History of the Choir
The Cranbourne Lions Choir was formed in July 1991 by the Cranbourne Lions Club. In December that year, the Choir gave its first performance at the Cranbourne Senior Citizen's Christmas party. 1992 saw an increase in both membership and performances. These were mostly unison songs and it was not until Jeremy Richards was appointed as Musical Director that four part harmony became the norm. Jeremy was soon followed by another talented young man, Phillip Smith. This proved to be an exciting year with the Choir learning a great variety of choral numbers under Phillip's unique and entertaining style.
In 1994 the Choir had its first taste of competition against other Choirs. A placing of third at the Camberwell Eisteddfod was a wonderful result and set our sights on future competitions. The Choir was also now in demand by the local community and received several invitations to perform locally. One unforgettable highlight in 1995 was an invitation to perform at the McClelland Gallery in Langwarrin before Dame Elizabeth Murdoch. This was the Choir's best performance to date but Phillip’s last with the Choir.
Ms Chris Child was our next MD who started in June 1995, at the same time as Simon Loveless, our talented pianist. We were delighted to record our first Eisteddfod win - in the Community Groups section of the prestigious Royal South Street Eisteddfod, Ballarat.
Chris moved on in December 1995. Mr Christopher Stock , who came from an Army Music background, was chosen to lead us. The expansion of our repertoire, together with the enthusiasm of our new Musical Director, set the tone for the beginning of 1996.
Since then we have gone from strength to strength. Our repertoire has been greatly extended and we have been delighted to welcome many new members. Our musical knowledge has been broadened and we now learn new numbers much quicker. We again placed at Ballarat in ’96, ’97 and ‘98. Our 10 Year Anniversary Concert was a huge success as we celebrated the growth of the Choir over this period.
We have received several Cultural and Initiative Grants from the City of Casey and used them to successfully mount 3 “Casey Stars at twilight” free outdoor concerts at Wilson Botanic Park at Berwick. The first of these was awarded “City of Casey Community Event of the Year”.
Chris Stock remained with us until December 2006. 2007 was an interesting year. 25 members joined with the Yarra Valley Singers, Diamond Valley Singers, Yarra Valley Grammar School Choirs and the Maroondah Orchestra to perform Carmina Burana and Polovtsian Dances. During the year we were assisted by Cathy Northey but mainly by our wonderful accompanist and Assistant Music Director Simon Loveless. Towards the end of the year, Anne Credlin, Music Director of the Australian Welsh Male Choir spent several months preparing us for our Christmas performances and we were delighted that in December 2008 Anne was employed as our permanent Musical Director. Simon moved on in 2008 and Tom Buchanan took over. In February ‘09 we welcomed another wonderful accompanist Jonathan Baker.
2010 was an amazing year for the Choir. 34 singers, Anne and Simon and 12 supporters toured 3 cities in China to sing with a local choir in each city. This visit was an amazing combination of music, friendship, wonderful scenery and cultural experiences culminating with a performance on the Great Wall of China.
2012 was our 21st birthday where we celebrated 21 years of Fun, Friendship and Great Music with a retrospective concert featuring some of our favourite numbers from past years and a dinner to which past and present members and families and friends of the choir were invited. It was a wonderful tribute to past and present members. From this concert we produced our first commercial CD – Cranbourne Chorale in Concert.
In 2013 we performed the Fauré Requiem with a 12 piece Orchestra as part of our Fauré and Fun Concert.
2016 was the choir’s 25th Anniversary and we celebrated by performing the Rutter “Gloria” with Brass, Percussion and organ. We also published a written history of the choir “25 Years of Fun, Friendship and Great Music”.
2017 and 2018 featured concerts “Four Seasons in One Day” and Favourites – Something for Everyone”.
2019 saw the start of a new era with the appointment of Lucas De Jong as the new Musical Director following Anne Credlin's retirement at the end of 2018.
Cranbourne Chorale is a member of ANCA, Australian National Choral Association.
With over 60 members and still registered as the Cranbourne Lions Choir Incorporated and receiving support from members of the Lions Club, we perform as Cranbourne Chorale. We are justifiably proud of our achievements and look forward to continued success.