Students put their all into rehearsals for Southern Stars’ mass choir. Photo: Jen White.
If music can change the world, as Beethoven said, it certainly had the power to excite 400 students at Illawarra Sports Stadium this week.
It was the first time the students had come together as a mass choir to rehearse for the upcoming Southern Stars performance, Take Flight.
It didn’t take long for the nerves to start to settle and the smiles to light up faces as choral director Sonia Millgate led them through their numbers.
Like many of the executive team, Sonia has come full circle with Southern Stars, performing in the first show in 2000 and returning in 2018 as choir manager before being appointed choral director in 2019.
Her passion shines through as she leads the choir through songs and guides their choreography.
“It’s the faces, the joy on the faces of the children when they get up there and they perform with their peers, with their teachers, with staff,” she said.
“They just have this moment where they [realise] we are performing together with dancers and drama and orchestra and singers and we’re coming together as one 3000-cast cohesive group of people and they have this amazing stadium full of people watching them.
“This is actually our first rehearsal together and you can hear how wonderful they’re sounding and also how amazingly they’re doing the choreography.”
Sonia took time out to have a chat with first-time Southern Stars performers Jason from Koonawarra Public School and Anyssa from Bowral High School.
Jason, 11, said he was encouraged to join the choir by his friends because he liked singing.
He was enjoying being with the other singers and reckons he’ll be “pretty good” when it comes to showtime at the end of August.
The Year 6 school vice-captain said he couldn’t decide which of two Taylor Swift songs was his favourite in this year’s show – either I Knew It, I Knew You or Fate of Orphelia.
Anyssa, 14, is already familiar with singing in front of an audience, albeit smaller ones than those expected to sell out WIN Entertainment Centre for the four Southern Stars shows.
She is lead singer in a punk emo band called Dead by Autumn and is also taking part in Surround Sound, a band competition for students from secondary schools in rural and remote areas.
“I like to pick up opportunities, especially musical ones, so when I heard that we were going to do Southern Stars, I was like, why not?” she said.
“It’s pretty good so far. I like to perform, so that’s always fun.”
Joining the Illawarra schools this year in the mass choir are schools from south-western Sydney, the southern Highlands and two remote school groups – Henry Lawson High School from Grenfell and the Riverina Central Choir, both of which joined the rehearsal via Zoom.
Sonia said technology had made it much easier for those remote schools to take part.
“People like the Riverina Central Choir and ones that live further than one or two hours away, they’re able to access these rehearsals through Zoom,” she said.
“I also create teaching tracks and we have lyric booklets, so they can do all the hard work at school and then we come together as a mass choir.
“So even if people are from further away and students are from regional schools, they still have the opportunity to perform, which makes it even more special that regional and remote schools can be part of the event.”
Schools in the mass choir: Albion Park School, Bowral High School, Flinders Public School, Gerringong Public School, Gregory Hills Public School, Hayes Park Public School, John Warby Public School, Koonawarra Public School, Lake Illawarra South Public School, Mittagong Public School, Mount St Thomas Public School, Oran Park Public School, Otford Public School, Nareena Hills Public School, Russell Vale Public School, Towradgi Public School, Tullimbar Public School, Henry Lawson High School and the Riverina Central Choir.
Tickets for Southern Stars, with four shows on 28 and 29 August, are now on sale through Ticketmaster. Early bookings are recommended due to high demand for tickets.
Original Article published by Jen White on Region Illawarra.
