Sydney Chamber Choir is a choir from Sydney formed as the Sydney University Chamber Choir in 1975. [1]
Following its formation in 1975, the Sydney Chamber Choir quickly established itself as a champion of Renaissance Music, especially the works of Josquin des Prez. Under the leadership of founding director Nicholas Routley, the choir was also a pioneer in revitalising Sydney performances of Bach and Handel. At the same time, the Sydney Chamber Choir began a program of commissioning new music from Australian composers, a tradition which continues today with world premieres of works by Nigel Butterley, Clare Maclean and Paul Stanhope occurring in recent seasons.
The Sydney Chamber Choir has toured widely in eastern Australia and performed in the UK. The choir's performances are regularly broadcast across the country on ABC Classic FM, and CD recordings are available on the ABC Classics and Tall Poppies labels. The choir has also recorded soundtracks for a number of feature films.
In 2006, in addition to its Sydney concert series, the Choir appeared in the inaugural Aurora Festival of contemporary music, based in western Sydney; a studio recording of the Aurora concert program has been released on CD by Publications by Wirripang. In February of that year, the choir joined with The Tallis Scholars to perform Tallis' 40-voice motet Spem in alium in City Recital Hall Angel Place. As part of the same concert, the Sydney Chamber Choir presented works by Australian composers Ross Edwards and Paul Stanhope.
In 2007 the Sydney Chamber Choir commissioned a new work from Australian composer Nigel Butterley. The work, Beni Avshalom was completed almost fifty years after Butterley's frequently performed landmark choral work The True Samaritan. [2]
In 2009 the Sydney Chamber Choir was ranked third out of a field of ten top choirs from around the world in its first appearance in an international choral competition. The Choir took out 3rd prize in two mixed-voice categories (polyphony and folklore), in the prestigious 41st Tolosa International Choral Festival in Spain. [3]
The current music director, Sam Allchurch commenced in 2019. [4]
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2018 [5] [6] | Paul Stanhope: Lux Aeterna | Best Independent Classical Album | Nominated |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | The Victoria Requiem – Sydney University Chamber Choir | Best Classical Album | Nominated |
The APRA Classical Music Awards are presented annually by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australian Music Centre (AMC). [7]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2006 | Southern Star (excerpts) (Christopher Willcock, Michael Leunig) – Sydney Chamber Choir, Marshall McGuire | Vocal or Choral Work of the Year [8] | Won |
The Contemporary Singers of Australia were a chamber choir based in Sydney, New South Wales, dedicated to the choral music of the 20th century. The group was formed in late 1986 by visiting Canadian composer David Colwell with assistance from the University of Sydney and the NSW State Conservatorium of Music. Colwell directed the Singers for their first year, passing the leadership to Antony Walker and Elliott Gyger, who directed the Singers until 1999. Many of the original members were composition students of Peter Sculthorpe including Stephen Adams, Matthew Hindson, and Canadian composer Jana Skarecky.
The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is the smallest of the six orchestras established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
The West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Perth, Western Australia. Its principal concert venue is the Perth Concert Hall. WASO also gives concerts at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. As of March 2012, WASO has a roster of 79 full-time musicians and presents over 170 performances per annum throughout the state. The orchestra has an affiliated WASO Chorus.
Richard James Gill was an Australian conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic works. He was known as a music educator and for his advocacy for music education of children.
Richard John Mills is an Australian conductor and composer. He is currently the artistic director of Victorian Opera, and formerly artistic director of the West Australian Opera and artistic consultant with Orchestra Victoria. He was commissioned by the Victoria State Opera to write his opera Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1996) and by Opera Australia to write the opera Batavia (2001).
Ross Edwards is an Australian composer of a wide variety of music including orchestral and chamber music, choral music, children's music, opera and film music. His distinctive sound world reflects his interest in deep ecology and his belief in the need to reconnect music with elemental forces, as well as restore its traditional association with ritual and dance. He also recognises the profound importance of music as an agent of healing. His music, universal in that it is concerned with age-old mysteries surrounding humanity, is at the same time connected to its roots in Australia, whose cultural diversity it celebrates, and from whose natural environment it draws inspiration, especially birdsong and the mysterious patterns and drones of insects. As a composer living and working on the Pacific Rim, he is aware of the exciting potential of this vast region.
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is Australia’s largest choral organisation. It presents its own annual concert series in the Sydney Opera House the City Recital Hall, and other venues in New South Wales, as well as serving as chorus for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Benjamin Peter Speed is an Australian musician who composes scores for film and television. He previously performed and recorded as Mister Speed or Mr Speed, and was vocalist and songwriter in the Australian alternative, electronic, and hip hop band The New Pollutants.
Joseph Edward Twist is an Australian composer from Gold Coast, Queensland, who resides in the United States.
Nigel Westlake is an Australian composer, musician and conductor. As a composer for the screen, his film credits include the feature films Ali's Wedding, Paper Planes, Miss Potter, Babe, Babe: Pig in the City, Children of the Revolution and The Nugget. He also composed the theme for SBS World News.
The Australian Intervarsity Choral Festival is an annual event in which members of university choirs from all state capitals of Australia and the national capital Canberra meet for two weeks to rehearse, socialise and perform combined concerts. The Festival also serves as the annual conference of the member choirs of AICSA, the Australian Intervarsity Choral Societies Association
Nigel Henry Cockburn Butterley was an Australian composer and pianist.
Andrew Ford is an English-born Australian composer, writer, and radio presenter, known for The Music Show on ABC Radio National.
Liza Lim is an Australian composer. Lim writes concert music as well as music theatre and has collaborated with artists on a number of installation and video projects. Her work reflects her interests in Asian ritual culture, the aesthetics of Aboriginal art and shows the influence of non-Western music performance practice.
Ian Munro is an Australian pianist, composer, and music educator. His career has taken him to many countries in Europe, Asia, North America, and Australasia.
Clare Maclean is a New Zealand composer.
Gordon Hamilton is an Australian composer and conductor. Since 2009, he has been the Artistic Director of The Australian Voices. He was born in Newcastle, lived and worked in Bremen, Germany for five years as a conductor and composer and he now lives in Brisbane.
Helen Margaret Gifford OAM is an Australian composer. On Australia Day 1996 she was appointed to the Medal of the Order of Australia, "in recognition of service to music as a composer". At the APRA Music Awards of 2016 she won the category "Distinguished Services to Australian Music".
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2011 are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2011 was the 29th annual ceremony by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) to award outstanding achievements in contemporary songwriting, composing and publishing. The ceremony was held on 21 June 2011 at CarriageWorks in Sydney, Australia. The Art Music Awards were introduced in 2011 to replace the Classical Music Awards and were distributed on 3 May. They are sponsored by APRA and the Australian Music Centre (AMC) to "recognise achievement in the composition, performance, education and presentation of Australian music". The Screen Music Awards were issued on 14 November by APRA and Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) at the City Recital Hall, Sydney which "acknowledges excellence and innovation in the genre of screen composition".
Paul Stanhope is an Australian composer, conductor and music educator, known for his choral and instrumental music.