Isabella on stage again

With their magnificent voices well rehearsed and several new songs added to their repertoire since last year's hugely successful tour of Japan, the acclaimed choral group Isabella A Cappella will perform their first public concert for 2002 at the Rochdale Theatre, Ballina Road, Goonellabah on Friday, 21 June at 7.30pm.

Under the musical direction of Jude Magee, the 8-voice group is made up of SCU graduates and current students. It was formed in 1984 by the late Isabel Atcheson, after whom it was named, and with a changing cast of members over the years it has maintained a reputation for performing excellence. This concert will be the final performance with the group of glorious soprano Georgina Pollard, who is moving on to new pastures as a solo performer.

As always, the group's repertoire encompasses songs ranging from humorous to the deeply moving, covering diverse genres, from pop and jazz to gospel and classical, with some foreign language songs from Africa, Japan and Colombia. A number of the songs have been arranged by Jude Magee.

Isabella has released two successful CDs and undertaken national and overseas tours, including the USA, New Zealand and Japan twice. Their songbook includes many works of the twentieth century's greatest songwriters, including Berlin, Gershwin, Rogers and Hart, Lennon/McCartney
and many more.

This recital will be the group's first in Lismore since their return from Japan last year. While they were away they performed twenty-plus concerts, including venues such as the Australian Embassy and the Tokyo Foreign Press Club. As well as fostering cultural links between SCU and Japanese universities, the concert tour promoted the constructing of the'Father Tony
Glynn Centre for Japanese Language and Culture' on SCU's Lismore campus.

Isabella A Cappella is now putting the finishing touches on a new CD, recorded at SCU, featuring its present line-up and repertoire, with booklet artwork based on photographs of the Japan tour.

Ticket prices for the Rochdale Theatre concert are $12/$8 and tickets are available at the door. Refreshments will be available before and after the concert, and during intermission.

* Photographs of Isabella A Cappela are available to the media on request.