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Oyez
22 September 1971
by Sue Baldwin

SCUNA history » Oyez » 22 September 1971

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Official organ of Scuna          OYEZ          22.9.71

Dear people, hope you have all recovered from the orgy at the Staff Club on the 10th.1 For those of you who weren't there, or can't remember, the A.G.M. was a howling success, and before we started howling, we actually managed to elect a committee! I was so attached to the Presidency that no one could pry me loose (though many tried), but to prove that SCUNA is a tight, rather than a rigged, ship, we actually had elections for most other positions. The following people are steeling themselves to serve the Cause:

Pres: Sue Baldwin Burton Hall
P.O. Box 813
Sec'y: Annabel Wheeler _/_ Chermside St.,
Deakin
Treas: Mark Hyman Burton Hall
Librarian: Meg MacDonald __ Norman St.,
Deakin
NonExecs: Dorelle Pinch _/_ Chermside St.,
Deakin
David Dixon Burgmann College
A.N.U.

Since, for obvious reasons, we have no I.P.P.,2 the committee is somewhat depleted. To fill the breach, we decided to co-opt a hard working, energetic and intelligent young man, cunningly disguised as Richard Dixon,3 _/_ McPherson Court, O'Connor.

Foul rumours have been spreading that SCUNA is to produce a record called "SCUNA's Greatest Hits", or "Did We Really Sound Like That?"4 These rumours are now confirmed. We have tapes of past concerts from which to choose, and there is to be a Party and Tape-In this Saturday 25th at Meg [continued]

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MacDonald's place (see address above). Here we will bend our powerful minds to making a discriminating choice - more likely it will be a wallow in nostalgia (for the oldies), or an evening of Fine Music (for the newies). BYOG and come along at party time.

Since the weekend after next is long, the Sunday rehearsal will be on the Monday, same time, same station. If you go away, try & make it back by Monday arvo since St Paul's is looming on the horizon (quelle dreadful pensée).5 So we'd better put our noses to the grindstone, backs to the wall, shoulders to the wheel, and knuckle down to keeping a straight bat.

Health Report: Cramp

Orriv Wah,

Sue

Notes

1When I discovered that the Staff Club was no longer operating, I was sad and incredulous. It was a wonderful place for a club - a graceful old house with rooms upstairs and downstairs (several of which were involved in this AGM) and gardens rolling down to the lake. And it was open till midnight every day of the week, whereas pubs at the time of these Oyezes were only open 6 days a week, and only till 10pm. The Staff Club was a popular post-rehearsal destination!

[For more information about the building that used to house the Staff Club, see the Australian National University page Old Canberra House.]

Not all that many SCUNAE were on the staff but, once upon a time, someone was sent two membership badges by mistake. Furthermore, the signing-in table used to be right next to the loos: bold visitors nipped in there and then sauntered nonchalantly into the bar. This AGM was a rare occasion in that (I presume) we were all there legitimately.

My sole memory of this AGM - well. Shortly before, a bunch of us had taken part in a performance by Canberra Opera of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, directed by Donald Hollier. It was an all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza, complete with a topless scene and Afghan hounds. Tricky (see Note 3) had sold something like 17 tickets to workmates on the promise that they would see him dance (he was one of the sailors in the "brothel scene"). At the AGM, someone suggested a reprise: "Come on! Three of us are here!" and so the dance took place with Tricky, Mark Hyman and Gwyneth Ioannides. The missing fourth person was Ann May, who died in August 1971 at the age of 27. [I'll be putting more online to commemorate Ann.]

2Immediate Past President - Sue was the IPP.

3Richard Christopher Dixon aka Tricky (1946-1991)

4The SCUNA Record exists, and we really did sound like that. I was playing the Sweelinck (conducted by Chris Burrell) one day in London when a fairly knowledgeable countertenor friend turned up. "This mob's not bad," he opined. "Who are they?"

Telling him was one of those Great Moments in Life. It went some way to making up for all the patronising nonsense we were subjected to over there: "Fancy finding an Aussie singing in a choir!" Not that he was one of the people who said this sort of thing to us (they were mostly members of the Saltarello Choir or the English Bach Festival Chorus) but he certainly found it hard to believe he was listening to a bunch of unauditioned university students from the Colonies.

5I'm surprised, rereading these Oyezes, at how many times SCUNA sang at St Paul's. I only clearly remember singing there with SCUNA in 1968.

(I think it was 1968, because we sang the Bach Magnificat in G. I stood in for Judy on "Esurientes" and "Suscepit Israel" at a rehearsal, and was complimented by the conductor. No one can possibly imagine what that meant to me! Well, perhaps just the sopranos and altos of the time, and some of the tenors and basses...)

The proceeds of all these concerts went towards the St Paul's Organ Fund. Several SCUNAE (including me) and ex-SCUNAE were members of the choir at St Paul's and sang there all the time, so it's a bit of a blur.

February 2013: I've now added a page listing the four St Paul's Organ Fund recitals SCUNA gave.