Repertoire reading of new Australian choral pieces for children’s choir

Kathy Rappel and Sarah Muchall present the songs that have been commissioned for the Brisbane Boys College Music Every Day program over the last five years. 5 songs for children’s choir by 5 Australian composers. These pieces were all performed by students in Prep to Year 3 at the BBC Music Every Day Concert held each year in August.

Sarah and Kathy will talk through the commissioning process, the different journeys a commission can take, trial-and-error lessons learnt (learn from their mistakes so you don’t get burnt!) and the ultimate successes and outcomes.

Come along to hear new songs and strengthen your knowledge of how the commissioning journey works/inform your own commissioning opportunities.

Brisbane Boys College is committed to musical excellence, nurturing a love of music in students and contributing to the Australian choral landscape.

Proposed workshop structure

Present each talking point below and break up the presentation with the songs. Eg, read song 1, talk a bit, read song 2, talk a bit more, read song three etc… questions at end.

• Ideas – coming up with them/finding inspiration

• Communicating with composers

• what is in the brief

• How much freedom do they have?

• Budget

• Composer experience and knowledge of young voices

• How “involved” are the students in the process

• Knowledge of your group

• Unpacking and rehearsal

• Promotions /marketing

• Performance

• Legacy

• of the MED program

• of the school

• of the composer and the work.

• Questions