Wollongong Conservatorium of Music's finest jazz singers, a backing band, a children's choir and circus acts are all ready to 'Jingle Bell Rock' MacCabe Park on Thursday, December 12.
"Be ready to sing along," says WollCon's Trish Delaney-Brown, the music director of Carols in MacCabe Park.
“Bring your voices… bring your favourite tipple and a picnic blanket and your favourite people and just come ready to bow out of the Christmas rush for a couple of hours. It'll be wonderful to sing some songs that everybody knows and get into the spirit.”
A free family night presented by Wollongong City Council, Carols in MacCabe Park will feature WollCon’s children’s choir and top jazz vocalists, as well as the Wollongong Brass Band, visiting gospel singers, Hula Hooping Elves and Circus Monoxide stars.
Special guests the Cook Islands Christian Church Choir will travel from Liverpool to deliver an Islander Christmas set, Trish says. “They'll be doing O Holy Night, an Islander Christmas song and a gospel Christmas song called Go Tell It On The Mountain.
“WollCon are providing our premier jazz vocal ensemble, the Hummingbirds, and our children's choir and youth choir combined will be doing a couple of numbers.”
A WollCon vocals tutor, Trish was the Con’s head of vocals, enjoying five “wonderful” years under the leadership of former CEO David Francis until stepping down recently to focus on her Masters in Music Production. She says the carols will be a great experience for the Con's young choir – made up of students in years 5 and 6 – as they’ll get to perform with a backing band instead of the usual piano accompanist.
“We've got the Wollongong Brass Band accompanying the singalong portion … so things like Jingle Bell Rock, I'll Be Home For Christmas, Jingle Bells. That's going to be lots of fun.
"The children's choir will be singing Silent Night for everyone to sing along with and then they'll be doing Jingle Bell Rock with the backing band.”
The Con's top jazz singers will perform three numbers. “The Hummingbirds are singing an original Australian Christmas song that I've written called All Over the World; Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas; and they'll be doing a fantastic arrangement of Jingle Bells that Michael Buble and the Puppini Sisters performed – and we performed it last year at the big Christmas gala at the Town Hall."
Trish’s composition, All Over the World, was inspired by the universal spirit of Christmas.
“I’ve always wanted to write a Christmas song,” she says.
“I was playing with the idea of the northern and southern hemisphere and that our experiences of Christmas are very different because of climate, etcetera. But when you kind of burrow down to the nub of it, the spirit of Christmas is the same all over the world.
“The overwhelming response of people when you ask them what Christmas is about for them – it's about family, it's about peace and it's about joy.
“That's a spirit that I would like to see spreading throughout our world, more and more, and not just at Christmas time.”
The family carols are not aligned with any particular church or denomination.
“We are just celebrating Christmas in all of its splendour," Trish says.
“These events are always unique because it's who's on stage and the atmosphere that's created between the performers and the audience … That’s the beauty of life performance.”
The carols will be on from 7-8.30pm, timed to coincide with Thursday evening’s Crown Street Markets Christmas Markets, on from 5-9pm in the mall.
“It's carrying that community family vibe through,” says Trish, who'll also be performing at the event.
“I love community carol events. I've often been a guest artist, last year I was at Bondi. It's awesome … It’s steeped in history for me. I've got memories of being live at these events and of spending Christmas Eve with the Carols in the Domain on the TV.
"Christmas is not complete without a community carols event.”
The Wollongong crowd is in for a treat, with the free carols shaping up as one of the merriest events of the season.
“I think people will turn up and they'll get the best of what a Carols by Candlelight is about. And that's sitting on your picnic rug with your family and friends and enjoying some great music – songs that you recognise and hopefully a few surprises in there as well.”
Fast facts
What: Carols in MacCabe Park is presented by Wollongong City Council, with carols led by the musicians from Wollongong Conservatorium of Music, live stage shows including Hula Hooping Elves and a Circus Monoxide Christmas show, roving entertainment, and festive face painting. Santa is tipped to turn up towards the end of the night.
Where: MacCabe Park, Wollongong
When: Thursday, 12 December, 7-8.30pm
