Dear AGC Parents,
We’re absolutely delighted to be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the AGC this week.
On March 7, 1984 Judith Curphey OAM started the Australian Girls Choir. Judith boldly named her little group of girls in Burwood the AGC as she believed that it was as worthy to train girls’ voices as boys’. The vast majority of children’s choirs around the world were mixed or for boys only, notably the Victorian Boys Choir, the Australian Boys Choir and the National Boys Choir (all based in Melbourne). Judith chose an unconventional path in a variety of ways and importantly decided that the girls would dance as well as sing; this decision was frowned upon by most traditional choral conductors. Within months she’d started the AGC in Adelaide and by 1989 the first international touring choir flew to Canada and also included girls from Sydney.
The AGC has grown into a beautiful, vibrant organisation that currently trains over 6,500 girls across Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, and we believe that it is the only choir of its kind in the world. Judith is now 94 years of age and recently attended one of the planned 40th anniversary events. It didn’t take much encouragement to have her conduct one song that was enthusiastically performed by 160 party goers including alumni and past and present staff members.
The confidence with which Judith led the organisation over the years remains an important aspect of how we work and we’re immensely proud to have a dynamic alumni network that strengthens year on year. At the suggestion of one such ex-chorister last year, we began investigating the idea of spreading our wings and in August will launch the Australian International Girls Choir in Singapore. The strong ties between Australia and Singapore lead us to believe that this expansion will be successful and in coming years, we hope to offer cultural exchange opportunities to our girls and staff. We encourage you to pass this information on to anyone you know who lives in Singapore and we hope soon to connect with former choristers and team members living up there.
Judith has inspired many of us who’ve worked with her over the years and at 40 years of age, we see that the AGC is a mature organisation that can welcome more girls from a range of cultural backgrounds into our community.
Nicole Muir AM
CEO
