Choral Productions Tasmania Inc.

was founded by Margot Lampkin in February 2000, after repeated requests by students in her Beginner Choral Singing group at Adult Education in Hobart.

There were very few singing opportunities at that time in the Kingston area, so Margot advertised the new singing group and began with a great group of men and women, incl. the Adult Ed students.

Discussions about a suitable name resulted in ‘The Kingston Singers’ but new groups in the area began calling themselves ‘The Kingston ........’ and it became quite confusing, so in 2008 the name was changed to ‘The Southern Voices’.

As ‘The Kingston Singers’ the choir recorded a CD Flying Free in 2005, and were (and still are) delighted with the results. Items include Panis Angelicus, ‘Cross the Wide Missouri, Bring Him Home from Les Miserables, Rhythm of Life from Sweet Charity,  and Mozart’s Alleluia. Copies are still available at $15 ea.

In February 2010, the choir celebrated its 10th Anniversary with a dinner at the Brookfield Vineyard in Margate. Co-owner Helen Lindsay, is in the choir.

Currently, the choir has 35 singers and performs a similar repertoire to the other choirs in Choral Productions Tasmania Inc - songs from music theatre, gospel, folk, ‘million sellers of the 20th century’, some classical and of course lots of Christmas songs and ‘songs of inspiration’ during December.

The Southern Voices is the ‘resident’ choir for the Kingborough Council’s Australia Day Citizenship Ceremonies in January every year, and the Council’s Anzac Day commemorative services in April, and also performs every February at the Middleton Country Fair, and the Middleton Carols by Candlelight in December.

The 10th Anniversary concert in July this year is ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein & friends’, and will feature songs from Oklahoma, Carousel, The Sound of Music etc. plus lots of Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington  and others. Don’t miss it, it will be great! There will be 2 performances - the first on Saturday, July 3 in the Palais Theatre, Main Rd. Franklin, and the second on Sunday, July 4, in the Kingborough Senior Citizens’ Club, Redwood Rd. Both performances from 2-4.30pm. A special guest choir on this occasion will be the Cygnet Singers.

Tickets are available now from Bertoz Jewellers, Channel Court, Kingston, and at the door on the day from 1.30pm. A delicious afternoon tea is included.

The annual Christmas Concert will be on Saturday & Sunday, Dec. 4 & 5 at the same venues.

Margot’s 10-week ‘Beginner Choral Singing’ class has just concluded on Tuesday evenings in Hobart, designed to introduce newcomers to the joys of singing in a group. Both male and female singers attended, and four have decided to join our Lincoln Singers and two are joining our Southern Voices. The next ‘Beginner Choral Singing’ series will be held from September, this time focussing on male singers. More information can be obtained from Margot by phoning 6244 5344 or emailing  contact@choralproductions.com. 

The Southern Voices