audience , or congregation , sang mightily , ably supported by our organist , David Brown .
While the final notes from Hark ! The Herald Angels Sing heralded the end of the year , January saw the Scotch College Symphony Orchestra turning up to the Music School for some intense rehearsal ahead of a tour to France , Belgium and England . The program was big : Elgar ’ s magnificent Enigma Variations , Korngold ’ s dazzling concerto for violin , with Leon Fei (' 22 ) as soloist , the glorious Cello concerto by Saint-Saëns , with Jun Gardiner ( Year 7 ) as soloist , the Violin Concerto No 3 , also by Saint-Saëns , with Lachlan Chen (’ 22 ) as soloist , and Scaramouche by Milhaud , with Xavier Tang (' 22 ) as solo saxophone . Xavier was also the tenor soloist for Every Valley from Handel ’ s Messiah . The Cardinals ' vocal ensemble were also part of the tour , and opened each concert with a close harmony version of Advance Australia Fair .
We landed in France and gave two concerts in Paris . The second was at the magnificent church , La Madeleine ( the orchestra last played there 10 years ago ). We visited Villers- Bretonneux , famously liberated by the Australians from the Germans in World War I , and I was pleased to see Alan Blankfield ’ s book Never Forget Australia preserved in the museum . Alan , father of Jo Blankfield from the Voice Department , wrote the book in 1994 , and I presented the first copy to the Mayor of Villers- Bretonneux in January 1995 on the first orchestra tour to Europe .
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