Adelaide Girls Choir, formed in 1988, wins European Youth Choral Festival in 1996; draws on school music quality

Adelaide Girls Choir in Victoria Square, Adelaide city, in the late 1990s when it won first prize summa cum laude at the 1996 European Youth Choral Festival, guided by experienced artistic directors (inset) Deborah Munro and Margaret Lange.

Adelaide Girls Choir – later to become Young Adelaide Voices – was formed in 1988 with artistic directors Deborah Munro and Margaret Lange.

Adelaide music, radio and television Keith Conlon was choir chairman and a patron along with Julie Anthony, Peter Combe and Jane Doyle. In its first year, the choir developed a special artistic relationship with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra with joint performances and producing a compact disc (A Universal Christmas).

Adelaide Girls sang with many other Adelaide choirs and toured the major South Australian regional centres through Country Arts SA. Interstate and international (United Kingdom, Europe, North America and China) tours became a natural extension to its busy local schedule.

Receiving first prize summa cum laude at the 1996 European Youth Choral Festival was a turning point for the choir, providing an music passport and to many international events. That year, the choir was presented with the key to the City of Adelaide, recognising its world-class standard, international success, and outstanding contribution to the musical life of the city and South Australia. 

The choir’s success reflected the experience brought by its directors Deborah Munro and Margaret Lange. Munro was a music specialist teacher at a wide variety of schools, most notably the Marryatville High School special interest music centre. She also was music director of the South Australia Public Schools Music Society with overall charge of 200 choirs around South Australia and choir trainers, culminating in the Festival of Music – a 10 concert festival with 500-voice massed choirs and 50-piece orchestras.  Munro also was on the international jury for the European Youth Choral Festival.

Margaret Lange was for many years a South Australian government education department music advisor who conducted at the Public Schools Music Festivals. In 2007, she was awarded life membership of the festival society. Lange introduced the Kodaly music education programme to South Australia in 1978 and served on the national council of the Kodaly Music Education Institute of Australia and had her excellence recognised with an award in 2007 from the council of Education Associations of South Australia. She also received a teachers award through World Teachers Day in 2008 and an Order of Australian Medal (OAM) in 2013 for her work as a music educator and administrator.