Southern Gospel Choir
Encyclopedia
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
choir based at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music
Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music
The Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music forms part of the faculty of Arts at the University of Tasmania. It is a music training institution with courses and specializations in classical and contemporary music, music education, technology and composition....
in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, and is directed by Dr. Andrew Legg
Andrew Legg
Dr. Andrew Legg is a Tasmanian musician & director of the ARIA award-nominated Southern Gospel Choir, which he runs through the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music. He is head of contemporary music at the Conservatorium, as well as a contemporary piano & keyboard tutor. He is also Director of Music...
.
The choir and its band, the Very Righteous Gospel Band were formed by Dr. Legg in 2000, soon after he became a staff member at the Conservatorium.
The Southern Gospel Choir and Legg have received acclaim internationally with leading gospel artists in the USA. Legg has worked with many prominent US gospel artists including Myron Butler
Myron Butler
Myron Butler is a Grammy award winning record producer, singer-songwriter, music director, vocalist, organist, and pianist. Most notably, he is known as the leader of the gospel choir, Myron Butler & Levi...
, Kirk Franklin
Kirk Franklin
Kirk Dwayne Franklin is an American Gospel music musician, choir director, and author, and is most notably known for leading urban contemporary gospel choirs such as The Family, God's Property and One Nation Crew .- Early years :...
, Horace Clarence Boyer
Horace Clarence Boyer
Dr. Horace Clarence Boyer was one of the foremost scholars in African-American gospel music. He and his brother James had a career as singers under the name the Famous Boyer Brothers...
, Marvin Weatherford and Xanielle Davis. The choir were nominated for an ARIA award in 2005.
Choir structure
The choir consists of three main groups:- The main choir, which requires a single audition and is open to all members of the public as well as Conservatorium students. This main choir now numbers at over 120.
- The "45". This smaller, more exclusive group requires a second, more extensive audition, and handles more professional performances and recordings.
- The "Disciples". This group ranges in number from 6 to 12 depending on the performance, who usually have their own individual microphones in performances with the 45 or main choir, and sometimes perform small professional and promotional gigs on their own. The Disciples are made up of singers selected by Legg and vocal coach Maria Lurighi from the 45, specifically for their vocal sounds and the mix of the group together.
Members of the choir range in age from 14 to 60 and come from many varied backgrounds and parts of the Tasmanian community.
Styles
Whilst performing under the general genre of gospel musicGospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, the Southern Gospel Choir integrates songs of many styles into its repertoire. These include traditional spirituals such as Steal Away
Steal Away
"Steal Away" is an American Negro spiritual. The song is well known by variations of the chorus:Many say that songs like "Steal Away to Jesus", and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", "Wade in the Water" and the "Gospel Train" are secret codes not only to have faith in God, but were hidden messages for...
, as well as many contemporary pieces which take their inspiration from styles such as jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, and hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
. This is intended to make the music performed by the choir accessible and enjoyable to a wide range of audiences.
The Southern Gospel Choir performs varied styles of gigs, from performances with their band to "unplugged" concerts with just piano and choir, to collaborations with other musicians such as The Idea of North
The Idea of North
The Idea of North are an Australian a cappella vocal ensemble, founded in Canberra in 1993. The group's name is taken from radio broadcasts of pianist Glenn Gould....
and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is the smallest of the six orchestras established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation .-Activities:...
. A usual concert consists of many songs from various styles of gospel music, some with the band and some without, and many of the pieces feature soloists and improvisation.
Association with the Conservatorium & University
The Southern Gospel Choir is run as several units at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of MusicTasmanian Conservatorium of Music
The Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music forms part of the faculty of Arts at the University of Tasmania. It is a music training institution with courses and specializations in classical and contemporary music, music education, technology and composition....
, which is part of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Tasmania
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...
. Members of the general public who are not enrolled in a university degree can audition for and join the choir, and are then enrolled in the choir unit as a part of an Associate Degree in Music Studies. This can then count towards this degree (or a number of other degrees) if they choose to later enrol in a course at the University of Tasmania
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...
.
Many students at the Conservatorium who are enrolled in courses, classical or contemporary, such as the Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Music Studies, Associate degrees, Rock Revolutions or Musical Theatre courses use the gospel choir units to count towards their degrees.
Weekly rehearsals for the choir are held at the Conservatorium, and ticket sales for the choir's performances are handled by the Conservatorium's booking office.
Notable Past Performances
- In early September 2009, the Southern Gospel Choir performed in the first production of "Broadway To Australia", a collaboration between the University of TasmaniaUniversity of TasmaniaThe University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...
, the Tasmanian Conservatorium of MusicTasmanian Conservatorium of MusicThe Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music forms part of the faculty of Arts at the University of Tasmania. It is a music training institution with courses and specializations in classical and contemporary music, music education, technology and composition....
and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Selected pieces were featured in the show from musicals by Broadway writing team Lynn AhrensLynn AhrensLynn Ahrens is an American writer and lyricist for the musical theatre, television and film. She has collaborated with Stephen Flaherty for many years...
& Stephen FlahertyStephen FlahertyStephen Flaherty is an American composer of musical theatre. He works most often in collaboration with the lyricist/bookwriter Lynn Ahrens...
, who were interviewed onstage throughout the show. The SGC performed alongside an orchestra consisting of Conservatorium staff & students, and notable Australian music theatre performers Kellie Rode, Christopher Parker, Adrian Li Donni, and Julie O'Reilly. The show was performed in Melbourne, Sydney, and Hobart. - On November 22nd 2008, the SGC performed to a full house alongside internationally-renowned a cappella quartet The Idea of NorthThe Idea of NorthThe Idea of North are an Australian a cappella vocal ensemble, founded in Canberra in 1993. The group's name is taken from radio broadcasts of pianist Glenn Gould....
and the Tasmanian Symphony OrchestraTasmanian Symphony OrchestraThe Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is the smallest of the six orchestras established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation .-Activities:...
in a show named "Jazz Meets Gospel" at Wrest Point's Tasman Room, featuring both the choir's regular repertoire as well as combined items with the TSO and TION. - The Southern Gospel Choir were a featured act in Sing Salamanca in early January 2008 and again in January 2009, part of the SalamancaSalamanca, TasmaniaSalamanca Place is a precinct of Hobart, capital city of the Australian state of Tasmania.Salamanca Place itself consists of rows of sandstone buildings, formerly warehouses for the port of Hobart Town that have since been converted into restaurants, galleries, craft shops and offices...
Arts Festival. They performed alongside musicians such as Violent FemmesViolent FemmesViolent Femmes were an American alternative rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, initially active between 1980 and 1987 and again from 1988 to 2009...
bassist Brian RitchieBrian RitchieBrian Ritchie was the bass guitarist for the alternative rock band Violent Femmes.In addition to his bass playing, Ritchie is proficient at the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute...
, Michael Spiby of The BadlovesThe BadlovesThe Badloves is an Australian band that formed in 1990, dissolved in 1997 and reformed in 2008.-1990:The Badloves were formed by frontman Michael Spiby in Melbourne during January 1990 under the name DC3. The band consisted of Spiby , his brother John Spiby , John Housden , Stephen O'Prey and...
, and local musician Dean Stevenson. - 12 members represented the choir in Dream Masons, a large-scale theatre spectacle performed in the windows and on the facade of the SalamancaSalamanca, TasmaniaSalamanca Place is a precinct of Hobart, capital city of the Australian state of Tasmania.Salamanca Place itself consists of rows of sandstone buildings, formerly warehouses for the port of Hobart Town that have since been converted into restaurants, galleries, craft shops and offices...
Arts Centre in March 2007 as part of Ten Days On The Island. They performed 3 songs throughout the piece. - The Southern Gospel Choir were guest artists at The Idea of NorthThe Idea of NorthThe Idea of North are an Australian a cappella vocal ensemble, founded in Canberra in 1993. The group's name is taken from radio broadcasts of pianist Glenn Gould....
's concert held at the Theatre RoyalTheatre Royal, HobartThe Theatre Royal is situated in central Hobart, Tasmania. It stages many events including international ballet, opera, drama and musicals. It was constructed between 1834-1837 and is the oldest continually operating theatre in Australia....
in late 2006, to promote their album The Gospel Project.