The Val Pyers Collection - Guide to Records v0.1
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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. [Details]
- About the records
- Provenance - creators and former custodians
- Series list and summary descriptions
- Inventory listing by series
- Series 1 - Val Pyers Documents
- Series 2 - Melbourne Chorale History
- Series 3 - Melbourne Chorale Uniforms and Clothing
- Series 4 - Melbourne Chorale Audio and Audio Visual Records
- Series 5 - Melbourne Chorale Sheet Music, Scores and Lyric Sheets
- Series 6 - Melbourne Chorale Images
- Series 7 - Melbourne Chorale Programs and Ticket Stubs
- Series 8 - Melbourne Chorale Promotional Material (Posters, Flyers and Brochures)
- Series 9 - Melbourne Chorale Press (Reviews and Articles about the Chorale)
- Series 10 - Melbourne Chorale Membership Lists, Performance Lists and Audition Records
- Series 11 - Melbourne Chorale Administration
- Series 12 - Victoria Chorale History
- Series 13 - Victoria Chorale Audio Records
- Series 14 - Victoria Chorale Sheet Music, Scores and Lyric Sheets
- Series 15 - Victoria Chorale Images
- Series 16 - Victoria Chorale Programs and Ticket Stubs
- Series 17 - Victoria Chorale Promotional Material (Posters, Flyers and Brochures)
- Series 18 - Victoria Chorale Press (Reviews and Articles about the Chorale)
- Series 19 - Victoria Chorale Membership Lists, Performance Lists, Audition Records
- Series 20 - Victoria Chorale Administration
- Series 21 - MUCS & Intervarsity Choral Festivals
- Series 22 - Australian Universities' Festival Choir of Melbourne
- Series 23 - Yallourn Madrigal Singers and Yallourn High School Choir Records
- Series 24 - Phillip Pope's Digital Archive
- Series 25 - Miscellaneous Records (Interesting but unrelated to Val Pyers)
- Search
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Published by the eScholarship Research Centre,
HTML edition Updated 15 November 2018 https://pyer.esrc.unimelb.edu.au/index.html The template for this finding aid is part of the Heritage Documentation Management System |
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