Tears and a standing ovation brought the choir of 900 New England Sings! students backed by an 80-piece orchestra to a close in Armidale.
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Children and teenagers from 33 schools across New England filled the recently built performance center at Armidale Secondary College for two hours until 4:30 pm on Sunday. It was a sold-out show.
It was their first major concert in two years since Covid robbed them of their annual orchestral-backed choir production, with Artistic Director Corinne Arter saying "the kids were fantastic".
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"Many of them hadn't seen each other for such a long time," she said.
"When they came together on this final weekend, they sang their hearts out. It was fabulous."
The concert premiered specially commissioned works by Playschool's Justine Clark and London-based Australian composer and musician Luke Byrne.
And former Armidale student Fergus Lupton - praised by US popstar Justin Timberlake in 2016 as a great talent - collaborated with 800 students and the Side by Side Choir for teenagers with disabilities to write a uniquely New England tune.
Australian composers Paul Jarman and Mark O'Leary OAM conducted the hundreds of vocally-gifted children.
The students arrived from as near as Armidale and as far as Bald Blair, Ben Lomond, Black Mountain, Bellingen, Chandler, Ebor, Hernani, Kentucky, Kingstown, Glen Innes, Inverell, Uralla and Walcha to attend the event.
Post-show praises sent to New England Conservatorium of Music NECOM:
"We were totally overwhelmed by the extraordinary show of community spirit and talent at New England Sings!"
"Our child is so fortunate to have had the opportunity to be part of this. A big hat off to you all."
"I love, love, love New England Sings! Don't change a thing. It was a privilege to be in the audience and feel such a part of history."
"There were tears, lots of tears. Thank you for everything you're doing for our children."
"I feel we're back on track after a challenging few years."
"We especially enjoyed the commissioned works and the opportunity for our child to work with such an amazing conductor. It is something they'll never forget. Bravo!"
