The Honorary Consulate of Germany is very pleased to announce the establishment of the first West Australian German School Choir with their inaugural performance at the Day of German Unity Reception at Government House on 3rd October 2018. This year’s Day of German Unity Reception, commemorating 27 years of German and European unification, was a celebration of the long standing and diverse Australia-German cultural links. The choral performance exemplified this theme; it was a delightful cross-cultural exchange and an outstanding example of Australian-German cultural connections in W.A.
The choir is comprised of 18 Western Australian students who are studying German from Year 6 to Year 12. The students, who all have an interest in German and a desire to gain musical experience, represented a range of W.A. schools.
This year the following schools were represented in the choir:
Baldivis Primary School
Bull creek Primary School
Goethe Society W.A.
Makybe Rise Primary School
Marmion Primary School
Methodist Ladies College
Parkwood Primary School
Shelley Primary School
West Coast Steiner School
The students undertook two months of practice under the direction of accomplished Concert Pianist and Music Teacher Mark Coughlan. Mark Coughlan; who is the Past Head of UWA School of Music, Concert Pianist, Conductor, Music Critic, Teacher and Concert Promoter, generously donated his time and musical expertise to the development of the choir. It was an exciting opportunity for students learning German to receive vocal instruction, tuition and gain musical experience at a high level.
In addition to musical tuition and vocal training at the practice sessions the students also rehearsed with their German Teachers to perfect the pronunciation and meaning of the songs.
It was wonderful to see all the students and parents hard work, time and dedication culminate in a delightful performance at the Day of German Unity Reception. The choir sang both the German and Australian National Anthems followed by two German songs; Mozart’s Bona Nox and the popular Brahm’s Guten Abend.
Two video’s of the performance are available to view by selecting the links below:
Performance Songs Bona Nox and Guten Abend
The Choir Pianist for the Day of German Unity performance was Chern Xi Khor.
