Hands on hearts, the Kiama Illawarra Pride Choir is ready for its performance at the Blackheath Choir Festival. Photo: Bob Singer/Blackheath Choir Festival.
The Blackheath Choir Festival audience leaned forward in their seats, poised in judgement and curiosity.
On the hallowed Presbyterian church stage, 16 nervous choristers placed hands on hearts for their first “choralography” moves. Music director Tia Wilson raised her arms and nodded to pianist Paul Hamilton, who struck the first note.
As the Kiama Illawarra Pride Choir (KIPC) launched into the ethereal melody of White Winter Hymnal, the butterflies fluttering in my belly suddenly disappeared. Gone. My soprano voice harmonised with my 15 friends. The crowd beamed. We sounded amazing!
“Everyone has a voice,” said KIPC president Tonina Harvey.
It’s a mantra borne from 35 years of community singing experience, including founding the renowned Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir.
“Everyone says, ‘Oh, I can’t sing’. I think everyone can sing. It is a skill that you learn over time. Even after all these years, I would still say I can’t sing!”
In 2021, Tonina decided her adopted Kiama hometown needed its own choir.
“It was a dream to live on the coast, but to not have choir in my life seemed almost annihilating,” she recalled. “I wanted it to be a community choir, a place where people could feel safe to come and sing, to enjoy and have a bit of fun.”
She gained a $2500 seeding grant from Kiama Council, rented a local community hall and recruited an expert, Danny Benn of Southern Lights Vocal Academy, to conduct. It began on 12 April 2021, with 25 volunteer voices and a conservative repertoire.
“It was always the intention to be a non-auditioned choir, because we wanted to be inclusive,” Tonina explained.
“Anyone can come along and sing. It gives people opportunities they wouldn’t have otherwise.
“Singing always makes people feel vulnerable. Doing something that’s going to put you out there is a scary thing. I have seen people grown in confidence, and that’s really lovely.”
She paused, her eyes fixed on me. “I remember after your first rehearsal, asking you, ‘Are you going to come back’? And you said, ‘I don’t know yet’. Look at you now!”
That’s true – eight months on, I’m a proud (pun intended) KIPC member.
The choir has a floating cohort of 18, among them a Uniting Church minister, a UOW professor, a midwife nurse practitioner, an IT guru and a maker of sheepskin seats for motorcycles.
They hail from Nowra to Bulli, with ages ranging from early 20s to mid-70s. No-one is quizzed about their sexuality or gender: it’s LGBTQI+, and the “+” embraces allies like me. New recruits are welcomed.
“We are a very small choir and need lower voices,” Tonina pleaded. “People with a lower voice range don’t have to be men!”
KIPC shifted to a lighter, modern repertoire last year under the direction of Tia, best known as the eponymous NSW Premier in Gladys: A Musical Affair, and half of the comedy music act Rheinberger & Wilson.
Performing songs such as Radiohead’s Creep, Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill, and the anthemic Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan, the choir is invited to colourful occasions: from the prestigious Blackheath festival to the opening of Wollongong’s 2025 Pride Arts Festival, the first birthday of private queer space The Mound and Christmas carols at Bunnings.
“I’ve loved every minute of working with the choir,” Tia said. “The members, their commitment and positive energy, have all made it a joyous experience, in both rehearsals and performances and they continue to make me very proud. They’ve even embraced my choralography with gusto!”
Tonina sings in the front row, often sitting while the others stand. “I have neuropathy in my feet from my chemo,” she explained. “And I have really severe arthritis in my knees. I can’t stand for longer than about five minutes.
“It’s the aftermath of surviving cancer. It is a badge of honour. It used to worry me a lot, but it doesn’t anymore because I figure that’s all I’ve got. I could be dead.”
It’s a phrase uttered with the sangfroid of a seasoned medical professional.
Nowra-born Tonina was made a member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2010 for her service to nurse education, as a clinician, administrator and leader in the drug and alcohol field. She still consults on developing models of care and policy for hospitals and non-government agencies.
KIPC is a not-for-profit group and has charity status for its community work, which Tonina drives.
“The choir is a safe place. It improves people’s mental health and well-being, not only through singing but also through social engagement. There’s a lot of research that shows singing changes people at a cellular level. It’s like having an internal massage, I always say.”
To keep up KIPC’s work, money is raised through membership fees, paid shows and occasional Bunnings sausage sizzle stalls. This year it is registered with GiveOUT, a Rainbow Giving Australia fundraiser. The site is open now and on Thursday 16 October – GiveOUT Day – donations will be matched dollar for dollar by the Pride Foundation (conditions apply). To make a GiveOUT Day donation, click here.
It’s Tonina’s dream to raise enough for KIPC to represent the Illawarra at the Out & Loud Festival, an international LGBTQIA+ choral music celebration in Perth in November 2026. On a smaller scale, she hopes to run singing workshops for the LGBTIQ community on the Far South Coast.
“I think there’s lots of opportunity to bring connection in the region through choir,” Tonina declared. “The growth that it gives you, singing with other people and being involved, it’s a powerful thing.”
The Kiama Illawarra Pride Choir accepts new members at rehearsals, held on Mondays from 7 to 8:30 pm at Kiama Uniting Church (1st, 3rd and 5th Mondays) and the Phoenix Theatre Community Hall (2nd and 4th Mondays). Visit Kiama Illawarra Pride Choir for details. You can catch the KIPC’s Christmas concerts at Jamberoo Public School on 30 November, Bunnings Shellharbour on 4 December and Shellharbour City Council’s Carols by Candlelight on 12 December at the Croom Regional Sporting Complex.
