Sunday Sing 2003

'SUNDAY SING' IN JULY 2003

The Mackay Choral Society in 2003 is extremely pleased to be again involved in the Mackay Festival of Arts.
Since our recent performances and subsequent success at the North Queensland Eisteddfod (over Easter 2003), we, the Mackay Choral Society, have been working on a sparkling programme of mainly Light Choral Music that is sure to please.
Of course, as usual, we will be including some very talented guest artists in
our repertoire.
A highlight of our 'Sunday Sing' programme this year will be our debut performance of a song, Let the Whole World See, which was written by Glenn Gospel (a very talented local artist and musician), and re-arranged by Dianna Nixon especially for the Mackay Choral Society, where it now has four parts...Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass (SATB).
Let the Whole World See was first performed at the Olympic Torch Relay Ceremony at Queen's Park in Mackay in 2000, Australia's Olympic year.
As a matter of interest, this choral arrangement was funded entirely by finance from the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) in Mackay, which in turn is partly funded by the Mackay City Council.
'Sunday Sing' is always a very enjoyable Choral Society event and it will be performed first - as a preview - in the Pinnacle Playhouse on Sunday 13th of July, at 2 PM, with the major performance then being held in the Mackay Entertainment Centre Foyer on Sunday the 20th of July at 2 PM.
Tickets are very affordable at $10.00 and $8.00 and can be obtained at the Mackay Entertainment Centre, Tel: 4957 1777, or Freecall on 1800 646574.

The Story of Let the Whole World See

The Mackay Choral Society, with funding, commissioned this arrangement from Mackay RADF, thus completing a project begun with the Mackay Olympic Torch Community Celebrations in 2000.
At that time, Ms Maria Porter suggested a project for the finale of that event which would involve the creation of a song about the Mackay region, with the consequent song being performed by a large choir along with drummers, dancers and musicians.
She went on to suggest this to Ms Dianna Nixon, who had been engaged by Mackay City Council as Event Director of the Mackay Olympic Torch Community Celebrations.
Ms Nixon then worked with the suggested groups and individuals to develop the song and its performance within the context of the overall programme for the Torch Celebrations.
Mr Glenn Gospel wrote the original lyrics and melody and collaborated with Ms Nixon and the other musicians to develop an arrangement especially tailored to the musical forces which would be involved in the year 2000 event
Seven hundred voices, 70 drummers, 30 dancers and a band with a solo tenor premiered the song in June of 2000.
Many requests had been made since that time for the song to be performed again and there was a very real need for a version for a SATB choir - with piano accompaniment - to be created.
The Mackay Choral Society made an application to Mackay RADF for this purpose, were ultimately successful with their application, and now the work is complete.
It is hoped this song will be taken up and performed at civic events and other occasions around Mackay, and eventually take its place as a community anthem, celebrating both the beauty and the unique qualities of this region.