Annual Appeal to restore historic music buildings
Josh Dye
Public relations intern
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
Donations to Avondale’s Annual Appeal will help restore Music and Greer Halls. Credit: Brittany Lynn.
Music has been an intrinsic part of the heritage of Avondale College of Higher Education since its founding in 1897. From the orchestral ensembles of the 1910s to choral works like Messiah to the interstate and overseas tours, music is ingrained in Avondale’s culture.
It formed part of the curriculum from the beginning. Herbert Lacey served as the inaugural music teacher, offering private tuition in piano, organ and voice for £1 1s per quarter.
Music Hall
As the popularity of music increased, so did the need for a designated building. That building, Music Hall, opened in 1925, the first on campus to be built of brick.
The music program continued to grow. George Greer, head of music from 1947 to 1952, transformed the image of music at Avondale. He organised a 70-member a cappella choir, which toured extensively. Greer also expanded the program, lobbying for students to use music electives to satisfy degree requirements in other programs. By 1949, the music program enrolled 200 students. By the time Greer left in 1952, the choir had gained national recognition for excellence.
Alan Thrift
Alan Thrift, called to head the then Music Department in 1957, says this recognition has been a major form of public relations. “From the 1970s, the concert tours, radio broadcasts and TV appearances of the Avondale Symphonic Choir and later the Avondale Singers were what the college was best known for,” says Alan, whose tenure lasted 41 years. These performances not only formed an image of Avondale, but they also solidified the role of music as part of the Avondale experience.
“Music has been central to our ethos,” says the new lecturer in music, Aleta King. “So many people—Greer, Clapham, Thrift, Clark—have been through those Music Hall doors.”
Annual Appeal
The Annual Appeal acknowledges this heritage. The money you give will help restore Music Hall and Greer Hall. The historic buildings need a facelift.
Alan urges those with a heart for music to donate. “The academic opportunities are of high standard but the facilities are located in old and inadequate buildings in urgent need of upgrading.”
Some of the restoration work planned for later this year includes: re-coating roofs; repainting exteriors and interiors; replacing broken windows, guttering and rotten timber beams; repointing mortar between bricks; and re-plastering ceilings. “It will enhance the learning and teaching spaces for students and staff members,” says director of advancement Colin Crabtree.
Aleta concludes: “Music is able to transcend the normality of life—to take us to a place closer to God. You may not remember the classes you sat in, but you remember the amazing concerts you were a part of. They’re the experiences that captivated you.”
Thank you for helping improve the Avondale experience for today’s music students.
Give to the Avondale College of Higher Education Offering in Seventh-day Adventist churches on June 2 or online at www.avondale.edu.au/annualappeal.
Fighting Mac
Tuesday, April 24, 2012The Anzac hero who saved not took life
Associate Professor Daniel Reynaud
Dean
Faculty of Arts and Theology
Avondale College of Higher Education
Captain William McKenzie.
Ask Australians to name the most famous Anzac of World War I and most will probably answer, “Simpson, the man with the donkey.” While Simpson is a household name, the soldiers who fought in the war would give a different answer: Captain William McKenzie.
McKenzie served as chaplain of the 4th Battalion. An enthusiastic Christian minister who stood for evangelism and against booze, brothels and bad language, he might seem an unlikely candidate for most famous Anzac of the Great War. But in 1920, McKenzie’s popularity reached its zenith—it would take him more than three hours to reach Sydney Town Hall from his office on Goulburn Street, just three blocks away. People mobbed him just to shake his hand.
A Scottish-born Salvation Army officer, McKenzie’s tireless energy on the soldiers’ behalf earned their respect, while his charismatic personality won their love. He was a born leader with a tremendous sense of humour, a childlike innocence, integrity and constant cheerfulness.
In Cairo, McKenzie not only preached against the brothels but also went to the red-light district at night and literally dragged men out, putting them on a tram back to camp. He expected a knife in the ribs from the brothel owners for ruining their business.
On Gallipoli, McKenzie won the undying respect of the Anzacs. Like other chaplains, he conducted burial services, often under shell fire. But he went further, finding chocolates for each man, or cutting steps into a steep part of a track at night.
At the Battle of Lone Pine, McKenzie should have been in the rear trenches, but he followed the charge, carrying just a spade. He needed it: over the next few weeks, he sorted the living from the dead and buried 450 men. For his actions, McKenzie received the Military Cross.
McKenzie led something like 2000 to 3000 men to Christ during the war. This is what one of his letters, written in Egypt, records: “I realise the nearness of His presence and something of the sweetness and power of His great salvation. I confess that I cried myself to sleep last night or in the early hours of the morning after long meditation over the sacrifices and death of the Christ of God. This I think helped me to read the scriptures and preach the truth better at this morning’s parade . . . when for half an hour some 2000 of us there sang of the Cross and its meaning and pondered over the story once again.”
When McKenzie returned to Australia in 1918, thousands came to see him in every town and city he visited. In Sydney, his feet never touched the ground from the train to the town hall. In following years, at Anzac Day parades, his hand bleed from the sheer number of handshakes he gave.
Some have said the Anzacs were not religious. Perhaps, but McKenzie noted on Gallipoli that many showed an interest in God. He said: “Men realise as never before that the most manly thing to do is to worship and glorify God.”
Tags: Anzac, Commentary, Daniel Reynaud, Faculty of Arts and Theology
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