“I’m totally supportive of the idea of committees of management, or whatever structures support the purpose of the singing group.”

These are the words of Belinda Gillam Derry, Musical Director of Yarra Valley Singers (YVS), a community choir established and singing together since 1988. When Belinda stepped into this role, back in 1996, Yarra Valley Singers was a unit of the Dandenong Ranges Music Council (DRMC) who at that time took care of what Belinda refers to as ‘all the official stuff’.

“The YVS committee looked after the things required by the group in its day to day running. They had a treasurer who collected fees but then passed them on to the treasurer of the DRMC, they had a president and a music librarian; members of the committee worked to ensure that the group were covered for everything they needed to do performances which back then were mainly small, local gigs.”

Yarra Ranges Council - Still Life Project:

“IT’S STILL LIFE….Covid-19 has impacted us all in many ways and forced the world to slow down. But it's still life….”

Yarra Valley Singers Musical Director, Belinda Gillam Derry, was Interviewed for this article, a publication which is distributed to 3,000 choir leaders in North America.

Husband and wife, Don and Jeanette Box have been with the Yarra Valley Singers for 30 years! Isn’t that amazing.

A highlight for me was the 30th Anniversary concert this year. To see where the choir has been and how it has changed and grown was wonderful. We also sang a piece of baroque classical music that is one of my personal favourites and I love singing it.

Remembering how much she loved choir back in her high school years, she googled choirs in her area, found Yarra Valley Singers, and decided to go along to a rehearsal.

Music can be borrowed from Don Box, our Music Librarian, who makes certain music is ready for choir rehearsals.