Sydney Chamber Choir

Sunday December 12 2010, 4:00PM

Join us in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta for a very special Christmas concert featuring Britten’s Ceremony of Carols. Innocence and wisdom combine in the ancient poetry and the exquisite music for women’s voices and harp. Also featured is the lush O magnum mysterium by Morten Lauridsen, one of America’s most popular contemporary composers, and the crystal purity of Tomás Luis de Victoria’s 16th-century setting of the same profoundly moving meditation on the miracle of Christmas.

Saturday December 11 2010, 7:30PM

With Christmas approaching, December can be hard work, so take a little time out to relax, enjoy some beautiful music, and learn to breathe again!

This program combines 16th-century musical treasures with a beloved 20th-century classic, Britten’s Ceremony of Carols. Innocence and wisdom combine in the ancient poetry and the exquisite music for women’s voices and harp.

Also featured is the lush O magnum mysterium by Morten Lauridsen, one of America’s most popular contemporary composers. Plus, a newly-commissioned Australian work by Gordon Kerry, whose music for choirs, chamber ensembles and orchestras is in demand in the USA and Europe as well as across Australia. Kerry was awarded the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Music Fellowship for 2009.

Sunday September 26 2010, 3:30PM

Our second concert explores the glorious Renaissance and Romantic repertoire for voices and brass. The music of Gabrieli and Monteverdi shines with the same burnished gold as the mosaics of St Mark’s Basilica in Venice, where it was first heard.Voices and brass combine and recombine in multiple choirs answering each other from on high, like choruses of angels singing for pure joy. When the visiting German composer Heinrich Schütz heard this, he did what any musical genius would do: adopted it and adapted it into his own writing! And Anton Bruckner, two centuries later, wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity either.

Experience the hushed awe of Gabrieli’s O magnum mysterium, the exultant joy of Jubilate Deo and the solemn splendour of Bruckner’s mighty motets. If you’ve tasted the rich, full flavours of this music before, you’ll be coming straight back for more. And if you’re new to this sublime choral sound, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start sooner!

Saturday April 3 2010, 7:30PM

Our first concert of 2010 delivers a luscious mix of music from the 16th century to the present day.

Mystic minimalist Arvo Pärt celebrates his 75th birthday in 2010 – not that anyone should need an excuse to perform such breathtakingly beautiful music! ‘Tintinnabulation’ is the technical name, but the technique, inspired by the clear, pure sound of ringing bells, offers a listening experience unlike any other. It may be Sydney outside, but in Verbrugghen Hall, you will be far away in a place of uttermost calm.

The program also features the Australian premiere of Scotsman James MacMillan’s Tenebrae Responsories, inspired by the strikingly dramatic harmonies of Renaissance master Carlo Gesualdo. And then it seemed only fair to let Gesualdo speak for himself…

Sunday October 11 2009, 3:00PM

Bid Sydney Chamber Choir Buen viaje! (“Bon Voyage”) by attending this special concert on the eve of its tour to northern Spain. In October/November, the Choir will appear by invitation at the Tolosa International Choral Festival and give several recitals throughout the Basque country.

This performance will give the Choir’s Sydney audience an opportunity to hear the repertoire that the Choir is taking to Spain.

Sunday September 6 2009, 6:00PM

Two of the eternal glories of the Baroque in a single concert: Bach’s Magnificat and Vivaldi’s Gloria. These choral favourites spring to life under the direction of Baroque specialist Graham Abbott, with four shining solo voices plus the talented young musicians of the Sydney Conservatorium’s Early Music Ensemble. Jubilant choruses, exquisite arias, plus the world premiere of a new Magnificat setting by Australian composer Andrew Schultz – join Sydney Chamber Choir as we raise hearts and voices in music of pure joy.

Saturday June 27 2009, 7:30PM

Guitar superstar Slava Grigoryan joins Sydney Chamber Choir for an evening of Spanish fire. From whispering lullabies to wild flamenco, the guitar conjures whole worlds of emotion. Add the infinite subtleties of the human voice, and the stage is set for passion! The sensuous gypsy moods of the Romancero Gitano are at the heart of this musical feast; also on the menu, two Australian lullabies (including a new arrangement for choir and guitar by Gerard Brophy), and a rich spread of Spanish Renaissance music.

Wednesday June 3 2009, 7:00PM

On Wednesday 3 June, Richard Gill OAM will be the guest of honour and speaker at a fundraising dinner in support of Sydney Chamber Choir’s forthcoming tour to Spain.

Richard Gill, who recently accepted the Choir’s invitation to be its Patron, is one of Australia’s pre-eminent conductors, widely admired for his work in opera, on the concert platform and in vocal and choral training. He is internationally respected for his work in music education and in developing young musicians and creating opportunities for them.

Richard is also well known to ABC TV audiences as an entertaining panelist on Spicks and Specks, and as the Chair of the judging panel on Operatunity Oz.

Hosted by ABC Classic FM presenter Julian Day, this is a special opportunity to meet and hear Australia’s wittiest and most engaging music educator as he shares his insights on choral singing in the community and in education.

Why not gather some friends and colleagues and make a fun night of it?

Click for details and bookings
or
Download invitation (PDF)

Saturday April 11 2009, 7:30PM

Three musical centuries, three faces of Easter. Grief, hope and wonder collide and blossom into music of melting beauty as Mary the mother of Christ watches her son’s agony on the cross in Scarlatti’s Baroque masterpiece, the Stabat Mater for ten-part choir. The solemn dignity and anguished sorrow of mourning are honoured in the sublime Mass for the Dead of Spanish Renaissance master Tomás Luis de Victoria. Australian composer Anne Boyd draws our gaze out of the darkness into the light of Easter Day with a new work based on ancient plainsong melodies. An unforgettable journey into the innermost riches of lush choral sound.

Saturday November 8 2008, 7:30PM

From ancient music to the sounds of today, you’ll be caught up in the spell of this concert inspired by the transcendent rhythms of dance and chant, and featuring guest artists Match Percussion. The driving energy of Steve Reich, the irrepressible joy of Ross Edwards, the mystical passion of Hildegard of Bingen – this is music on fire!

Saturday September 6 2008, 7:30PM

Wrap yourself in the richest choral sound ever created: Thomas Tallis’s incomparable 40-voice motet Spem in alium. Sydney Chamber Choir joins with the award-winning University of Newcastle Chamber Choir in a rare performance of this 16th-century miracle, with other Renaissance favourites including Allegri’s Miserere, and contemporary works inspired by their perfection.

Tuesday May 6 2008, 11:00AM

For its debut performance in Musica Viva’s Coffee Concerts series, Sydney Chamber Choir, with Musical Director Paul Stanhope, will perform Renaissance madrigals with (northern hemisphere) spring connections, as well as contrasting Australian works, also with a nature theme. Movements from Byrd’s great a cappella mass in four parts will be interspersed throughout the concert.

For further details of the Coffee Concert series, click here.

Sunday March 16 2008, 6:00PM

Mozart’s Requiem is music of pure gold – shining genius, radiant beauty, profound humanity. Richard Gill conducts Sydney Chamber Choir in a new completion of the Requiem by Australian composer Gordon Kerry: canticles featuring the exquisite delicacy of children’s voices are woven into the familiar fabric of Mozart’s masterpiece. An unforgettable concert experience.

This concert was supported by 2MBS-FM through its ‘Sparkling 102.5’ promotion in conjunction with selected performances at City Recital Hall.

Saturday November 17 2007, 7:30PM

Music of the spheres… Works from across the centuries, celebrating the timeless glory of the heavens. Includes music by Byrd, Palestrina and Tallis, a new piece by young Sydney-based composer Paul Witney, and a distinctly Australian view of the heavens with music from Ross Edwards’ Southern Cross Chants.

Sunday August 19 2007, 3:30PM

The closing concert of the Festival features Vivaldi Gloria and Byrd Mass for Four voices, along with works of Peteris Vasks and Paul Stanhope.

Saturday August 18 2007, 3:30PM

Concert five of the Bangalow Festival features Sydney Chamber Choir in concert with the Bangalow Festival Chyamber Orchestra, and four fine soloists. The program includes two Bach Cantatas, and the Choral “Wenn ich einmal soll Scheiden” from the St Matthew Passion.

Saturday June 30 2007, 7:30PM

King David’s lament over the death of his son Absalom inspired some of the most poignant music ever written. This concert features music by the Renaissance composers Weelkes, Tomkins and Dering, and early Baroque masters Schein and Schütz, together with more recent explorations of a father’s grief by Gustav Holst and Jennifer Fowler, and the world premiere of a new work commissioned by Australian composer Nigel Butterley.

Sunday April 1 2007, 5:00PM

Out of the darkness and terror of the Second World War came Kodály’s vibrant, life-affirming Missa Brevis. Arvo Pärt’s De Profundis, written in the shadow of communist oppression in the Soviet Union, traces a journey from despair to transcendent joy. Pizzetti’s setting of the mass for the dead draws on the ancient traditions of plainsong to weave a profoundly moving and ultimately uplifting musical experience.

Saturday December 16 2006, 8:00PM

An evening of cabaret fun, with songs to raise a smile and even a chuckle or two. Madcap music of PDQ Bach and Martin Wesley-Smith along with old favourites from Irving Berlin and George Gershwin.

Saturday September 9 2006, 8:00PM

Sunday April 9 2006, 8:00PM

The highlight of the 2006 concert season, and Nicholas Routley’s final concert as Musical Director of the Sydney Chamber Choir.

Saturday December 17 2005, 8:00PM

Friday April 18 2003, 8:00PM

Fauré Requiem and Mozart Solemn Vespers with a capella works by Poulenc and Messaien (repeated Sunday 20/4/03 6pm).