Qwire Concert : Rise Up!

Sun, 20 Jun 2021
Canberra Qwire was delighted to perform again to our wonderful Canberra community after a year of COVID restrictions.  Rise Up! was a celebration of hope and resilience with songs reflecting this theme.  Cheyne Halloran opened proceedings with a Welcome to Country after which Adrienne Francis from ABC 666 mced the concert.  Karen Wilden and Jenny Sawer brought the best out of our 60 singers conducting with enthusiasm and joy.  Jessica Stewart (Qwire's accompanist) led a small band of musicians adding extra musical flavour to the event.  With over 500 audience members Llewellyn Hall rang out with beautiful harmonies and much applause.  The joy of being together again sharing music was palpable.
The concert opened with a dramatic rendition of 'State of Alert' written by Jenny Sawer (our AMD) and her partner James Halligan.  Qwire's couch choir video was projected on the wall behind singers bringing to life the song's moving images - thanks to 'Coordinate' for producing the video.
The remaining repertoire consisted of : The Cloud, Washing of the water, You'll never walk alone, And so it goes, The Two of Us, Fields of Gold, I will survive, One day, Sure on this shining night, Let the river run, Bridge over troubled water, Rainbow, Rise UP, What a wonderful world, How can I keep from singing, From now on., with an encore of Home. 
It was an emotional night as this was Karen Wilden's final formal concert conducting Canberra Qwire.  We look forward to Karen relaxing with us as a singer again.
City News reviewed the concert https://citynews.com.au/2021/a-rousing-celebration-of-hope-and-resilience/ and thanks again to Peter Hislop for his wonderful photos.