The Bombala Rotary and Community Choir has had great success, with its latest CD selling out within hours of it airing on ABC radio.
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The Christmas CD “Joy to the World, A box of Christmas Songs” aired on ABC National on Monday, December 14.
“Over the rest of the week they played four tracks over three days and it was also played on Christmas Day,” Bombala Rotary president and choir member Jak Cuttle said.
“My wife Christine and I were in town at the time and we didn’t get home until about three hours after it had aired,” Mr Cuttle said.
“When we got home there were over 60 messages on our message bank, it was full.
“From then right up to and through Christmas the sales went berserk.
“We sold all the CDs we had left, which was more than 100,” he said.
The CD that was three years in the making was made under the guidance of Swiss-born choirmaster Claus Zimmer.
Mr Zimmer has worked with the Bombala Rotary and Community Choir for 15 years.
The choir is a multi-generational group of about 30 voices ranging in age from 13 to 80 years.
Under Mr Zimmer’s professional eye the group of largely untrained voices has been molded into a highly accomplished choir.
The Christmas CD was officially released on October 10 last year. It has 13 tracks of Christmas carols, sung in five different languages – German, French, Italian, Ancient Latin and English.
“But they’re not your Frosty the Snowman type carols,” Mr Cuttle said.
“Its a blend of carols from around the world and through the ages, the oldest one dates from the 14th Century,” he said.
Choir member Michelle Farran said Mr Zimmer is an accomplished arranger “and his arrangement of The North Wind Carol is I think really special”.
Originally the choristers had 500 CDs printed that sold out up to and over Christmas.
“During that period my wife Christine worked really hard managing the sales,” Mr Cuttle said.
The choir now has another 250 CDs on order, which are expected to arrive this week or the first week in February.
“We’ve already got about 30 orders for that lot as well,” Mr Cuttle said.
“We have no plans for a future CD at this time, the Christmas CD took three years to put down, record and produce, so we’re giving it a rest for a little while,” he said.
The CD is now available on iTunes with the rest of the choir’s other CDs, or contact Jak Cuttle on 6458 5226.