AVÉ Australian Vocal Ensemble Launch Concert
Queensland Conservatorium Theatre
Saturday 10th April, 2021
Soprano Katie Noonan
Mezzo Soprano Fiona Campbell
Tenor Andrew Goodwin
Baritone Andrew O’Connor
Dr Gemma Regan
An Enchanting Evening in a Celebration of the Human Voice
Soaring to the roof and gliding in hushed tones was the crystal-clear voice of Katie Noonan at the Conservatorium on Saturday night. The audience was spellbound throughout the evening as four voices, two female and two male, commingled and entwined in a symbiotic harmony in a celebration of the human voice.
Avé is the fruition of a long dreamed of project of Katie Noonan to create a welcoming elite chamber ensemble of International excellence. Avé is a Roman salutation of greeting popularised in the books of Asterix which is a fitting name as the plan is to tour regional areas of Australia bringing newly commissioned Australian and old choral works to local communities. She has “big bold dreams” and hopes to engage with thousands of students and community singers to create “an unparalleled music experience for audience members”.
Katie has already commissioned 12 new Australian works and aims to commission more each year to create a repertoire with a unique blend of old and new music. The launch concert featured seven Australian composers and nine poems written by our own Queensland muse and author David Malouf. The program was also presented with a beautiful mandala of the Australian flora and fauna of David Malouf’s poems commissioned from the artist Danielle Ash.
An urgent last-minute change in performers had the esteemed baritone Andrew O’Connor flying up from Sydney the day before the concert to replace David Greco. All four choristers are internationally acclaimed, having performed alongside the greatest musicians in the major venues flying the flag for our diverse Australian culture.
The show opened with a musical Welcome to Country performed by Shannon Ruska and the internationally renowned Wakka Wakka musician David Williams who has performed across the World for the likes of Prince Charles and John Travolta. Ruska was resplendent in a traditional Emu feather headdress whilst Williams’ didgeridoo resonated with the sounds of our ancient land and was a fitting start to a concert that showcased combining Australian and European tones.
The audience were treated to not only a choral performance of Stephen Leek’s composition for David Malouf’s poem Stars, but to a reading from the man himself. It was a lilting lullaby with a backdrop of starlight and along with the welcome to country was a highlight of the show.
The evening flowed like a silken ribbon with the combination of modern compositions between the more spiritual Renaissance and Baroque pieces of Bach, Handel and Luis de Victoria. The polyphonic tones were exquisite between the four choristers with the robust mellow timbre of the two Andrew’s perfectly complementing the soprano’s mellifluous euphonic tones.
Another highlight of the evening was the cultural assimilation of the Church Cantatas “Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn” (Do not punish me in your anger) composed by J.S. Bach where each chorister performed the piece in the Aboriginal tongue of their place of origin with Gubbi Gubbi, Noongar and Gadigal translations.
The concert and project have been supported by Tim Fairfax AO, Philip Bacon AM and Justice Anthe Philippines with Dame Quentin Bryce as the Patron exclaiming that “we will always remember this evening. That we were here”.
It was an enchanting evening in a celebration of the human voice, let us hope this is the first of many performances for Avé here and around the World.