Local choir, Broken Hill Community Voices, was featured at a music symposium at Redruth, Cornwall in the United Kingdom last Saturday, leaving the symposium’s organisers curious to find out how a choir in outback Australia came to be singing songs in Cornish – a Celtic language, with the answer landing in Broken Hill’s Cornish mining heritage.
The choir’s musical director, Robynne Sanderson, was interviewed about the choir via Zoom in a segment which also featured the choir singing several songs in Cornish.
It was in front of a live audience in Cornwall, but was also streamed so people in Australia and other countries could join in. As well as featuring our homegrown choir, this event also put a spotlight on the city of Broken Hill.
Broken Hill Community Voices sing songs about social justice, but also love to sing songs which reflect Broken Hill’s diverse multicultural background with the choir’s most recent performance – a traditional Croation song – being performed at the 80th anniversary of Alagich’s clothing shop, reflecting a part of the city’s rich multicultural heritage.
New singers are welcome to attend choir practice at 3pm on Saturdays in the hall behind Saint James Church at 143 Wilson Street.
A video of the interview will be made available on the Cornish National Music Archive’s YouTube channel in coming weeks – youtube.com/@cornishnationalmusicarchiv1885
