For the past six months the Manning Valley Choral Society, U3A Silvertones and Kantabile Chamber Choir have been rehearsing for a special concert to celebrate the fifth Manning Winter Festival.
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Seventy voices will combine to perform Franz Schubert’s Mass in G Major, as well as three other choral works by Bach, Vivaldi and Tim Rice.
A string orchestra, comprising members of Sinfonia, the orchestra of the Mid North Coast, will be accompanying the choirs under the baton of conductor Heidi Lambert.
One of the aims of the Manning Winter Festival Committee is to showcase and promote young artistic talent in the community.
At this concert, nine very talented young musicians with connections to the MidCoast region, will perform on the instrument which they have been studying and specialising in.
Some of these musicians, including guitarist Keegan Gibson, are studying music in their final year of high school.
Others, including Abigail French, William Jackson, Patrick and Miguel Gutheridge, and Riley and Mitchell Brown, are playing in Sinfonia and community bands.
Most of these young musicians have stood on the stage at the Manning Entertainment Centre and performed for the Taree and District Eisteddfod, and all have won major awards.
Two young vocal soloists, Laura Griffin and Ronan King-Rose, will be coming from Queensland and Sydney to perform with the choirs.
Ronan has won several vocal championships and Smile Scholarships at Taree Vocal Eisteddfod, and this year Laura won the Open Age Vocal Championship and a Smile Scholarship.
Both are using their Smile awards to further their vocal studies in Australia and overseas.
The performance, Music for the Winter Heart, will be on Sunday June 3 at 2pm, in St John the Divine Anglican Church, Victoria Street, Taree.
Concert co-ordinator and musical director of Manning Valley Choral Society Deirdre Sutherland said the reason for this choice of venue is, “the beautiful acoustics, the atmosphere for the type of music which is being performed, and we can fit that many singers and musicians in!
“If you’ve never heard beautiful choral music, live, with a huge choir, now is your chance! The choristers are getting very excited with the harmonies they are creating.”
Tickets can be purchased from Bass’n’Blues Music Store in Taree and at the door on the day of the concert. There will be afternoon tea for a gold coin donation.
Manning Winter Festival celebrates creative industry and cultural development in the Manning, continuing the tradition of the Taree Festival of the Arts which ran from 1979 to 2006.