Dream.  Perform.  Achieve.  Inspire.

ABOUT THE TOOWOOMBA EISTEDDFOD

The Toowoomba Region has always been a place rich in music and culture and what better way to celebrate and showcase the talents of the region than with an annual Eisteddfod.

The Eisteddfod as we know it today was first held in 1931, unfortunately there is no copy of the Program for the first Eisteddfod but copies of subsequent Programs are held in the Archives. In 1931 there were four Sessions in the RSL Memorial Hall including Choral, Vocal, Piano, Violin and Recitation Competitions as well as a Spelling Bee. Some Sections involved Preliminaries with a Winner’s Concert held on the final Saturday evening.

The first Instrumental ensemble Section was held in 1938 and the Section was for “Mouth Organ Band”. In 1939 Dance Sections (both solos and groups) were introduced and one year later further Instrumental Sections were added, with competitions for brass instruments and another ensemble Section, including Dance Bands.  In 1940 “Radio Solo” was held, where competitors were required to sing into a microphone at the 4GR Studios. There were 19 competitors listed in the Program including Mr A.E. Burstow.

READ AN EXCERPT OF THE HISTORY OF THE TOOWOOMBA EISTEDDFOD >

City of Toowoomba Eisteddfod-Graphics

Management Committee

Conveners

Email
Email
Email
Email
Email
Email

Other Positions

Email
Email
Email
Email

Life Members of
The City of Toowoomba Eisteddfod

Robert Dodman
Helen Earley
Janette Kelly
Robyn Morris OAM
Colin Muller OAM
Roslyn McIvor
Sandra Neale
Anne Thomas
Kevin Whitley
Ora Whitley

Thank you for your support & contributions.

A HISTORY OF THE CITY OF TOOWOOMBA EISTEDDFOD

By Bob Dodman
Life Member, City of Toowoomba Eisteddfod July 2020
(An Excerpt)

The History of the Eisteddfod Movement

The Eisteddfod tradition began in Wales and stretches back across at least 900 years of recorded Eisteddfodau. One literal translation of eisteddfod is “be seated” and refers to an old tradition established in competitions amongst bards when the winner received a “chair” at the Kings table. A great deal of tradition surrounds these meetings of the bards, and it is well documented in a book by The First Welsh National Eisteddfod was held in 1881.

Cath Filmer- Davies has documented the history of the Eisteddfod in her book entitled “Eisteddfod: A Welsh Tradition in Australia” (Seren Press Brisbane, 2001).  In it she describes an Eisteddfod as a:

“series of competitions generally related to the performing arts. Its aim is to encourage the development of performers, young and old, to give them a platform for performance that they might never otherwise have had, and to afford to competitors the experience and personal growth available from the opportunities they have to gain access to impartial and expert adjudications from people who possess the highest qualifications in the field”. It provides “the opportunity to hear other interpretations of set works, a platform for performance and the opportunity to have an audience and a great chance of enhancing a fledgling musical, dancing or dramatic career”.

The first Eisteddfod in Australia was held in Ballarat in 1855 and was related to an influx of Welsh miners searching for gold. The first Eisteddfod in Queensland was held in Gympie in March 1885. Others followed in Charters Towers in 1888, and later the North Queensland Eisteddfod began in 1921.

The beginnings of the major Eisteddfod movement in southern Queensland came with the establishment of coal mining around Ipswich in the 1860s. Many Welsh coal miners settled in the area and the Welsh Union Church (now the United Welsh Church) was built in 1886 with support from a rich Welsh coal miner, Lewis Thomas. An Eisteddfod was held in this Church on New Year’s Day 1887.  In due course the Queensland Eisteddfod Council was formed in 1908. A separate North Queensland Eisteddfod was begun in 1921.

Establishment of the toowoomba eisteddfod

The first Eisteddfod in 1931

Some information about the early history of the Eisteddfod movement in Toowoomba is provided by extracts from The Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs Gazette dated April, 193l.

“For the first time since 1924, Toowoomba is to have a big Eisteddfod. Children’s Eisteddfodau have been organised very successfully during the past few years, but this time there are competitions for the adults as well as the children. The Eisteddfod is being organised under the auspices of the Women’s Auxiliary branch of the RSSILA (Returned Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia) and the proceeds will be devoted to the relief of distress among unemployed returned men and their families.”

Unfortunately, there is no copy of the Program for the first Eisteddfod held in 1931 but copies of all subsequent Programs are held in the Archives.  We do know that Miss Madge Chamberlin sang in that first Eisteddfod and her mother, Edna Chamberlin was an Accompanist. The Chamberlin name has been closely linked with the Toowoomba Eisteddfod since its inception.

In 1931 there were 4 Sessions in the RSL Memorial Hall including Choral, Vocal, Piano, Violin and Recitation competitions as well as a Spelling Bee. Some Sections involved Preliminaries. A Winner’s Concert was held on the final Saturday evening.

In the early years there were Choral, Vocal, Piano, Violin and Elocution (Speech and Drama) Sections. The Spelling Bee was held again in 1932. An interesting Section held in 1934 was a “Temperance Recitation”. Piano competition was very popular, and Preliminaries were held for both the Under 10 (17 competitors) and 10-13 years (24 competitors) age groups, with the Finals the following day.

The first Instrumental ensemble Section was held in 1938 and the Section was for “Mouth Organ Band”. In 1939 Dance Sections (both solos and groups) were introduced and one year later further Instrumental Sections were added, with competitions for brass instruments and another ensemble Section, including Dance Bands.  In 1940 “Radio Solo” was held, where competitors were required to sing into a microphone at the 4GR Studios. There were 19 competitors listed in the Program including Mr A.E. Burstow.

Some significant changes occurred from 1951 to 1960. Most importantly the 19th Eisteddfod in 1954 was the last held under the auspices of the Toowoomba Sub-Branch of the RSSILA.  Then in 1958 the Dance part of the Eisteddfod no longer took place under the umbrella of the Toowoomba Eisteddfod. Dance was first introduced in 1939 and had grown to be a very large part of the Eisteddfod.

From 1961 to 1970, the music Sections included Vocal, Choral and Piano. In some years, other Instrumental Sections were included, and these were gradually increased to include violin, recorder, other instrument Sections and small Instrumental ensembles.

City of Toowoomba Eisteddfod-Graphics

There was an increased range of Piano Sections over the years 1971 to 1980.  In 1978 an Instrumental Adjudicator (Peter Rorke USQ) was introduced for the first time. He adjudicated 3 Sessions and 26 Sections including small Instrumental groups, woodwind, brass, violin, any other instrument solos as well as duets for woodwind, brass, violin, string ensembles, and larger Instrumental ensembles.

Beginning in 1983, there were changes in the number of adjudicators to allow for the appointment of specialist adjudicators for each Instrumental discipline, string, brass and woodwind.

Between 1990 and 1992 there was a major re-organisation of the structure of the Eisteddfod. The competition was divided into 20 Music Divisions (183 Sections), 16 Speech and Drama Divisions (84 Sections) and 1 Literary Division (8 Sections).

In 1992 a Golden Jubilee Eisteddfod was held celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the inception of the Toowoomba Eisteddfod.  The Jubilee Program featured a Gold Cover.

From 1995 the Eisteddfod was divided into two parts, the first in May always involving Choral and Vocal and the second in July/August for Instrumental. The Composition of the Speech and Drama competitions in each part varied.

In 2009 The TS Burstow Opera Gala was introduced and injected an amazing impact on the operatic aria competition and also on the Vocal competition in general.  Competitors were required to compete in three Sections, the Operatic Aria, the Oratorio Solo and the Art Song in preliminaries held on Saturday morning and afternoon in the Empire Church Theatre. The six highest ranking competitors were chosen from these Sections and then competed in the final that night. 

The winner of the TS Burstow Opera Gala received $2000 and the runner-up $500 with the Prize Money  generously donated by TS Burstow Pty Ltd. It should be noted that the Burstow family has a very long history in the arts in Toowoomba with family members being involved in Choral, Vocal and other musical activities over many years.

Following the success of this Opera Gala in 2009 it was again staged in 2010 with similar success.

Addendum:

The Opera Gala continued while interest was high through 2010.  However a decrease in entries meant that the Gala was discontinued in the following years.

From 2010 onwards the Toowoomba Eisteddfod has continued to evolve to meet the needs of the community.  Dance was reintroduced in 2011, and entries have continued to grow over the years.  The fact that all sessions of the Eisteddfod are able to be staged in our beautiful Empire Theatre means that both the Theatre and the Eisteddfod remain at the cultural heart of our community.

Click Here for the Full history
All participants in the Toowoomba Eisteddfod do so in the spirit of friendly competition and enhancement of performance abilities in a forum where stage experience can be gained and learned. Competition is staged with respect for the organisers, audience, adjudicator/s and fellow competitors, thus maintaining the spirit and integrity of the eisteddfod movement.