 | Welcome to our second newsletter about A Passion for Peace, our big project and choral work for 2015. This is also the first newsletter we have developed and published as a weblog. DIARY DATES - AT A GLANCEJuly 2014 Revisiting the Resolutions of the 1915 International Congress of Women Seminar and Canberra Conversation Details to be confirmed. 11 November 2014, 7.30 pm A Passion for Peace, work-in-progress concert and conversation Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture 15 Blackall Street, Barton. 27 April–1 May, 2015 A Passion for Peace Festival The Albert Hall, Yarralumla. A lot has happened since our first newsletter in February. Click 'Read More' to find out more about these events, our plans and how you can join in! |
A PASSION FOR PEACE
A Passion for Peace is a community oratorio that we are creating for premiere performances by 100–200 singers in April 2015. It is inspired by 1300 women who gathered in The Hague from 12 warring and neutral nations at the end of April 1915 for the International Congress of Women, while Australian and New Zealand soldiers were in the first heartsick week of the eight-month Gallipoli campaign.
We will perform A Passion for Peace as part of a five-day peace festival at the Albert Hall which will coincide with the centenary congress of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) at The Hague in the same week.
When: 27 April to 1 May 2015 (detailed program tbc)
Where: The Albert Hall, Yarralumla
>> See our first newsletter and other information on our website for more details about the vision A Passion for Peace initiator and composer Glenda Cloughley has for the work.
>> See this website for a wonderful collection of documents about the International Congress of Women in 1915, the resolutions and subsequent visits to European capitals, heads of state and senior ministers.
We will perform A Passion for Peace as part of a five-day peace festival at the Albert Hall which will coincide with the centenary congress of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) at The Hague in the same week.
When: 27 April to 1 May 2015 (detailed program tbc)
Where: The Albert Hall, Yarralumla
>> See our first newsletter and other information on our website for more details about the vision A Passion for Peace initiator and composer Glenda Cloughley has for the work.
>> See this website for a wonderful collection of documents about the International Congress of Women in 1915, the resolutions and subsequent visits to European capitals, heads of state and senior ministers.
NEWS
CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT
Passion composer Glenda Cloughley is hard at work developing the libretto and score for the work. In March she ran sessions with small groups of Chorus women to talk through the development of the ‘plot’ and gather philosophical responses and ideas. This is an important part of the collaborative way that Chorus works. She is being assisted with dramaturgy by our great Chorus friend, Christine Hansen, who is currently working at Gothenburg University and has experience in theatre and dramaturgy. Glenda brought the first music to our rehearsal on 18 May and we eagerly await the next work-in-progress outings.
WEB LINK WITH THE HAGUE
Chorus is excited to confirm that we are definitely on the program for the international centenary WILPF congress at The Hague from 28 April to 1 May 2015! The congress organisers are in discussion with our musical director, Johanna McBride, to arrange for part of our Canberra performance to be broadcast at The Hague congress via a web link. The details of the broadcast are now being worked out.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Our information session in March attracted a group of wonderful new singers and helpers for the project who are now working passionately on various aspects of the project plan and budget under project manager Janet Salisbury's leadership.
Our Fundraising Team headed by Libby Lloyd AM is very busy. We are working towards a fundraising target of $50,000 (from a total budget of $170,000 - the remainder of which will come from ticket sales, donations and volunteer/in-kind contributions). We are exploring grant options, crowdsourcing and other sources.
>> If you know of a source of funding, or can help in other ways, please let us know.
We also have a Communications Team led by Danni Abou-takka, who has worked with Miriam Pickard and others to set up a Facebook site for A Chorus of Women as well as this weblog.
We are also developing a graphic motif for the project - a tricky task - so if you have any ideas, do let us know!
MEETINGS, GATHERINGS AND SINGING
We have had a number of meetings for the Passion project since March and have now developed a more regular schedule. See our Meetings & Rehearsals page for venues, other details and updates of planning meetings and gatherings for the project. In particular, we warmly invite anyone interested in the project to join us for the Sunday afternoon gatherings in June.
RELATED ACTIVITIES
Remembering War - Seeking Peace, Anzac Canberra Conversation
Our Anzac conversation was a rich exploration of how we remember Australian service people killed in war, as well as others affected by wars, and how this might help us to avoid war and seek peaceful solutions to conflicts in future.
Manning Clark House was an excellent venue for this intimate conversation, which included a member of the ACT RSL, a member of the former Anzac Commemoration Advisory Council, members of MCH, organisers of the Anzac Eve Peace Vigil, eight Chorus members and others. See our report of the conversation on our website.
Anzac Eve Peace Vigil
A Chorus of Women once again took part in the 4th annual lantern lit Peace Vigil. As in previous years, we opened the event at the top of Mt Ainslie with community singing of peace songs. After Ngunnawal elder Jeanette Phillips (Nin) gave a Welcome to Country, we sang Glenda and Aunty Jude Kelly’s beautiful ‘Spirit Songs for Anzac Eve’. A lantern parade down the mountain continued to the Australian War Memorial Forecourt for a peace fire and lantern-lit ceremony of lament for all those affected by war. The support we received from the Australian War Memorial this year was very encouraging (see the Canberra Times article).
Passion composer Glenda Cloughley is hard at work developing the libretto and score for the work. In March she ran sessions with small groups of Chorus women to talk through the development of the ‘plot’ and gather philosophical responses and ideas. This is an important part of the collaborative way that Chorus works. She is being assisted with dramaturgy by our great Chorus friend, Christine Hansen, who is currently working at Gothenburg University and has experience in theatre and dramaturgy. Glenda brought the first music to our rehearsal on 18 May and we eagerly await the next work-in-progress outings.
WEB LINK WITH THE HAGUE
Chorus is excited to confirm that we are definitely on the program for the international centenary WILPF congress at The Hague from 28 April to 1 May 2015! The congress organisers are in discussion with our musical director, Johanna McBride, to arrange for part of our Canberra performance to be broadcast at The Hague congress via a web link. The details of the broadcast are now being worked out.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Our information session in March attracted a group of wonderful new singers and helpers for the project who are now working passionately on various aspects of the project plan and budget under project manager Janet Salisbury's leadership.
Our Fundraising Team headed by Libby Lloyd AM is very busy. We are working towards a fundraising target of $50,000 (from a total budget of $170,000 - the remainder of which will come from ticket sales, donations and volunteer/in-kind contributions). We are exploring grant options, crowdsourcing and other sources.
>> If you know of a source of funding, or can help in other ways, please let us know.
We also have a Communications Team led by Danni Abou-takka, who has worked with Miriam Pickard and others to set up a Facebook site for A Chorus of Women as well as this weblog.
We are also developing a graphic motif for the project - a tricky task - so if you have any ideas, do let us know!
MEETINGS, GATHERINGS AND SINGING
We have had a number of meetings for the Passion project since March and have now developed a more regular schedule. See our Meetings & Rehearsals page for venues, other details and updates of planning meetings and gatherings for the project. In particular, we warmly invite anyone interested in the project to join us for the Sunday afternoon gatherings in June.
RELATED ACTIVITIES
Remembering War - Seeking Peace, Anzac Canberra Conversation
Our Anzac conversation was a rich exploration of how we remember Australian service people killed in war, as well as others affected by wars, and how this might help us to avoid war and seek peaceful solutions to conflicts in future.
Manning Clark House was an excellent venue for this intimate conversation, which included a member of the ACT RSL, a member of the former Anzac Commemoration Advisory Council, members of MCH, organisers of the Anzac Eve Peace Vigil, eight Chorus members and others. See our report of the conversation on our website.
Anzac Eve Peace Vigil
A Chorus of Women once again took part in the 4th annual lantern lit Peace Vigil. As in previous years, we opened the event at the top of Mt Ainslie with community singing of peace songs. After Ngunnawal elder Jeanette Phillips (Nin) gave a Welcome to Country, we sang Glenda and Aunty Jude Kelly’s beautiful ‘Spirit Songs for Anzac Eve’. A lantern parade down the mountain continued to the Australian War Memorial Forecourt for a peace fire and lantern-lit ceremony of lament for all those affected by war. The support we received from the Australian War Memorial this year was very encouraging (see the Canberra Times article).
SEMINAR AND CONVERSATION SERIES - NEXT EVENT
Our seminar and conversation series to raise community awareness about the project got under way with our Anzac Canberra Conversation (see above). Our next event will be a seminar and conversation event in early July:
Revisiting the resolutions of the 1915 International Congress of Women
The far-sighted resolutions of the 1915 International Women’s Congress are still reverberating in international affairs – such as through the first proposals for an International Court of Justice and other international institutions including what became the United Nations. Chorus member and international human rights lawyer Emilia Della Torre has analysed the resolutions of the conference in terms of human rights law today and has shown that they were prescient in every way of how this area of law has progressed over the past 100 years. We find ourselves asking, what can we still learn from these resolutions and what new resolutions should we make today that would guide humanity for the next 100 years?
We are planning to explore this question at a seminar and conversation in July (date tbc). In an exciting development, we have been talking to the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL) about the possibility of running our event in conjunction with their international conference — Towards International Peace through International Law — in early July. Watch this space for further details.
Revisiting the resolutions of the 1915 International Congress of Women
The far-sighted resolutions of the 1915 International Women’s Congress are still reverberating in international affairs – such as through the first proposals for an International Court of Justice and other international institutions including what became the United Nations. Chorus member and international human rights lawyer Emilia Della Torre has analysed the resolutions of the conference in terms of human rights law today and has shown that they were prescient in every way of how this area of law has progressed over the past 100 years. We find ourselves asking, what can we still learn from these resolutions and what new resolutions should we make today that would guide humanity for the next 100 years?
We are planning to explore this question at a seminar and conversation in July (date tbc). In an exciting development, we have been talking to the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL) about the possibility of running our event in conjunction with their international conference — Towards International Peace through International Law — in early July. Watch this space for further details.
WORK-IN-PROGRESS CONCERT AND CONVERSATION
This evening will combine a work-in-progress performance of A Passion for Peace with presentations by composer Glenda Cloughley and musical director Johanna McBride. This will be followed by a conversation with the audience facilitated by Janet Salisbury.
11 November 2014, 7.30pm
Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture
15 Blackall Street, Barton
Tickets: $20 ($15 concession)
11 November 2014, 7.30pm
Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture
15 Blackall Street, Barton
Tickets: $20 ($15 concession)
HELP NEEDED
We are a small community group and we are looking for more helpers to make our ambitious plans happen.
>> See our Helpers & Singers page for details about how you can help.
>> See our Helpers & Singers page for details about how you can help.
SINGERS
>> If you are interested in singing with us, it is not too early to let us know. See our Helpers & Singers page for further details.
CONTACTS
>> See our Contact Us page for contact details.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
In addition to our work on the Passion project, Chorus has also been busy with a number of other activities.
Chorus has also been busy singing at a range of other events, including the Break the Silence Rally for Refugees on 13 April in Canberra (where Glenda was also able to address the 2500-strong crowd for a few minutes about the Passion project); the Canberra launch of the National Energy Efficiency Network (NEEN) at the Great Hall, ANU; and the opening of the Gala concert of the Canberra International Music Festival, Saturday 10 May, where we sang Acknowledgment of Country composed by Glenda Cloughley with words by local poet Hazel Hall (see reports in City News and the SMH/Canberra Times).
>> Find us on Facebook for further details.
Chorus has also been busy singing at a range of other events, including the Break the Silence Rally for Refugees on 13 April in Canberra (where Glenda was also able to address the 2500-strong crowd for a few minutes about the Passion project); the Canberra launch of the National Energy Efficiency Network (NEEN) at the Great Hall, ANU; and the opening of the Gala concert of the Canberra International Music Festival, Saturday 10 May, where we sang Acknowledgment of Country composed by Glenda Cloughley with words by local poet Hazel Hall (see reports in City News and the SMH/Canberra Times).
>> Find us on Facebook for further details.
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