Little Ray of Sunshine

On December 10th we sang at a benefit concert for a little local girl who is sick in hospital with a brain tumour. We managed to raise almost $2000 for the girl's family. Many thanks to all the performers who participated in the concert and to the Mid-Mountain's community for your generous donations. Thanks also to Mountains Outreach Community Service for supporting the event.

Gracie, you are in our thoughts and prayers. We are singing for you. Be strong sweetheart.

Here is Grace a year ago (wearing pink) at playgroup.

Winter Magic

Recently we performed at the Winter Magic Festival in Katoomba. It was, as usual, freeeezing! We did a performance during the day at St Hilda's Church and a performance on the balcony of the Carrington Hotel during the evening. We sang a few songs just before the fireworks display. Hearing the audience singing along to "Don't Dream It's Over" was a highlight. Being the act before the fireworks was exciting. Here are a couple of photos of us singing on the balcony.

Choir Reunion

On May the 30th we had a reunion for choir members past and present. It was nice to catch up with people, to sing some old songs and to look at some of our old photos. Thanks again to Ian for organising it!

Crowd Around Reunion

We are having a reunion at the Wentworth Falls School of Arts on Saturday the 30th of May between 2 and 7pm.  All past and present members of our choir are invited to attend.  Our choir has existed now for 16 years and has had 100s of members come and go (and some have even stayed) in that time.  Many thanks to Ian Lett for organising this event.  Hopefully there will be a good turn-out of people there.  It will be great to see some old friends again!

Below are some old photos of the choir.  We even used to have a uniform!

National Folk Festival

On the easter long weekend we performed at the National Folk Festival in Canberra.  Our performance on the Saturday was particularly enjoyable - we drew quite a large crowd and gained a few new fans from the Qi Gong massage tent nearby!  It was so great to have Kate there this year and so many choir members.

Rydal Retreat

In March we had our annual retreat at "Rydal Mount" conference centre in Rydal.  As usual we had our Italian food night on the Friday and our Indian curry night on the Saturday. We had our singing workshops with Kate on the Saturday and Sunday, some live music (by some choir members) on the Saturday night, we went on some nice walks and bike rides in the area, ate LOTS of food and drank just a little bit.  Our retreats are a great way of getting to know each other and of welcoming any new members.  

Victorian Bushfires Benefit Concert

We were very shocked and saddened by the Victorian bushfires that happened a few weeks ago. About two hundred lives were lost and hundreds of homes were destroyed also.

On Sunday the 15th we had a benefit concert for the victims of the fires.  I am very happy to report that almost $1700 was raised, a remarkable effort given the short notice for both performers and audience.

I would like to thank Crowd Around Choir, the Mudlarks and the members of Joyful Noise who were able to attend.  Thanks also to the choir directors, Kate and Alison, the Hazelbrook Uniting Church and the generous community of the Mid Mountains.  Well done everyone.

Online at last!

Hello and welcome to our blog!  My name is Nadia and I have been a member of "Crowd Around" for 11 years now.  I have elected myself to be the official "blogger" of the group, so here's hoping that I do a good job!

Last week we had our first rehearsal of the year.  It was good to see so many of our regular members again and to see 4 new people as well.  Now is quite an exciting time to join our choir because we will be having our annual weekend retreat at "Rydal Mount" in Rydal this term and will also be rehearsing songs for our performances at Canberra's National Folk Festival at Easter time!

We are always looking for new members, so if you would like to sing with us please call Kate on 4759 3937 or send an email to crowdaround@gmail.com

Below are some photos of us singing at Rydal and Canberra last year.