Entertainment
8 October, 2026
Singers ‘trip’ around world
THE Johnstone River Singers whisked their audience on a musical journey ‘Around the World’, filling the Innisfail Uniting Church with nostalgia, harmony and plenty of good humour as an appreciative audience gathered for the choir’s third concert of the year.
MC Trevor Van Bael set the tone early, describing the group as “amateur singers who do their best to provide a morning of enjoyable entertainment,” before inviting the audience to sit back and travel the globe through song.
The choir opened with a gentle sweep across Britain and Ireland with ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’, ‘All Through the Night’, ‘Scotland the Brave’ and ‘Galway Bay’, before pianist Shirley Nayler, now 94 and still performing with the spark she had at age seven, delighted the crowd with jokes, stories and a Father’s Day poem by Helen Steiner Rice.
Soloists added colour and character to the morning’s theme. Bill Lotaw strummed his guitar for ‘The Wind’, joined by Annette Gill on the chorus, while Graham Whybird offered heartfelt renditions of ‘Wandering the King’s Highway’ and ‘Come You Back to Mandalay’. The eight ladies charmed with ‘The Happy Wanderer’, Tom sang ‘All by the Thames’, and the five men, each sporting a different cap delivered a playful French number.
The choir then broadened its passport, transporting listeners through Europe with ‘Madam Moiselle’, ‘Funiculi Funicula’, ‘Arrivederci Roma’, ‘Wonderful Copenhagen’ and ‘Till the White Rose Blooms Again’.
Guest performers added further flair: the Bramston Beach Buddies made up of David Berry, Paul Smith, Christine Kane and Marilyn Hazell sang ‘Que Sera, Sera’, Paul Smith performed ‘Isle of Capri’, and Bill Lotaw returned with a stirring version of ‘How Great Thou Art’.
The concert closed with uplifting favourites including ‘Give My Regards to Broadway’, ‘Vaya Con Dios’, ‘Yellow Rose of Texas’, ‘Please Remember Me’ and ‘I Still Call Australia Home’, before the choir offered ‘The Irish Blessing’. A delicious morning tea prepared by the ladies rounded out the event.
The group began in 1997 as the Rainbow Singers, an offshoot of the Innisfail Choral Society, before becoming the Johnstone River Singers under the Innisfail Uniting Church in 1999 and adopting their current name in 2008. Today, they continue to bring joy to the community, regularly performing at OzCare Innisfail and the Babinda respite centre.
Their final Innisfail concert for the year will be held on 7 December at 9.30am at the Uniting Church.
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