Author Archives: jefferysv

21st – 23rd August 2020 – The Blackheath Choir Festival – or otherwise know as the “The friendliest choir festival in the world!” is on again this year! So put the date in your diary! It also has a new website … Continue reading →

After an interesting and intense Christmas and holiday break due to the fires…The Heathens are keen to start the new year filled with rejuvenative music and song! Term 1 starts today and we welcome any new comers and looking forward … Continue reading →

Join The Heathens & the Blue Mountains City RSL Band on December 8th at 2.30pm at St Hilda’s Church, Katoomba Street, Katoomba for their annual Christmas concert! Tickets at the door – $10 for adults and children are free. All … Continue reading →

2019 marks the 10th year that The Heathens have been singing together under the direction of Chris Wheeler and we will be celebrating all year by re-visiting old songs and learning new songs to share with our wonderful community. We … Continue reading →

2018 was another great year for The Heathens – learning new songs and performing at different venues and lots of great times spent together. Thank you Chris for your ever-gracious patience and your expertise in getting 50 people to sound … Continue reading →

The Heathens are celebrating Christmas this year with two concerts! They will be very different but with the same message…PEACE and UNITY. See below for details for both and we hope you can join us!

Join us at Rydal to celebrate Spring!  Thousands of daffodils have been planted in the parks and gardens of Rydal, just west of the Blue Mountains. Daffodils at Rydal 2018 will take place over the two weekends of 8/9 September … Continue reading →

We all know the wonderful benefits of singing – especially with others…but did you know that it can trigger memories in those who struggle to remember? This is a very interesting article… http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-12/singing-triggers-memories-for…/10106328  

Here we are at term 3 already! And we are gearing up for the 2018 Blackheath Choir Festival in August. Can hardly wait to mingle with all those other choristers from around NSW. Visit the website for more info and … Continue reading →

Thank you to the Blue Mountains community who came out in the freezing cold weather last Sunday to see and listen to the fabulous Spooky Men Chorale. The Heathens felt very privileged to be the support act to these great … Continue reading →

2pm Sunday 17th June 2018 – Blackheath Community Hall For a stupendous Sunday afternoon’s entertainment, come to this concert hosted by The Heathens community choir and featuring the Spooky Men’s Chorale.  The Spooky Men have a CV as long as your … Continue reading →

Term 2 has begun and we are busy rehearsing for the first of three performances this term. First up is Blackheath Day on Saturday 12 May. Come and celebrate this beautiful town we live in and listen to us sing!

Happy new year everyone and a big welcome to those who have decided to join The Heathens this year. Term 1 starts on Wednesday 31 January and here is a reminder about the fee arrangements…Fees are $75 per term and … Continue reading →

It was a fabulous way to end our year, joining The Blue Mountains City Band and conducted by Paul Terracini for a wonderful Christmas concert. Here are some photos taken by Aidan Grilli (lovely partner to our Bridget). Thank you … Continue reading →

The Heathens are singing with The Blue Mountains City Band and conducted by Paul Terracini on Sunday 10th December at St Hilda’s Anglican Church in Katoomba. All are welcome – a gold coin donation which will be donated to the … Continue reading →

Fellow Heathen and Green’s campaigner, Susie Rix is currently protesting in North Queensland against the Adani mine and sent this photo…Good on you Susie! We are so proud of you!

I think we moved some mountains last Saturday at our concert with three other choirs from the mountains – The Moo Choir from Warrimoo; The Mudlarks from Faulconbridge and Vocal Edge from Blackheath. We filled the church with 200 people … Continue reading →

Thank you to everyone who came and listened to us sing in the Waldorf Gardens at the Leura Garden Festival. We loved singing under the big tree! Thanks to Maxine for the photos.

Term 4 is GIG time! We have seven concerts to perform in and we are so excited to be part of each and every on of them. First up is The Leura Garden Festival. Join us at 1.00pm at The … Continue reading →

UPDATE!  Hi everyone. I wanted to share the wonderful news that today I am sending off  a donation of $3665 to the Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group being the net proceeds from last Sunday’s Shelter event. Much credit goes to … Continue reading →

We have been rehearsing hard over the last few weeks for our concert in Sydney with the Sydney Jewish Choir and we are looking forward to it! Not only will you hear some wonderful voices, you will hear from a … Continue reading →

Welcome home to cold Blackheath Chris & Mick! We are looking forward to hearing all your news! And this is from Deb to help any of us having trouble making sense of rhythmic notation in printed music, then this might … Continue reading →

Hope everyone has had a great break. Rehearsals resume on Wednesday 19th July and a reminder that the term fee of $75 is due. We will only have 4 weeks to rehearse for our upcoming concert – SHELTER! A concert … Continue reading →

Here are some pics Mick has sent from the Italian part of their holiday. They are currently in France and hopefully will send more. Don’t they look fabulous…and warm!

We celebrated another milestone birthday this week…for Jan. Jan is the cornerstone of The Heathens with her forever smiling face and positive outlook on life. Not to mention the wonderful cakes and slices she brings to choir rehearsal every week. … Continue reading →

You might have seen our Judy walking very briskly around Blackheath over the last few months. Well that is because she was training for the 2017 Australian Masters Athletics Championships in Darwin where she competes in the 1500, 5000 metres … Continue reading →

As we say Bon voyage to Chris & Mick as they fly their way to Europe for a well-deserved holiday for 7 weeks – we also say a big welcome to Kathy Ferguson who will be leading us Heathens in … Continue reading →

Once described by Leo Schofield as a ‘latter-day Great Gatsby’, Harry Douglas has always embraced life with gusto. This month he celebrates his 90th birthday and it will be in style if Harry has anything to do with it. Happy … Continue reading →

Welcome back to Vera from her trip home to Hungary with the exciting news that her memoir – Red Danube – is now sitting on shelves in bookshops in Budapest! Congratulations!

The Heathens will be singing on Blackheath Day this Saturday 13th May – as well as other choirs and musicians. Come along and join the fun!

This week we celebrated the youngest members of our choir birthday. Twins Bridget and Chloe turned 21 – and we had champagne & cake!

Happy New Year everyone and a big warm welcome to any new members who are starting with us today. Yes – choir resumes today and we are looking forward to learning some new songs and revisiting some older ones. Just … Continue reading →

In dulci jubilo! Come along and enjoy some sweet and joyous music that you won’t hear in any shopping centre. This special Christmas concert will be the second time The Blue Mountains City Band and The Heathens Choir have performed … Continue reading →

We were in full voice and sang our hearts out to a great audience at the Blackheath Rhodo Day. Thanks to everyone who came to listen. Here are a few pics taken by Philia Portelli – thanks Philia!  

The sun shone and the wind calmed down a bit for us to sing for the folks at the Waldorf Gardens in Leura. Thanks Philia for the great photos!

Just a reminder to have a look at the Upcoming Events on the right hand side of the page for all our upcoming performances. Wed 12 October is choir as normal and on Wed 19th October Deb will hold a … Continue reading →

Spring is in the air here in Blackheath and it certainly has arrived in Chris and Mick’s garden. The magnolia tree we gave Chris last year to say thank you for all her hard work, has blossomed. Here is a … Continue reading →

Thank you to the organisers of the 2016 Blackheath Choir festival. It was bigger and better and created a fabulous vibe around town. And a personal thanks to our fabulous choir director – Chris Wheeler – whose amazing energy, talent … Continue reading →

Practising…practising…and getting very excited about this fabulous festival coming to our town.

Hey Heathens – check out the link below to see the restorative powers of group singing! http://www.dailylife.com.au/health-and-fitness/dl-wellbeing/sing-it-loud-20160415-go7lve.html Sing with others. Group singing has been proven to release “happy hormones”. It is also a natural antidote to feelings of isolation and … Continue reading →

It was a terrific night of fun and singing with all 3 choirs and Canon Fodder. A big THANKS must go to Tim Kaye for organising yet another great night and to everyone who volunteered to help put this annual … Continue reading →

Get ready for another fun night of singing and quizzing on Friday 10th June. Featuring The Heathens, Phoenix & Vocal Edge with a special appearance by Canon Fodder. Tickets go on sale at 9.00am on 24 May 2016. Get a … Continue reading →

We know Chris reminds us to practise between rehearsals…and perhaps some do! Here are some tips for those of us who don’t…or find it hard to do… Congratulations! You’ve now been told for the millionth time to practice your music … Continue reading →

We are growing somewhat! Here is a photo of us all with some of our new members.  Thank you Tara for taking the photo…and Happy 21st Birthday to Bella – and for giving us the photo opportunity.   

Happy New Year! The Heathens are back and Chris has worked hard over the break bringing us wonderful new songs to sing. We welcome our new choir members and really look forward to singing and performing with you all as … Continue reading →

Or should I say A BAND! Our final concert of the year with The Blue Mountains City Band was a blast! Thank you to everyone who came and listened and we are proud to announce that we raised over $800 for … Continue reading →

We are gearing up and rehearsing like mad for our upcoming performances this month! We hope to see you at The Folk Club at the Ivanhoe Hotel in Blackheath on Thursday 3rd Dec at 7.30pm…and we are very excited to … Continue reading →

The sun was shining down on Blackheath on Saturday 7 November and the town came alive with music, poetry, stalls and of course the parade. Not only did Chris lead The Heathens in two performances, but also sang herself in … Continue reading →