check-in Tullamarine Airport
1505-1710 Melbourne – Brisbane QF 624
Train to city hotel Hotel Ibis

Sun 21 Walk to St John’s (10 mins). Leave luggage in hotel storage or take with you.
8.15am Rehearsal St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane (Anglican)
9.30am Eucharist St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane (Anglican)
1.30-3.30pm Rehearsal St Stephen’s Cathedral
4.00pm Concert St Stephen’s Cathedral, Brisbane (Catholic)
Post-concert Meet billets Stay with Brisbane billets

Mon 22 1.00pm Meet bus outside St Stephen’s, drive to Buderim (1 hr 30 mins)
3.00 – 4.30pm Rehearsal St Mark’s Church, Buderim
5pm Concert (1 hour no interval) St Mark’s, Buderim
8pm approx Return to St Stephen’s in Brisbane Stay with Brisbane billets

Tue 23 3.00pm Meet bus outside St Stephen’s, drive to Ipswich (45 mins)
4.00-6.00pm Rehearsal St Paul’s Anglican Church, Ipswich
6.30pm Concert (1 hour no interval) St Paul’s Anglican Church, Ipswich post-concert Pizza supper with billets and hosts at church Stay with Ipswich billets

Wed 24 10.00am tbc Meet bus at St Paul’s and drive to Toowoomba (1 hr 20 mins)
4.00- 5.00pm Rehearsal St Luke’s, Toowoomba
5.30pm Concert (1 hour no interval) Part of the Carnival of Flowers, St Luke’s Anglican Church Toowoomba
Post-concert Meet billets Stay with Toowoomba billets

Thu 25 10.00am tbc Meet bus at St Luke’s and drive to Stanthorpe (2 hours)
Sightseeing at wineries and lunch en route
2.00pm ish Check-in to accommodation Top of the Town, Stanthorpe
3.45pm Bus to church
4.00-6.00pm Rehearsal St Joseph’s Church, Stanthorpe
6.30pm Concert (1 hour no interval) St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Stanthorpe
Post-concert Group dinner at Cooks, Gluttons & Gourmets restaurant then bus to accommodation Top of the Town

Fri 26 10.00am tbc Check out of accommodation, group breakfast
Sightsee between Stanthorpe and Brisbane (just over 3 hours straight driving)
3.00pm approx Arrive Brisbane Hotel Ibis booked

Sat 27 1150 Check in Brisbane Airport
1250- 1515 Flight Brisbane to Melbourne QF 621