Half a Century of Song - FULL ARTICLE
Excerpt from Sumpton’s Gold Rush Gazette - Friday 5th of September 2025
Charters Towers Choristers Hall
The Charters Towers Choristers will celebrate 50 years of song with a special concert on 13 September 2025, marking a milestone in the town’s cultural history.
For half a century the group has brought voices together in harmony, enriching community life through music and performance.
The anniversary concert will run from 5.30pm to 7.30pm, with entry by a $15 donation at the door and a light supper to follow.
Bookings are essential via the Charters Towers Choristers Inc. President, Mrs. Lyn Huxley, on 0428222926.
The Choristers also welcome new members, with regular rehearsals held on Tuesdays from 6pm to 8pm and Saturdays from 4pm to 6pm at their hall on 35 York Street.
Reflecting on the history of the Charters Towers Choristers after 50 years of song
by Sandra (Sandy) Bogilevu, Secretary for Charters Towers Choristers Inc.
“The Choristers were formed in 1974 after a large group of people performed together to farewell Mr. Fred Friemann, a local High School and Intermediate School teacher who planned to retire at the end of 1974.
An American Exchange teacher organised, with the help of past students, a farewell tribute to Mr. Friemann. Past and present students of Mr. Friemann’s performed at the Blackthorne Hall Concert, in December, 1974. Mrs. Beaty Landsberg was both the conductor and the pianist.
After such a successful event, some of the performers decided to form a choir. The Northern Miner reported the first concert to be held at Blackthorne Hall on the 22nd June, 1975. The Choir conductor was Mrs. Effie Berryman and the Excelsior Band, under the baton of Mrs. Beaty Landsberg, also performed.
Practices continued at the Masonic Lodge until the York Street Methodist Church came up for sale in 1978, for $5000. There were six guarantors for a Commonwealth Bank Loan of $3,500: Ivan Spring, Hec Riley, Arthur Scott, Lorraine Robertson, Bert Phillips and Eleanor Nielson. The repayments of the loan were $164 per month. A committee was formed to fund-raise the balance of the purchase price and this included the sale of a Recipe Book compiled by Mrs. Lorraine Robertson. The Choristers became Incorporated in 1995.
The commitment made by these early members of the Choristers to improve and maintain this approximately 118-year-old building has continued throughout the past fifty years. Our Choir is proud to give back to the community on many commemorative days and at Centenary Park Markets. We have also performed at School reunions, mining commemorations, birthday celebrations, caravan parks and at aged care facilities. We share our facilities with yoga and line-dancing groups.
However, we could not operate without the generosity and support of our audiences, local businesses, the community itself, Grant funding bodies and the members themselves.
Thank you on behalf of us all.”