Looking to join a choir in Perth?

I Voci Singers invite you to audition!

There are no membership fees, and you will have the opportunity to perform at the Perth Concert Hall, and on television as part of the City of Perth ANZAC Day service, and work under one of (if not the) most experienced Youth Choral Director in the country, John Christmass.

Check us out on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-New-I-Voci-Singers/16431397218

or check out our website for details on how to arrange your audition today http://www.ivoci.org.au/

Australia Day Suprise!

Congratulations to our conductor John Christmass who received a medal of the Order of Australia!

Click here to read more!

Concert review: Vienna Pops

Stunning debut top of the pops

Vienna PopsPerth Concert Hall
An abiding feature of the annual Vienna Pops concerts, which John Christmass has been presenting for almost a quarter of a century, is the showcasing of up-and-coming musical talent. And at this concert, which played in the New Year in fine style, we heard a stunning Pops debut by clarinettist Alex Roberts. I cannot too highly praise the ability of this young musician.Schubert's Shepherd on the Rock is more usually heard in its original form for soprano, clarinet and piano. At the Pops concert, though - and for the first time in Australia, we were told - we heard an orchestral version of the piano part. Soprano Alexandra Bak sang with confidence and excellent projection.And Roberts did wonders on the clarinet, producing a stream of immaculately phrased, faultlessly pitched, limpid tones. It was the high point of the evening.Earlier we heard more Schubert: his delightful Hark, Hark the Lark in Tim Cunniffe's arrangement for choir and orchestra. Here, Christmass' I Voci singers were at their persuasive best - and they were hardly less convincing in Joseph Strauss' Chatterbox.Throughout, conductor Jessica Gethin was an unfailingly considerate accompanist, although one would have hoped for a more lilting quality in some of the waltz-time items. Gethin coaxed a particularly stylish account of one of Brahms' Hungarian Dances from the Perth Pops Orchestra.Three young tenors gave of their best, with Alasdair Kent in particularly fine fettle in ensemble with Bak and I Voci in an excerpt from Johann Strauss' Gypsy Baron. Matthew Reardon also did well, with first-class diction and a sure sense of style in Kalman's Gruss mir, mein Wien.Giant white snowflake cut-outs on a black background with a white stage covering suggested a midwinter's Vienna in festive mode.David Hawkes, a veteran of innumerable Christmass productions, was at his engaging best as compere.

NEVILLE COHN, The West AustralianJanuary 3, 2012

Review :: Sing into Spring 2011

CONCERT
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Sing into Spring with I Voci
25th September 2011, 3pm
Wesley Church, William Street
Reviewed by Neville Cohn

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Not even the uncomfortably hard seating at Wesley Church could detract from listening pleasure as veteran choral director John Christmass, now well into his eighties but still sparking on all plugs, took his I Voci Singers through their paces in the cool and cloistered calm of this long-established venue. Outside, in William Street, there was bustle and the clink of commerce as fast foods outlets attended to the needs of passers-by. But there was even more satisfying fare – for ears – in church.

Unruffled and urbane as ever, Christmass coaxed splendid responses from his forces in a number of short pieces. I particularly admired the skill with which Vaughan Williams’ Linden Lea was sung; it was a model of its kind. So, too, was Samuel Barber’s Sure on this Shining Night, a first rate introduction to the afternoon’s program. I’m Seventeen Come Sunday was a folksy delight.

A brief, charming instrumental intermezzo – a movement from Vivaldi’s Piccolo Concerto in C – was played by Tresna Stampalia with her customary professionalism.

Main work of the afternoon was Schubert’s too-rarely heard Mass in G with accompaniment at the organ provided by John Beaverstock. Occasionally, though, in quieter choral moments, the organ part sounded rather too dense-textured. How pleasing to hear this lovely work sung with such understanding of style and mood – and with choral lines clothed in such agreeable tone. Alexandra Bak was a fine soprano soloist.

Sing into Spring 2011 :: Photos

Preview :: Twenty years of Christmass

From The West Australian - TODAY ARTS
by Neville Cohn
20/05/11

Concert
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20th Annual Best of British
Perth Concert Hall on Saturday, 21 May 2011
Pre-view: Neville Cohn
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As evergreen veteran musical director John Christmass celebrates the 20th anniversary of his annual Best of British concert series, he is gratified to see many more young people peppering the audience along with the regular salt-haired devotees of his I Voci Singers.

At 87, Christmass maintains an exhausting pace at an age when many of his contemporaries are spending their time making little sea-shell houses in their retirement homes.

There'll be 130 players on stage, including the 50-strong Perth Pops Orchestra conducted by Jessica Gethin, when Christmass presents the 20th Best of British concert this weekend. These events invariably draw enthusiastic, capacity crowds.

"Many in the audience come on an annual basis and have done so for years," Christmass says. "But some of the older folk have passed away but there has been a marked increase in the number of young people in attendance in recent years.

"The most magical moments are during the finale where the entire cast is on stage and one can look out and see a packed auditorium with everyone standing, singing with enormous gusto and waving Union Jack flags."

There will be choral items from I Voci - and Bruce Thompson offers two euphonium solos. Firm audience favourites include piper David Murray, organist Andrew Gardiner, compere David Hawkes and many of the much loved regulars Best of British regulars. The program will include British folk and pub songs and favourites like Colonel Bogey March and Noel Coward's Don't Put Your Daughter on the Stage, Mrs Worthington.

And traditional fish and chips will be available from the Concert Hall Cafe before the performance.

Christmass' pride and joy is his I Voci choir, which he founded in the 1970s and has toured Germany several times and appeared on Channel 7's Battle of the Choirs.

"It is great to work with young people who, generally speaking, do not smoke, drink very little, and take great pride and joy in their singing," he says. "Recognition of their work through concerts, TV and overseas tours gives me enormous satisfaction. There are sometimes special moments which make all the hard work worthwhile."

Apart from the annual Best of British series, Christmass' other major annual offering is the Vienna Pops New Year's Eve concerts that have run for 24 years, events that have raised $400,000 for charities set by the Rotary Club of Perth.

Best of British is at the Perth Concert Hall on Saturday night.

More info >>

ANZAC DAY 2011

ANZAC Day is always a special event in I Voci's Annual calendar. Here are some photos of the service and our involvement taken by IZO Photography.

Sammy's Farewell - the photos