SCUNA history » Intervarsities and Minifests
On this page: Introduction | 1971 IV | Mayhem 1975 | 1977 IV | Minifest 1984
See also Participation in Intervarsity Choral Festivals and Minifests
An Intervarsity Choral Festival (abbreviation: IV) is "a gathering of university choirs held annually and hosted by cities on a rotating basis. Usually lasting fourteen days and including two concerts".* A Minifest is "much like a full festival but shorter in duration ... usually lasting about nine days and including only one large-scale concert".*
The Intervarsity Choral Movement began with a Sydney festival of SUMS and MUCS in 1950 and is still going strong.
This page points to individual pages on intervarsity choral activities in Canberra between 1971 and 1988. The individual pages are based on documents which have come to light but the quantities are very uneven, ranging from quite a bit of 1977 documentation to almost none for the 1984 Minifest. If you can fill in any gaps, please me.
I have taken the liberty of including some of my own recollections, especially of the 1971 IV. I was extensively involved in the planning, and then acted as IV Secretary. It's a long time ago, however, so other viewpoints (and documents!) would be welcome.
The logo for the 1971 Canberra IV was designed by Judith Clingan. It is based on Ethos, the ACT's first commissioned piece of public art. Ethos is a sculpture made by Tom Bass in 1961 to represent the spirit of Canberra. The statue stands outside the ACT Legislative Assembly in Civic Square and more information about it appears in the ACT Government's public art database.
The logo was used on the official letterhead, which is reproduced, complete with the names of the festival's patrons, on the 1971 IV page.
The 1971 IV page also covers planning, personnel, details of the camp, what happened back in Canberra, and the aftermath. There are separate pages on the Individual Items Concert, the main concert, and the official photo.
I have split the information about MAYHEM into two pages: Organisation and Concert.
Organisation contains Erato and Bullsheet information and a festival schedule.
Concert contains a flier about the concert, the concert programme, and the Canberra Times review. The concert programme lists the Festival Committee, participating choirs, and acknowledgements.
I was given access to so much information about the 1977 IV that its web representation extends over 14 pages. I have created an index of all the pages, and also an index of the programme, which makes up five of the 14.
Brian Hingerty, who conducted the 1977 IV, gave me the material he had kept. Jonathan Brown provided me with scans of the (wonderful) posters. I also found some documents in the Manuscripts section of the National Library of Australia (MS 6266, Records of Australian Intervarsity Choral Societies' Association 1951-84). I believe they are preserved there thanks to the work of Helene Phillips (now Stead) as AICSA Archivist in 1976.
The page for Minifest 1984, SCUNA's 21st birthday, contains information from Laudate,* a scan of the Festival Information Booklet cover, and five articles from Erato:
*Peter Campbell, Laudate: the first 50 years of the Australian Intervarsity Choral Movement, PC Publishing, Canberra, 1999. I'm indebted to Peter also for the dates of the 22nd Intervarsity Choral Festival, which don't appear on any of the documents I have.