The choir will start the day at the Dawn Service, followed by the Anzac Day service at Montecillo Veterans Home & Hospital, leading the anthems and singing hymns at both events.
The Anzac Revue concert, from 7pm at Knox Church, will be conducted by Dunedin RSA Choir director of music Karen Knudson, with accompanist Dr Sandra Crawshaw, and will feature soloists Rhiannon Cooper (soprano) and Jesse Hanan (tenor), along with guest artists St Kilda Brass Band, The Star Singers, and organist Carolyn Schmid.
Dunedin RSA Choir concert producer Brian Donnelly said the concert’s programme would range from the 16th to the 20th centuries, including traditional hymns and anthems, music from Les Miserables and Band of Brothers, and choral arrangements of pop songs.
The concert will conclude with performers combining for epic performances of The Prayer, Battle Hymn of the Republic, and the national anthems of New Zealand and Australia.
Mr Donnelly said it was exciting that former RSA Choir scholar Rhiannon Cooper was returning for the Anzac Revue concert, alongside current scholar Jesse Hanan.
‘‘Having those fabulous young voices singing with us is very beautiful — the choir members love it and so does the audience,’’ he said.
The two singers would perform individual pieces and songs with the choir, and would play a prominent role in the concert’s Ceremony of Remembrance, with Hanan as soloist in Requiem for a Soldier from Band of Brothers, and Cooper and Hanan joining together to lead Pie Jesu, by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
A trumpeter from St Kilda Brass will also play Last Post and Reveille during the ceremony, and the Ode will be read in te reo by Foalima Lemalu and English by David More.
Fresh from winning the national B-grade title at the New Zealand Brass Band Championships for the second time, St Kilda Brass will be in good form as it performs Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
The Dunedin Star Singers, conducted by Rosemary Tarbotton and accompanied by Jennifer Dunbar (piano) will perform a bracket of songs, before joining with the RSA Choir for Sure on this Shining Night by Lauridsen.
Mr Donnelly said the Dunedin RSA Choir was in good heart, having expanded its repertoire to include more pop songs and recently welcomed some new singers.
The stalwart service of four long-standing choir members, David Coulter, Ian Griffith, Kevin Tansley and David More, will be honoured during the Anzac Revue concert with the presentation of Life Membership Awards.
Tickets for the Anzac Revue will be available at the door, cash only, adults $25, students and children $15.
