In 1993, The Boîte hosts its most ambitious project to date, to stage the Melbourne A Cappella Festival. Singing and community choirs were continuing to invoke strong community interest, as participation at The Boîte’s existing Daylesford Singers’ Festival Program attested. The A Cappella Festival had been run successfully in Sydney and when encouraged by esteemed choir leaders Tony Backhouse and Melanie Shanahan to bring the festival to Melbourne, The Boîte seized the opportunity. As described in The Boîte 1993 Annual report:
‘Notable Sydney- based performer Tony Backhouse, director of the Cafe of the Gate of Salvation gospel choir, gave significant support to both workshops and concerts. Four-woman group Arramaieda also from Sydney, thrilled audiences at concert performances and in packed workshops.’
The festival showcased a great variety of a cappella styles and traditions. Emphasis was on small groups, such as Nude Rain, Schmaltzarellas, and Rhapsody in Red, but some larger groups also appeared, including the Women’s Bulgarian choir – Petrunka, the Italian Gruppo Corale Adriatico, and the Austrian Choir.
The program offered four concerts, including a packed Singer’ Night at the World Music Cafe and a final all-out afternoon of singing at the Melbourne Town Hall.’
Hear The Austrian Yodel Trio perform Der dahoam zschad is, as featured on the Australian A Cappella CD.The Boîte continued to run the Melbourne A Cappella Festival until 1997, before introducing a new festival event in 1998 – the Winter Festival, consolidating elements from the A Cappella Festival with components of another Boîte event the World Music & Dance Festival first hosted by The Boîte in 1996.
The success of the inaugural Melbourne A Cappella festival inspired the first Boîte CD release in 1994, Australian A Cappella – a compilation album of culturally diverse A Cappella groups featuring both traditional and contemporary songs.