Prepare to go on a journey through nightfall and the stars with the Gippsland Chamber Singers at the "Stellar Serenade" concert on Sunday.

Taking place at Wesley of Warragul between 4pm and 5:30pm, the "Stellar Serenade" program will feature a collection of songs on the theme of starlit nights wherein sadness, longing, and joy are found, including Brahms' "O schöne Nacht", Samuel Barber's "Sure on this Shining Night" and many more.
"The Stellar Serenade concert sort of takes us through a journey of night," tenor singer Sam Stephens said. "We're starting from sunset (and progressing) to sunrise, a lot of the music we've selected (focus on) scenes of night."
Sam said the singers came together at the start of the year to brainstorm the program theme and began rehearsals in June.
"We got together earlier in the year, around February and pulled together some ideas of songs that we might like to do and form a bit of an idea for the program," Sam said.
"We went away and practiced our pieces when we could, then came back together in June and started to put (the program) together from there."
Sam said when the group came together to suggest new pieces to perform, the theme of night and day naturally emerged.
"It was a bit of a workshop of ideas, but it came together quite naturally," Sam said. "We had a big list of probably 20 plus songs, so we tried to condense it down or see if a theme formed. For this concert it just happened that a lot of the songs that we picked had a night or stars theme to it. We then tried to put them in an order that takes us on a journey through night."
The "Stellar Serenade" will feature Lizzie Ellis and Mandie Lee as sopranos, Rebecca Dickinson as an alto, Sam Stephens as a tenor, Simon Loveless as a baritone and Gerard Dovey as a bass.
Sam said the performance also would feature two guest vocalists for two songs in the program.
"Our group for this concert is primarily six voices but two of our songs will be for eight voices," Sam said. "One of our members who has been in the choir for the past few years, Hayley Abery, wasn't able to commit to the (entire) concert, but was able to come and be a guest performer. She will join us for two songs, along with Glenn Barry, the dad of one of our members Lizzie."
The group will be accompanied by pianist Lisa Fraser for a few songs in the program.
Sam said a highlight of the program is the performance of "Stars" by choral composer Ēriks Ešenvalds.
"I think what makes this (piece) extra special is that we're accompanying ourselves with wine glasses," he said.
"The whole piece is about stars and the sound of wine glasses creates this ethereal, sparkling backdrop for us to sing against. It's a sunning piece of music and quite complicated for us to play the glasses in time with the music, whilst singing."
Sam said audiences could expect to hear the singers' passion for music shine throughout the performance.
"(They can expect) to hear a variety of styles from a group of people who really love what they do," he said. "(The concert) gives us an opportunity to explore a wide variety of music, and I think our audiences appreciate the variety and our passion for it."
The Gippsland Chamber Singers "Stellar Serenade" concert will be held at Wesley of Warragul on Sunday, November 17 at 4pm.
Adults and concession tickets are $20 and people under 18 are free of charge.
To secure tickets, book online via https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1307226
Cash payment will be taken at the door to help cover venue and music costs.