As the Christmas season approaches Geelong Chorale will present a special musical journey featuring some of the greatest choral music inspired by the Virgin Mary.
With a program spanning over 800 years, the Ave Maria concert will include works from classical giants such as Tchaikovsky, Bach, Rachmaninov and Palestrina, as well as more modern works from Bruckner, Stravinsky , Howells and Lauridsen.
Performing at All Saints’ Church in Newtown, the ensemble’s nearly 40 choristers will be led by conductor Allister Cox OAM and accompanied by Kristine Mellens on the piano.
Cox said while the group was not a church choir and the concert was not a church service, All Saints’ was the perfect venue for the program.
“So much of the great choral music was written for religious purposes, and we just wanted to have a bit of a different take on Christmas,” he said.
“We normally do something that’s Christmas related, and I suppose if you analyse it, something like the Ave Maria comes from the Annunciation, where the angel Gabriel is supposed to have visited Mary and told her that she’s going to be the mother (of Jesus).
“That’s actually celebrated in March. So in a funny sort of way, we’re doing a Christmas concert that’s not technically about Christmas. But I think it is beautiful choral music and it has spanned so many centuries.”
The Geelong Chorale presents Ave Maria at 5pm on Saturday, November 30. Tickets are available at trybooking.com/CUXYT and at the door, free entry for under 18s.
