Who are SCUNA?

SCUNA performing Handel's Messiah, October 2006

The Australian National University Choral Society (SCUNA), has an established reputation for high quality performances, confirming its place as one of the premier choirs in Canberra.

Founded in 1963, the choir has performed both lesser known and more familiar masterpieces of the choral repertoire. Concerts in recent years have included Mozart's Grand Mass in C Minor, Fauré's Requiem, Vivaldi's Gloria, Bach's Mass in B Minor, Rossini's Petite Messe Solemnelle, Rachmaninoff's Vespers, Requiems by Brahms, Duruflé and Mozart, and pieces by Bernstein, Britten, Byrd, Dvorák, Haydn, Pergolesi, Sculthorpe and Victoria.

Membership

SCUNA is a non-auditioned choir which draws its membership from the students, staff, alumni and friends of the ANU and is also open to members of the general community. The choir is an affiliated club of the ANU Students' Association, and is also a member of the Australian Intervarsity Choral Societies' Association (AICSA), a group of similar university choirs around Australia.

The SCUNA Orchestra

In 2006, SCUNA expanded to include an orchestra for the first time. The Orchestra usually gives four concerts each year; two concerts combined with the SCUNA choir, and two purely orchestral concerts.

If you’re interested in playing great music at the ANU, please contact our president Jesse Kennedy: by email or mobile: 0433 091 630, or turn up at one of our rehearsals on any Thursday night at 7:30pm to 10:00pm in Lecture Theatre 1 on Level 5 of the ANU School of Music.

Rehearsals

Choir rehearsals are on each Wednesday 7-9:30pm.
Lecture Theatre 2, Manning Clark Centre, ANU. (Campus map building 26a)

New members are welcome any time! Just come along to rehearsal. If you're new and you're lost or unsure about anything, ask Adrian, the President, whom you will undoubtedly meet on your first night.

Rehearsals are generally followed by drinks at the Wig and Pen pub in Civic. Lifts home after rehearsal or after Pub can be arranged during the mid-rehearsal break.

Orchestra rehearsals are on each Tuesday 7:30-10:00pm.
Room G008, PAP Moran building, ANU. (Campus map building 26b)

Musical Staff

Musical Director/Conductor

Jonathan Powles, SCUNA's Musical Director, has been conducting SCUNA since 2002. He graduated from the University of Sydney majoring in composition, then from the University of Oxford where he completed his Doctorate in musical analysis. He is a musicologist and a composer, whose award-winning compositions have been performed by SCUNA and other university groups internationally. After lecturing for some years in the Department of Musicology at the Canberra School of Music, he is now Executive Officer (Quality) at the ANU.

Repetiteur/Accompanist

Alan Hicks was a freelance pianist, teacher and vocal coach in London for eight years. He has appeared at major London venues, including the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and St John's Smith Square, as pianist with the King Piano Trio and also with the London-based Australian contemporary music group, the Bennelong ensemble, including in concert tours of Italy and the UK. Alan has been with SCUNA since 2004.

Chorusmaster/Assistant Conductor

Matthew Stuckings graduated from the ANU in 2003 with first class Honours in Musicology. He presently works at the National Library of Australia as a researcher for MusicAustralia. His extensive conducting experience spans orchestras, bands, opera and many choirs. He presently directs the fabulous choir Igitur Nos and two public service choirs alongside his work with SCUNA. He likes to play trumpet and ring bells too.