House Competition

What are Houses?

Houses are groups that all choristers are put into upon registration. Through the choristers time in the Victorian Boys Choir or The Victorian Girls Choir, the chorister will have the chance to support their house by winning points to possibly being selected as a House Captain in Cadenza.

The House Names

Stevens

Named after Horace Ernest Stevens (1876 - 1950), a Melbourne born bass-baritone. As choir soloist at the age of eight, he became a chorister at St. Paul' s Cathedral in 1891. He practised dentistry for 20 years before choosing to make singing his career.

Encouraged by Sir Henry Wood, Stevens made his London debut in Mendelssohn' s Elijah just after World War One and soon became widely known at oratorio festivals throughout England and the USA.

He began his operatic careers in 1924, and given his severe looks, massive voice, and powerful dramatic sense, he was particularly successful in Wagnerian roles. He returned to Australia in 1934, and from 1938 until his death in 1950 gave lessons at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium.

Melba

Named after Dame Nellie Melba (1861 - 1931), a Melbourne born soprano. Dame Nellie Studied in Melbourne and Paris before her operatic debut in Brussels in 1887. She performed in London, Italy, USA, Paris and Australia although her artistic home was Covent Garden. Of her 25 operatic roles, the most important were studied with their composer.

As her vocal and dramatic abilities changed with age and experience, she continually modified her repertoire. Of her voice there was near-unanimous praise. The great critic W.J. Henderson wrote: " her voice had splendour. The scale was beautifully equalized throughout and there was not the slightest change in quality from the bottom to the top. All the tones were forward; there was never even a suspicion of throughiness. The full, flowing and facile emission of then tones has never been surpassed, if matched, by any other singer of our time."

From 1915 she taught at the Albert Street Conservatorium (now Melba Memorial Conservatorium) and was noted for her charity work. She was created DBE in 1918, and in 1927 became one of only eight Australians ever to be created GBE.

Dame Nellie Melba appears on the Australian $100 bank note. The Eastlink inbound tunnel is also named Melba to honour Dame Nellie Melba which helped put Australia on the international map and gave Victorians an appreciation of the arts.

Austral

Named after Florence Mary Austral (1892 - 1968), a Melbourne born dramatic soprano. She studied at the Albert Street Conservatorium and later at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium. Her Debut in 1922 was with the British National Opera Company at Convent Gardens as Brü nnhilde in Die Walkü re. She was a frequent recitalist and concert artist in the UK, the USA and Canada and also appeared at festivals in Berlin and Holland. She taught at the Newcastle Conservatorium from 1952 to 1959.

She was regarded as one of the finest Wagnerian singers of her generation although she made many excursions beyond this repertoire: her singing of Handel, Verdi, Mozart, Sullivan, and Puccini was also particularly admired along with her serious study of lied.

She is among the earliest Australian singers to achieve a major career after taking most her training in Australia, and was easily the most prominent Australian singer on the international stage during the inter-war years.

Her career was not long and did not fulfil its earlier promise due to the sudden onset of multiple sclerosis when she was in her prime.

The Competition

Within the house that the chorister is placed in, he/she can earn points for his/her own house. Points may be rewarded for good behavior, game winners, as encouragement, and achievement.

At the end of the year, the points are tallied up and the winning house in annouced at the Christmas Concert. House captains are presented with the shield with their house engraved into it. This shield is on display for most of the year in the office.