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The Czech Philharmonic Children's Choir sang in Canberra

During October 27th and October 30th The Czech Philharmonic Children’s Choir launched their very first Australian tour  in Canberra. 

This is a choir with long musical tradition (est. 1932) and a wealth of international experience. After previous successful trips to many countries of all the other continents, The Czech Philharmonic Children's Choir finally came to the fifth continent which has been their furthest trip so far. Under the capable hands of choirmaster Peter Louženský, the Choir composed of 34 singers aged between 12 and 27 put on a spectacular performance in Canberra.

The main reason for the Choir’s trip to Canberra was the invitation of the Czech Embassy to join the celebratory reception on the ocassion of the Czech National Day on October 28th, ​​thanks to which the Choir enriched their repertoire with the Australian national anthem that was presented without a flaw. On the same day in the evening, the Choir‘s feature concert was held at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Canberra. Compositions by Tchaikovsky, Smetana, Dvořák (to name a few), were sung by the Choir while being beautifully accompanied by the organ played by Mr Jan Kalfus.

On October 29th, the Choir delivered their outstanding presentation at Mawson Primary School in Canberra. At first the Choir joined the local students who were participating in Music Count Us In by singing along with other children from around Australia. The Choir sang the song "Gold" to the tune of the song "Count us in," and then added several Czech, Moravian and Slovak folk songs. Their performance at the primary school was concluded by the Czech national anthem and the first part of Advance Australia Fair and the local students sang the second part. Their brilliant performance was met with a very enthusiastic response of the audience.

The preparation for the Choir‘s visit took more than a year and it was not without challenges that were overcome thanks to the willingness, help and cooperation of many dedicated and sacrificial people, mainly from the expatriate association BESEDA. Beseda provided accommodation and facilities to the Choir for 4 days at the club‘s premises in close-by Queanbeyan. The Embassy would like to take this opportunity to thank Beseda for providing the accommodation free of charge which has significantly contributed to the successful start of The Czech Philharmonic Children’s Choir‘s first tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The three-week tour continues in New Zealand’s Auckland and Wellington, culminating back in Australia, namely in Melbourne, during a performance at the largest Festival of Czech and Slovak Culture – VodaFest - in the southern hemisphere, and during a music festival in the Glebe area in Sydney.

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