As part of the Paynesville music festival, it has become tradition that the East Gippsland Symphonia plays at St Peter’s 9.30 Eucharist then performs a concert in the St Peter’s Quiet garden.
This year, the tradition was partially fulfilled.
The concert had to be moved into the church due to rain but it was nonetheless a wonderful feast of music to suit most tastes.
The Eucharistic theme was ‘With Songs of Neverending Praise’, the intercessions had a decidedly musical emphasis and the sermon, targeting a congregation of all ages was titled ‘Storytime with Webster D Duck’, a clever well delivered homily about recognising your gifts and acting on them.
The hymns were of the rousing variety as suits such a group and the congregation engaged in the singing with fitting gusto.
Conducted by Carryn Caithness, the symphonia is made up of mostly brass and percussion, some who are multi-instrumentalists and performers from a huge range of ages.
The audience was treated to music from the movies; Chicago, West Side Story, Aladdin and to brackets of music by composers such as Strauss and Henry Mancini.
There were brackets of music that invited audience participation, some to sing along to and some to guess the names and number of songs.
In all, it was a wonderful indulgence in music, movement and nostalgia.
