June 6th, 1967.
Marie Collier arrives at the school.........
...and meets the choir.
In the 1967 Prospice, Victor Isaacs wrote an account of the visit:
"During the first term, one of Camberwell High's most distinguished ex-pupils - the world-famous opera singer Marie Collier - visited the school.
Miss Collier was a foundation member of the school. She recalled that when she was here there was no lawn, playing fields or trees - just mud everywhere.
Miss Collier's original interest was in science, but after gaining insufficient marks in this, her interest turned to literature and music.
Miss Collier only took up singing by accident (literally). She was learning the piano, but after breaking her arm she couldn't continue with it, so she started to learn singing to retain an interest in music. During holidays from work, she took a job in the chorus of a stage show. From that came offers of solo parts and the start of a singing career.
Miss Collier said that she liked all types of music, and that for relaxation, she like discotheques.
She told the senior students, who met her, that she hoped that they would become opera-lovers and that they would never have a closed mind about music.
Marie Collier concluded by saying that it had been rewarding in very many ways for her to return to her old school. She said that next year when she returns to Australia, she hopes to visit Camberwell High again."
©CHESS 2001