THE AUSTRALIAN National Eisteddfod Choirs competition, and the 2016 Eisteddfod season, will culminate this  Saturday night, September 17,  with the Open Choral Groups and Australian Open Choral Challenge. 

Taking place from 6.30pm-10pm at Llewellyn Hall, the evening will feature nine  leading choirs from Canberra, Sydney and Newcastle, singing music encompassing a wide variety of styles.

The evening will commence with the Open Choral Groups section, which is new this year and features smaller choirs of up to 15 members.

The four entrants are all Canberra groups.  Debacle Quartet will be followed by and a group of ANU students (FRY Senior High Fries), Luminescence Chamber Singers and Lady’s Mantle.  Repertoire is wide and varied.  The winner of this section will receive $2,500 prizemoney and a trophy.

The Australian Open Choral Challenge has 5 entrants. The winner will receive $3,000 and a trophy.

The first, Strange Weather Gospel Choir, is a Canberra community group that have been singing together for 21 years! Led by Kimberley Steele and Lucus Allerton, Strange Weather members come from all different walks of life and share a passion for Gospel, Spiritual, African, popular and contemporary songs.

Brindabella Chorus, is a women’s barbershop chorus which has been entertaining audiences with four part a capella harmony since 1991.  In May this year, Brindabella Chorus competed in the annual national women’s barbershop chorus championships and were awarded first place in the Midsized Chorus category (31 – 60 voices) and second place overall. Their score placed them in the top five midsized choruses in the world, which won them an invitation to the world championships, so the chorus is preparing to compete for the world title in Las Vegas Nevada in October 2017.

The third choir to perform will be the Waratah Girls Choir from Newcastle.  It has often been said that this group is like a family – bringing young girls together to discover the joys of music, as well as developing strong character and leadership, qualities, and most importantly, building friendships that will carry them through life.

The fourth competitor is Shine Chorus from Sydney, encompasses 30 Korean men and women who come together to share a message of love, grace and peace.   The group focuses on sacred music, with current highlights including Handel’s Messiah and modern Korean compositions.

The final choir is Kompactus Youth Choir. Formed in 2008, Kompactus is a youth chamber choir aimed at developing the skills of talented young singers. In pursuit of this goal, the choir enlisted the help of countertenor David Yardley as director.  The result has been a motivated and talented group of young people who are involved directly in the music. Kompactus presented its first concert at St. Paul’s, Manuka, in 2009.

The Australian National Eisteddfod presents Choirs on September 16-17. A detailed timetable will be available at nationaleisteddfod.org.au. Tickets will be available at the venues or 132 849 or ticketek.com.au