THESE boys have been to cities that never close down but it’s the country they call home which they will be celebrating their choir’s anniversary with.
The National Boys Choir, most popular for singing I Still Call Australia Home on the Qantas advertisement, were in Mandurah last week as part of their 50th anniversary national tour.
Founded in 1964 and based in Melbourne, the choir has established itself as one of Australia’s finest treble choirs with a performance schedule that includes major concerts, interstate and overseas tours, events of national significance and regular television appearances.
And at the heart of it all is artistic director Peter Casey, son of founder Kevin Casey.
“[Mandurah] will see the less formal side of the band,” he said before the choir went on stage.
“We make a point of getting the audience involved both so they can understand some of the pieces and so they can get more enjoyment out of it.”
The Mandurah bill had a variety of the choir’s scores; from some of the more classical pieces to lighter pieces such as Australian folk songs.
They will also performed songs which have been composed especially for them.
“I think the boys prefer to do the classical songs because they like the challenge,” Casey said.
“They’ll receive a difficult piece and then with time they’ll be able to get their tongue around the Latin or whatever and they get satisfaction from it. And while they don’t necessarily know the words they are singing, we do give them a general introduction to each of the songs as well.
“Information about the composer and what they’re singing about and where it was composed.
“It’s obviously important to give them some sort of background.”
