Abbotsleigh girls bound for European tour

Aside from a quick trip back to the family cattle farm near Singleton, this break Kaitlyn will be heading to Europe with fellow students and members of the Abbotsleigh Chamber Choir and String Orchestra.

“Performing music by eminent Australian composers in the extraordinarily beautiful Italian, Slovenian and Austrian venues will be an exhilarating experience and a great privilege,” said Abbotsleigh’s director of music, Kimbali Harding.

The music tour will include masterclasses with distinguished music professors in Ljubljana and performances at the Summa Cum Laude Youth Music Festival in Vienna. The Abbotsleigh Music Tour Group will present a program of exclusively Australian music, aiming to share the Australian spirit with European audiences.

“We are rehearsing works by Australian composers Katy Abbott, Elena Kats-Chernin, Ross Edwards, Graeme Koehne, Matthew Hindson and Paul Stanhope,” she said.

Abbotsleigh has commissioned a work by Nicholas Vines for the tour.

Of Mount and Meadow is for mixed chamber ensemble, in particular a combination of strings, woodwind and brass and the instrumentalists are  working hard to learn this challenging piece,” Ms Harding said.

Kathryn, who “loves singing”, has been with the school choir for two years, and is most excited about visiting Italy. She appreciates the teamwork in the choir.

“I like playing team sports and being in a choir is also like a team activity,” she said. “You can’t have one big piece performed by only a couple of people. You actually need to have a whole group of people to have it complete because it sounds a lot better that way.  

“I’m also looking forward to getting to know new girls in other year groups. That’s what’s happening with the Europe tour – we’re put with girls in other year groups who we don’t know.”

The Abbotsleigh Chamber Choir and String Orchestra has undertaken many tours of Europe, performing in some of the finest historical venues, to great acclaim.

These previous venues include Notre Dame Cathedral and the Madeleine Church in Paris, Canterbury Cathedral in Britain and St Mark’s Basilica in Venice.

“The Abbotsleigh music department is committed to providing our students with experience in performing repertoire by Australian composers,” Ms Harding said. “We have commissioned works over the past years and take pride in showcasing significant Australian composers both in our school concerts and on international tours.

“Composition is a fundamental aspect of the music program at Abbotsleigh and this year Harry Sdraulig has joined the department as the composer on staff.

“The nurturing of creativity in our music students will also impact their thought processes in other subjects, allowing the girls to engage with curiosity and passion.”

When she’s not singing with the choir, Kathryn can be found on a sports field.

“I love my sport – mainly soccer and cricket,” she said.

“At Abbotsleigh, being a boarder is really good as well because you get to know girls from overseas.”