About the records

Title	Records of Pyers, Val J.
Date Range	1908 - 2018
Creator	Val J Pyers Foundation Ltd
Extent	4.55 metres
Repository
Abstract	This is the first version of The Val Pyers Collection - Guide to Records, published by the eScholarship Research Centre in October 2018. The guide is currently in development. If you would like to donate materials to the collection or would like to offer feedback on this guide, please get in touch with Winsome Adam at the eScholarship Research Centre: winsome.adam@unimelb.edu.au The Val Pyers Collection reflects the contribution made by Valentine James Pyers to Choral Music in Australia, particularly Victoria. Val was born in Minyip Victoria in October 1931. He was the second son of Daisy and Jock Pyers, third generation farmers who were forced off the land by the droughts of the 1930s and 1940s. Val attended Glendaruel State School before the family moved to Ballarat in 1942. An itinerant music teacher based in Ballarat who visited primary schools such as Glendaruel, fired Val's love of music and singing. Val's mother Daisy's discriminating taste in the arts was also a seminal influence on his musical interests. After completing his Primary Teacher Training at Ballarat Teachers' College and an Arts Degree majoring in English, History and Fine Arts at The University of Melbourne, Val was appointed to Yallourn High School in 1956 where he taught for 8 years. During one Christmas vacation, Val attended a Choral Summer School in Albury which inspired him to form a choir of his own - the Yallourn Madrigal Singers, which established new choral standards in the area. Val moved briefly to Korumburra before finally settling in Melbourne in 1965. In Melbourne, Val was asked to conduct the Melbourne University Choral Society (MUCS) and the Heidelberg City Choir. From his many choral contacts, Val selected 18 singers to form The Melbourne Chorale which made its debut at the Assembly Hall with a program of Christmas Carols in December 1965. In 1969, Val led The Australian Universities' Festival Choir of Melbourne to an International Choral Festival in Washington and New York where one reviewer declared "Australia outstripped every rival". The introduction of a subscription series of concerts enabled the use of first class soloists, professional musicians, innovative repertoire, high quality presentation and the commissioning of works by Australian composers. Eager to bring fine music to as wide an audience as possible, Val and the choir travelled throughout Victoria and interstate. Funds were boosted by engagements with the ABC and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under notable international and local conductors. Unfunded at the beginning, in 1973 Premier Rupert Hamer provided an annual grant to The Chorale enabling Val as Director to become a full-time professional musician and leave teaching. This also enabled him to expand the scope of the choir - soon there was the Chamber Singers, the Continuing Choir and the considerably larger Occasional Choir. The award of the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1989 recognized Val's significant contribution to music. After Val left The Melbourne Chorale in 1993, he formed the Victoria Chorale with country as well as city audiences in mind. In semi-retirement at Daylesford, Val continued to conduct the Victoria Chorale, while contributing to the Arts, historical research and leading the U3A in his local community. Val passed away in March 2006 aged 76. The records in this collection date from the late 1950s onwards and were donated by the Pyers' family, choir members, friends and other interested parties. The collection documents Val Pyers' extensive musical activities and the major role he played in choral music in Victoria.

Administrative Information

The collection is comprised of records from 28 accessions. The codes used to uniquely identify each accession range from PYER2016-001 to PYER2016-028.
The records have been allocated to 25 series. The codes used to uniquely identify each series range from 0001 to 0025.
Through the processing of the records, 1 provenance entity was identified. The code used to uniquely identify this provenance entity, i.e. records creator or custodian, is PYERP01.
The inventory covers items, and may include records of continuing value, records sentenced for destruction and records that have been destroyed. The codes used to uniquely identify each inventory item range from P00000001 to P00000399. The total collection occupies 455 linear cm of shelf space (or its equivalent).
The documentation of the records at inventory level started on 24 March 2017. The latest additions were made on 2 November 2018. The latest modifications were made on 2 November 2018. This collection profile was updated on 15 November 2018.

Scope and Content

This collection contains a broad range of material relating to choirs directed by Val Pyers from 1956 to 2018. Records in the collection include administrative and financial documents as well as papers, concert programs, promotional material, photographs, audio tapes, press reports, concert reviews, correspondence, and copies of music. The collection also contains documents of a personal nature.

The collection is arranged, as far as possible, by the individual choirs under Val's directorship.

Published by the eScholarship Research Centre,
HTML edition
Updated 15 November 2018
https://pyer.esrc.unimelb.edu.au/about.htm

The template for this finding aid is part of the Heritage Documentation Management System

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