Catholic Primar y S chools Choir Festival
On Wednesday, 14 August 2013, over 250 parents and students filled the gymnasium at Merici College, Braddon to enjoy the voices of primary school choirs from seven schools around the Archdiocese. The choirs came from Moruya, Cooma, Gundagai, Batehaven, Lake Cargelligo and the Canberra area. The Canberra Branch of the Knights of the Southern Cross and the Catholic Education Office have worked for the past 9 months to create and organise the event and Merici College again volunteered to host the festival. The Apostolic Nuncio to Australia, His Excellency Most Reverend Paul Gallagher, awarded the trophies for the first three places and the Encouragement Award. Choirs ranged in size from 12 to 47 members and some children, who attended last year’s festival, waited enthusiastically for 12 months to participate again. The aim of the choir festival is to let children experience the fun of performing in public. Three professional judges volunteered their services for the festival - Jaki Kane, Jenny McCarthy and Marjorie Lindenmayer - all with many years of involvement with choirs. The quality of performances from all schools was outstanding. Students demonstrated a love of singing and it was evident that they were very pleased to be representing their schools. The winners of this year’s Choir Festival are: 1st Place - St Edmund’s Junior School, Griffith, ACT 2nd Place – St Patrick’s Parish School, Cooma, NSW 3rd Place – St Bernard’s Primary School, Batehaven, NSW Encouragement Award – St Francis Xavier School, Lake Cargelligo, NSW Due to the success of the festival, it is anticipated that this event will be held again in 2014. Many thanks to: The ACT Knights of the Southern Cross Merici College for hosting the event Principals, teachers, parents and community members for preparing the choirs and transporting the students to Canberra Students from ACT & NSW schools
Mary Dorrian, Head of Service Religious Education and Curriculum Services