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Photos taken by Stephen Hatton

Christmas Carols at the Austrian Club, 16th December 2007
To view click here:
http://www.eotr.com/Austrian_Club_Melbourne/071216_Christmas_Concert_2007.HTML

European Christmas Concert, Box Hill, 8th December 2007
To view click here:
http://www.eotr.com/Austrian_Club_Melbourne/071208_Austrian_Choir.HTML

Austria Down Under Concert, 5th August 2007
To view click here:
http://www.eotr.com/Austrian_Club_Melbourne/070805_Austrian_Choir_and_Aborigine.HTML

Choir Dinner Dance, 19th May 2007
To view click here:
http://www.eotr.com/Austrian_Club_Melbourne/070519_Austrian_Choir_Anniversary.HTML

European Christmas Concert, December 2006
To view click here:
http://www.eotr.com/Austrian_Club_Melbourne/061209_Choir_Christmas_Concert.HTML

25 Years Austrian Choir Melbourne

In 2006 we celebrated the 25th anniversary of music making in Melbourne. During that year, we presented several special events, which included a very elegant Gala Ball on 27th May, another concert at the beautiful Melba Hall at Melbourne University on 27th August, which featured a wide selection of traditional, classical and popular Austrian music, an interstate concert tour to Western Australia in September, and of course our regular European Christmas Concert on 9th December, again in the Box Hill Town Hall. All in all, we had a very successful and busy year.

Forthcoming Events:

For more details of our next performances please
Go to full list of 2008 events

Top Honour for Austrian Choir Conductor

Members of the Austrian Choir Melbourne were thrilled and proud, when the Austrian Ambassador to Austria presented their esteemed and loved conductor and musical director, Dieter Bajzek, with the Golden Cross of Honour of the Republic of Austria (Goldene Ehrenzeichen um Verdienste für die Republik Österreich), which was awarded him by the President of the Republic of Austria, Dr. Heinz Fischer, on July 7, 2004.

The Ambassador, Dr. Hans Demel, said that this order is the highest distinction given for services rendered to the Republic of Austria and it could be compared with a Knighthood awarded by the Queen of Great Britain.

The presentation took place at the 20th annual European Christmas Concert at the Uniting Church in Toorak on December 11, 2004. It was a truly festive and joyous occasion, not only for the recipient (who, by the way, already possesses two other wards, the “Austrian Cross of Honour for Science & Art” and the “Golden Cross of Honour from the State of Steiermark”, and on top of it also received a Nomination for the 2005 “Australian of the Year Award” in that week), but also for all the performers and the capacity audience. They all appreciated the special event and joined in the joy and pride of the Austrian Choir.

By Dr. Elfriede Senycia

Choir Tour 2004 to the Red Centre

The Choir has had the privilege in April 2004 to visit Alice Springs and Ayers Rock. This has been one of the most exciting and emotional tours the Choir had the pleasure to undertake for a long time.

Left picture: The Austrian Choir with members of the Aboriginal Ntaria Ladies Choir after our emotional musical meeting in the old Hermannsburg chapel.
Right picture: Impromptu singing at magnificent Simpson's Gap near Alice Springs.

REVIEWS & REPORTS

The Age

Review of the Choir's 21st Birthday Concert
Saturday, 27 July 2002
by Jessica Nicholas

A vibrant tribute to Austria

On Saturday night at the Melbourne Concert Hall, the Australian Pops Orchestra waltzed through an Austrian-themed program called Vienna Waits for You.

At the same time, a more modest tribute to Vienna was taking place at the Toorak Uniting Church, where Melbourne's own Austrian Choir was celebrating its 21st birthday. There were no piping horns or oompah-pah percussion at the church, though Strauss did get a look in when the choir sang Johann the elder's bright Radetzky March.

But, for the most part, the Austrian choir dedicated its program to lesser-known works ranging across a broad and entertaining repertoire. There were gentle folk songs from both Austria and Germany, cheerfully exuberant drinking songs from the Viennese Schrammel tradition, and ambitious contemporary pieces such as Hearst'as Net, combining traditional yodelling techniques with more modern melodic and instrumental motifs.

Evident throughout the concert was the dedication and warmth of Dieter Bajzek, who has led the choir since its inception, and whose own exceptional vocal skills were showcased in a set of subtly ornamented yodels with his wife, Julia. Some of the instrumental pieces lacked the energy of the choral numbers - especially when Bajzek was not playing.

Otherwise, the concert was well-structured to ensure dynamic and thematic variety, with the quieter choral selections punctuated by livelier tunes or even a series of street vendors' cries, where choir members roamed the church aisles with prams and barrows, hocking their wares (lavender and cherries, blankets and bric-a-brac).

Two other ensembles performed short brackets as guests of the choir. Gorani - which means ``mountain men" - brought a wonderfully raw-edged sound to the evening, their voices combining in rich, sometimes dissonant harmonies as they related traditional tales of celebration, love and horse riding from Georgia and Bulgaria.

Inka Marka served as an equally effective foil for the choir, creating vibrant rhythms as they pulsed through an animated set of Andean folk tunes.

My only reservation - prompted by two-and-a-half hours sitting on an unforgiving church pew - was that the concert could have done with some trimming. Either that, or the singing street vendors could have offered soft cushions along with the lavender and cherries. They would have done a roaring trade.