Waverley Randwick Philharmonic Society Inc.

The afternoon spent at the Mozart Magic concert was every bit as I had hoped for - so relaxing and enjoyable.

For me, the great attraction of amateur performances is the very unpretentious and therefore laid-back and relaxing atmosphere one gets immersed in. It is always so charming. A few mistakes were made (ever so slightly, musically), and scenes like this member of the orchestra having to run after the conductor to present him with a bouquet, make such performances so memorable.

At the interval, tea and lovely cakes were available for a donation. No commercialism to be seen - and you get to speak to the musicians.

Music, to be really enjoyed, must be in an atmosphere approaching our own lounge room comfort, with our mind-waves settling at a nice pace to receive the heavenly notes. I, personally, find that condition rather more difficult to achieve in a big hall packed to capacity and with everyone forced to sit upright (else the wife's elbow be jabbed into my ribs) and be at best behaviour.

If you have not experienced amateur performances, I think you should look for the very next available one and drag the whole family along. There is a good chance you might get addicted.

The orchestra gave a very polished performance under their new conductor Luke Dollman but I found the choir too small. Of course, they are trying to increase their numbers. The choir, under the able direction of Robert Teicher had to cope with the rather poor acoustics of the fairly large hall. Perhaps there was not enough bodies on the seats to absorb the reverberations. As a result, the singing appeared to lack precision and was occassionally overpowered by the piano.

I suppose, if you want near-perfect sound, you should listen to a quality CD where the recording engineer has placed numerous microphones and masterfully manipulated the sound desk. But the important ingredient of atmosphere will not be captured!

I applaud the The Waverley, Randwick Chamber Orchestra & Choir (Will someone kindly tell me why all these amateur orchestras must have such long names?) and thank them for a very enjoyable time and will certainly be looking out for their next performance.

Francis Chuah

Our ensemble may be small but the quality is there. We make a more intimate style of music which only chamber groups can provide.

The Concert Program
When we were getting this organised, we decided to do more chamber orchestra music. Hence we chose some light classics like Soiree Musicales arranged by Benjamin Britten of Rossini's operatic themes. Luke Dollman our new orchestra conductor showed his talent by choosing Mozart's Symphony 38 - a light but scintillating symphony which captivates the listener right throughout. Our size, 20 players, lends itself admirably to this style of light classics.

To complement this Robert Teicher, our new choir conductor, chose some popular operatic choruses and arrangements of Mozart's pieces 'God is our refuge' and 'Cheeky Martin', a pretty cheeky piece which Robert has toned down. We also are singing the famous 'Memory' from CATS by Lloyd Webber and the Slave Chorus from Verdi's Nabucco which was famous in World War II in Italy. Overall the tone of the choir is very uplifting and when they combine with the orchestra in the Cheeky Martin round and 'God is our refuge' the listener will have a very moving afternoon's music, well worth the $10 or $5 concession.

Frequency of Concerts
Why we haven't performed more often is because we went through a bad patch in 1996 and early 1997 when we lost our conductor a couple of times. Now we have separate conductors and the difference in repertoire is quite amazing.

Each excels in their medium - orchestra or choir. Both though can work with the other half of this diverse body of music makers - whether voice or instrument. To be honest, the group has really sprung back after what was a pretty sad moment when the orchestra nearly died. Now it is stable and growing with more and more people wanting to join.

In late November, as part of a push to perform more community concerts, our orchestra and choir will be performing at Waverley Library for the Friends of Waverley Library (FOWL) at their request.