Fine Arts Series
About
Avondale College's Fine Arts Series is a series of free artistic events presented primarily by staff members and students at Avondale College for members of the community. The events range from art exhibitions to musical performances.
The arts has been part of the curriculum at Avondale College since 1897, the year the Seventh-day Adventist Church founded its Cooranbong-based higher education institution. The first teacher, Herbert Lacey, studied classical music at Battle Creek College (Michigan, USA).
Our staff members and students continue to represent this tradition, a tradition built on commitment to excellence. Their artistic, instrumental and vocal gifts are ours to cultivate, and yours to enjoy.
The Fine Arts Series consists of the following event categories:
Chamber Artists
Chamber Artists is a series of recitals featuring selections from major composers, highlighting the aesthetics of music and the intimacy between the performers and their audience.
Creative Collective
Creative Collective is a series of free fine art and graphic design exhibitions presented by the Faculty of Arts at Avondale College.
Evensong
Evensong is a series of free meditative and reflective recitals presented and sponsored by the Faculty of Arts at Avondale College.
Masterclass
Masterclass is a series of free professional development seminars for musicians presented by the Faculty of Arts at Avondale College.
Master Works
Master Works is a series of concerts featuring the music of major composers, highlighting the aesthetics of music and challenging the performers in their virtuosity.
Calendar
Subscribe to the Avondale College Fine Arts Series newsletter. Subscribers receive one newsletter a month from March to December (10 emails a year).
Or visit Events for information about Fine Arts Series exhibitions, concerts and recitals.
Ensembles
Avondale Chamber Orchestra
Avondale Chamber Orchestra began in 1911. Its repertoire ranges from the Baroque music of Johann Sebastian Bach to the 20th century lilting jazz of Leroy Anderson. It also functions in a range of roles from solo presentations of concertos and large works to accompaniments for solos and larger choral works such as Handel's Messiah, Mendelssohn's Elijah and Brahm's Requiem in 2008. In 2007, the orchestra expanded to include wind instruments and percussion. Students from Avondale College and members of the community make up the orchestra. Dr Sohyun Eastham, a sessional lecturer in the Faculty of Arts at Avondale, directs the orchestra.
Avondale Singers
Avondale Singers began in 1947 and, with extensive touring and release of records played on radio, soon gained national recognition for excellence: performing for the first television broadcast of a choral group in Sydney. It is the largest vocal ensemble at Avondale College. Its repertoire ranges from gospel and spiritual arrangements to classical oratorio with orchestra in four- to eight-part harmony. Students form the core of the ensemble, but staff and community members and some local high school students are also members. The singers performed at United World Concert Tours' annual Sydney Youth Musicale at Sydney Opera House in 2009 and 2010 and at the Lake Macquarie Choral Festival and United Nations Day concert in Newcastle in 2009. The ensemble has many recordings to its credit, the most recent being a DVD of a performance of Handel's Messiah in 2007.
Avondale Wind Ensemble
Avondale Wind Ensemble has performed sacred music at local and regional worship services and secular music at concerts for students at Avondale College. The ensemble consists primarily of Avondale students with a smaller number of staff and community members.
The Promise
The Promise is a vocal ensemble dedicated to musical excellence, with a repertoire ranging from the classics to contemporary gospel.
News
Subscribe to the Avondale College Fine Arts Series newsletter. Subscribers receive one newsletter a month from March to December (10 emails a year).
Or visit News for news about the Fine Arts Series and reviews of Fine Arts Series events.
Support
Fine Arts Series is one of Avondale College's Passion Projects. Click here to make a donation by cheque or credit card if you believe in supporting our commitment to excellence in the fine arts.
