Cleftomaniacs Choir

That innate sense of community and belonging that we all have to the places we live is quite often built around two central elements of our society – music and food. This weekend both of these elements will be combined to create a truly unique opportunity for the Sydney community to come together.

The Harmony Bake-Off has been put together by the acclaimed Cleftomaniacs Choir and their musical director Gary Smith, who said that “everybody has been working hard, everybody is focused, incredibly optimistic and [is] getting very excited now”.

Smith, a former high school music teacher, joined the choir in 2002 when he was looking for work that was “more performance oriented”. This desire to create and perform for audiences is a trait many of the volunteer members of the choir also share.

“The choir is made up of mostly people from inner-western Sydney and they all have various occupations outside of the choir,” explained Smith. “We conduct a two-hour rehearsal every Thursday, which anybody is free to attend.”

Becoming a full fledged member of the choir though is a slightly more rigorous process than simply showing up to a rehearsal: “If somebody is still interested in auditioning after a few weeks at our rehearsal they are asked to learn a piece of music and perform that with a small group of people from the choir.”

This process allows for the Cleftomaniacs Choir to ensure their high standards are upheld. These standards have allowed the group to perform in professional productions with the Belvoir Theatre, in particular the stage show The Event, which Smith says was a “fantastic experience because we were able to perform on stage in a professional production, starring with some extremely talented actors. Everybody got to experience what it’s like performing in front of a serious paying audience, which really lifted everybody’s game.”

The Harmony Bake-Off this weekend will be yet another opportunity for the members of the choir to further expand their confidence and skill sets.

“There are members of the choir who are also soloists who will be performing individual pieces of music and we will also be covering many different styles including medieval folk songs, a bit of classical, some jazz, some pop and a bit of world music. Not to mention we’ll also be offering up some really nice baked food,” swooned Smith. (JA)

Sep 24, 7pm. Sydney Uniting Church, 56A Raglan St, Waterloo. $25-$30. Tickets & info: www.trybooking.com/MFCL