In 1999, a
local newspaper ran an interested cover story on ‘7 Little
Australians’. In Australia, this title is a warmly
remembered novel, but in this case it referred to a family
that had just migrated into Australia. Actually, there were
eight, but the last came along later.
These ‘7
Little Australians’ were born in New Zealand, and their parents
came from the Americas. Since their tenderest ages, Theresa and
Raymond de Souza had taught them to chirp national anthems,
folksongs and hymns in various languages. They had already
performed in public several times, such as Christmas
concerts in their local communities. Their initial lack of musical
talent was made up by their ‘cuteness’ and their
childish originality.
With their move to Australia, Raymond and Theresa realized
that their children had a great potential; their voices
blended together with a rare sense of warmth and confidence
– when they could get it together. What they needed was
direction and tutelage. And there was someone willing to
give it.
Sister Paula
Cream, God bless her soul, of the Mercy Convent in Perth,
Australia, tutored them in tunes and technique for several
years. With her, they performed as a family twice.
Time passed.
They lost their initial cuteness, but gained a greater sense
of structure. After they performed in a Pentecostal
conference, an article in ‘The Record’, Perth’s Catholic
weekly newspaper, exclaimed that ‘they sang in every
language except Chinese and Eskimo!’ It was almost true.
In their love for languages, Raymond and Theresa had taught
French nursery rhymes, Latin madrigals, English folksongs
and national anthems in their native tongues, among many
others.
During the
Christmastide of 2002, they visited various Care Centers to
sing for the elderly. They were enjoyed so much that
requests for future encores were made. At the same time,
they were cutting their first CD. A parishioner had heard
them singing in in a local parish church after a Mass, and
was so enchanted with the flow and lilt of the voices that
he determined to make an album.
A year later,
Sensus Sacrorum
(or Sense of the Sacred)
hit the media all over Australia. It was welcomed
into homes and churches. This album offered something almost
forgotten in our modern days: a sense of reverence for
sacred things.
In 2005, the
family migrated to France in a bid for Catholic education.
There they were accepted into two other choirs. As members,
they performed with great success in the Loire Valley and up
as far as Burgundy. After a Christmas Eve performance, they
undertook their final trip to America.
Now, here,
they entered the ‘Our Lady Queen of All Hearts Choir’, run
by their aunt. Under her baton, they have sung with their
cousins and friends in seven concerts, and helped to cut
another CD.
But even
through all this, they remain a family Choir that blends in
an extraordinary way; as brothers and sisters, they provide
a quality unique unto themselves. It is this gift that these
‘Seven Little Australians’ are happy to share with one and
all.
Click here to own this CD for only $20
