A Harmonious Journey Through the Decades

Pembroke Choral Society was formed in March 1976 at the request of former choristers of the School. There were not many choirs in Adelaide that were suitable for younger people in the 70s. Many of us wanted to continue to sing.

Our first rehearsals were held in the rehearsal room in Angove House.

Our first appearance was at the School Concert where we performed Vivaldi’s Gloria. We continued to feature in the School Concerts, Old Scholars Week chapel services, Lessons and Carols, and for 17 years at Carols by Candlelight in Elder Park.

Members of the Pembroke Choral Society in 1976:

Josephine Bills, Kathryn (Huxtable) Kay (1975), Helen Manthorpe (1975), Penny (Minks) Campbell (1975), Joanne Omond (1975), Georgina (Shearer) Featherby (1975), Jan Wilson (1974), Carolyn (Knaggs) Alexander (1974), Janet Buchan (1972), Joy Dobson (1975), Susie Lang (1974), Michelle (McGlasson) McColl (1975), Pip (Munday) Vande Kamp (1975), Jenni Pearce (1975), Peter Holmes (1974), Rick Pfeiffer, Rick Sarre (1972), Trevor Shard (1974), Christopher Breen (1975), Bruce Carter (1975), Mark Doley (1975), Bruce Hastings (1974), Peter Hill (1975), Tim Mellor (1974), Andrew Swanson (1975) and Colin Telfer.

We staged our own musicals in 1984 and 1985, produced by Rick ‘Effectively’ Sarre. His famous tag line, “Effectively, it will work with an audience!”.

The years would involve great social occasions, weekend south coast camps, progressive dinners and Christmas dinners. This tradition continues today with healthy social activities.

The Pembroke Choral Society officially became affiliated with the Old Scholars Association in 1978. This included a representative on the committee. The choir grew to its largest in the 80s, now a select a cappella group of 18.

A couple of highlights of the early years were being part of the 2500 voice massed choir on the eve of the South Australian Jubilee 150 and the performance of Carmina Burana in Festival Theatre, combining with all the choirs of the school in 1987.

In 1999 we changed our name, thinking that being a Choral Society may appear a little stuffy as we approached the 2000s. Derived from the school motto Ex Unitate Vires (From unity, strength), our new name In Unitate was launched, now shortened to InU.

Our Musical Director at the time, Tim Marks, had a great love for 16th and 17th century music. We did several concerts of this wonderful music with composers including Purcell, Gabrieli, Byrd and Gibbons. Then he introduced some African melodies, Gospel rhythms, and Jazz rhythms to our repertoire. In 2002, we did a concert titled Rockapella—this was possibly the birth of our new style.

Since 2008, with the exception of 2022, we have performed at the Adelaide Fringe Festival every year, providing a fantastic opportunity to share our a cappella arrangements with our audience.

Sadly, we lost our dear friend and Musical Director Tim Marks in 2016. We are what we are today because of Tim’s inspiration and vision. Tim saw that for us to continue to be successful we needed to do something different.

Old Scholar Amanda Lumsden (1992) is now our Musical Director. She brings her amazing talent and enthusiasm to rehearsals every Sunday night at the Old Scholars War Memorial Pavilion. We welcome enthusiastic choristers from many backgrounds, and we are proud that our vocal arrangements are contributed largely by our members.

As we approach our 50th year in 2026, we plan to have a golden celebration for InU and would love to include some of the 350 people that have been part of this group over the years. Please get in touch if you’d like to join the celebrations with us, via Inuchoir@gmail.com or 0403 372 341.

Penny (Minks) Campbell (1975)
Old scholar and founding member of Pembroke Choral Society/In Unitate