The Little Match Girl Passion – Sydney Philharmonia Choirs

Welcome

Dr Elizabeth Scott Associate Music Director

We acknowledge and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country we rehearse, sing and work, and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. Our voices bring to life the songs of many cultures and countries, from across the ages, in a spirit of sharing, learning and understanding. The ancient customs and cultures of this land inspire us to create harmony – in music and in our society.

PHOTO: KEITH SAUNDERS

Welcome to the enchanting world of fairy tales – where heroes embark on epic quests, villains lurk in the shadows, and love conquers all. Storytelling is integral to all cultures across the globe, and the stories we’re told as children have a huge impact on the people we become and the paths we choose to follow.

The art of storytelling may seem to be dying out in the modern digital age – yet the European tradition of fairy tales, particularly those of Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, continue to play an important part in helping us to understand the injustices and complexities of our world.

Tonight the youthful voices of VOX will take you on a journey through song into some lesser-known fairy tales. Some of these stories are terrible and unsettling, others demonstrate the power of love and loyalty; you’ll hear a modern-day fairy tale that’s both hilarious and tragic, and a timeless tale that will break your heart. All these stories offer a lesson to be learned – stay vigilant, trust your instincts and take good care of each other. The world is a scary place…

THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL PASSION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY DEBORAH CHEETHAM FRAILLON and MATTHEW DOYLE Tarimi Nulay – Long time living here† Turn to page 6 of the Stabat Mater program for the text.

LUKE BYRNE The Six Swans Four Songs from Grimm’s NAOMI CRELLIN Thrice upon a time* DAVID LANG The Little Match Girl Passion

Elizabeth Scott conductor VOX Luke Byrne piano Saturday 14 October 2023 at 7:30pm Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music

* Premiere † 100 Minutes of New Australian Music 2020 commission The performance will run for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes, without interval.

This performance of David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion is given by permission of Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd, exclusive agent for Universal Music Corp. trading as G. Ricordi & Co. New York.

About the Music and in Thrice upon a time she explores the common theme of ‘expecting a romantic partner to complete us and being brought down to earth when this doesn’t happen’. Her text touches on contemporary themes of selfconsciousness, self-worth, social media anxiety, the excruciating world of dating apps, self-reflection borne of suffering, and the subsequent inner resolution once expectations are released and a deeper sense of self is developed. That might sound serious, but these songs are also designed to amuse, and perhaps surprise with some unexpected sounds!

Naomi Crellin is a singer and the musical director of The Idea of North. She graduated from the Elder Conservatorium in Adelaide with a degree in Jazz Voice having begun her studies as a classical pianist. (She also plays cello and oboe.) Since then, her compositions and arrangements have been performed worldwide by groups such as The Real Group (Sweden), Voces8 (UK) and Amarcord (Germany), as well as by leading Australian ensembles.

American composer David Lang (born 1957) has become a fixture of the Manhattan new music scene since cofounding the acclaimed Bang on a Can collective in 1987. His Little Match Girl Passion won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2008; its recording by Paul Hillier and Theatre of Voices subsequently won a Grammy, and this profoundly moving work is now firmly established as a 21st-century classic.

The Little Match Girl Passion takes its inspiration from both the Hans Christian Andersen fable (a favourite story of Lang’s wife) and J.S. Bach’s setting of the Matthew Passion. ‘The story is ostensibly for children,’ writes the composer, ‘and it has that shocking combination of danger and morality that many

: P E T ER SE OTO RL PH IN G

Tonight’s concert begins with a rare happy ending and a magical narrative device. To save her six brothers, a girl must sew shirts from aster (or “star”) flowers, working over a period of six years when she cannot speak. This gave Australian composer Luke Byrne the idea of using the names of stars woven together in a montage to evoke the passing of time: Corvus, Corona Borealis, Eridanus, Ursa Major, Crux.

He also evokes a sense of optimism, symbolised by the swans flying home in the recurring chorus. The Six Swans (2019) was commissioned for the 30th anniversary of the Hunter Singers, adding to Byrne’s already impressive oeuvre of choral works and narrative compositions. These include Capricorn, which was composed for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, as well as works for Gondwana Voices and the ACO. It followed Four Songs from Grimm’s (2017), which was commissioned by Elizabeth Scott for the NSW Public Schools Singers. The Four Songs are dark in tone and, like The Six Swans, were drawn from the enthralling but often gruesome and morally ambivalent Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm. Taking his lead from illustrator and storyteller Shaun Tan, Byrne aimed to capture the essence of these stories rather than literal retellings.

(Read more about Luke Byrne on page 11.)

When Elizabeth Scott invited Naomi Crellin to compose a song cycle for VOX, the fairy-tale theme of this concert had been set.

Crellin’s first thought was of how many of us ‘are becoming increasingly jaded by the “happily ever after” storyline,

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The Words famous children’s stories do. A poor young girl, whose father beats her, tries unsuccessfully to sell matches on the street, is ignored, and freezes to death. Through it all she somehow retains her Christian purity of spirit, but it is not a pretty story.’

Lang was drawn to the story’s intrinsic conflicts: horror and beauty, a bitter present and sweet memories, poverty and hope.

‘There are many ways to tell this story,’ he writes. It could be a story about faith or an allegory of poverty. But Lang was most interested in Andersen’s framing of a parable: ‘drawing a religious and moral equivalency between the suffering of the poor girl and the suffering of Jesus. [‘Passion’ comes from the Latin word for ‘suffering’.] I started wondering what secrets could be unlocked from this story if one took its Christian nature to its conclusion and unfolded it, as Christian composers have traditionally done in musical settings of the Passion of Jesus.’

Lang’s text intersperses Andersen’s narrative with his own versions of the crowd and character responses of the Passion text.

‘There is no Bach in my piece and there is no Jesus—rather the suffering of the Little Match Girl has been substituted for Jesus’s, elevating (I hope) her sorrow to a higher plane.’ The original version of the work was scored for four solo voices playing simple percussion parts; the following year Lang added parts for mixed chorus.

Program notes adapted in part from commentary by the composers.

THE SIX SWANS I remember our father, hiding us away In our castle among the trees.

Every visit, so short, looking over his shoulder: What was it? Who could it be?

Then one day she came, you thought it was him, The six of you ran out to see, And one-by-one she changed you, you all flew away, But she never saw me.

Far, far away you have flown to the evening sun.

Sing out your swansong when the day is done.

But one day, my brothers, back home you’ll fly.

I’ll set you free with the stars of the midnight I ran away from our lonely home, Deep into the forest to dwell.

Until, one sunset, I found you again, And you told me how to break the spell: “For six long years, you cannot laugh nor speak, One word and all will be dust, And in that time sew six white shirts of Star-flowers to bring back the lost.”

Far, far away we have flown to the evening sun.

Sing out our swansong when the day is done.

But one day, dear sister; back home we’ll fly.

You’ll set us free with the stars of the midnight sky.

And so, my beautiful baby boy, Know that it gives me such pain: This is why you have never heard your own mother sing you a Lullaby, or just say your name.

But there will come a time, I promise you this, Long before you are King, When from out of the darkness you will see Six white swans on the wing.

Far, far away you have flown to the evening sun.

Sing out your swansong when the day is done.

But one day, my brothers, back home you’ll fly.

I’ll set you free with the stars of the midnight sky…

Text by Luke Byrne after the Brothers Grimm tale

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FOUR SONGS FROM GRIMM’S 1. The Mouse, the Bird and the Sausage The mouse... and the bird... and the sausage Lived together in peace and happiness: The bird fetches the wood, While the mouse lights the fire, And the sausage does the cooking.

Until one day when the bird heard the word from another bird, and was disturbed.

“Why should I always do the hard work?

It isn’t fair! We must exchange our jobs.”

So they did.

The sausage was eaten by a dog while fetching wood, The mouse drowned in the pot while trying to cook soup And the foolish bird started a fire and burned...

Don’t be like the bird.

Be more like the mouse, or the sausage: Be happy with your lot in life, Lest you end up dead.

2. The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes As the last chime of midnight fades away, Twelve sisters arise from their beds.

The candlelight flickers on their hurrying feet As one-by-one they descend.

“The hour is come, let us fly, let us fly from our gilded cell To the dance that awaits on the distant shore”.

As they walk through the tree-lined avenues With leaves in silver and gold, No moon nor stars illuminate their way Along the underground road.

“The hour is come, let us fly, let us fly from our gilded cell To the dance that awaits on the distant shore” And yet I have the strangest feeling, Of something unseen behind, Like another pair of silent footsteps Shadow-dancing mine.

As we sail upon the shimmering lake, I know we’re nearly there: The distant lights call us onward And music floats on the cold night air…

But did you feel that breath of wind, Like someone unseen passing by?

Like another pair of silent footsteps Shadow-dancing mine.

3. The Three Snake Leaves To a far-off land, a poor soldier goes to war And for his clan, great victory does he bring.

Back home, he falls for the princess, beautiful, yet strange.

She had made a vow for the man who would be her King.

“If I die before my husband, he must be buried alive with me.”

But the soldier's love was so great he would gladly follow her to the grave.

They lived for a while in happiness, but the beautiful girl fell ill, And no-one could cure her sickness, so she died.

The grieving soldier knew there was no escape from his solemn vow, In the tomb, by his queen's side, he must lie.

Then comes a snake, he slays it quick, but a second soon follows on With three green leaves to resurrect the first, And when the snakes are gone, the three leaves remain.

One for the mouth, two for the eyes, Blood stirs, a hand, a breath: she is brought back to lifel But the princess’s heart, though risen from the dead, Had lost all the love for her soldier brave.

And as they sailed across the ocean, while her husband was asleep, She and the captain threw him overboard into the waves.

But his faithful servant takes a lifeboat and pulls him from the sea.

And remembering what he had been told, takes out the three snake leaves.

One for the mouth, two for the eyes, Blood stirs, a hand, a breath: he is brought back to life!

Day and night, they row with all their strength…

Across the ocean they fly to beat the traitors home.

Says the King: “Of these deeds, the truth will soon come to light.”

Unawares, the princess returns, “Oh father, my husband was lost at sea!”

Says the King: “I will now make the dead come to life…”

As she stares at her once-dead soldier, for mercy does she beg,

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Says the King: “There is no mercy for your crime.”

THRICE UPON A TIME

And so the traitors are placed in a ship pierced with holes, And sent out to sea, where they soon sank amid the waves.

Looking for another, a lover like no other To fill a killer hole in my soul, tick off a goal on my bucket list.

4. Foundling

Don’t know who you are but I need to find you Where are you hiding from me now?

Are the algorithms powerful?

You were found, alone, in the forest, High above the ground, at the top of a tree.

My lost little bird, my foundling one, None is more precious than you are to me.

But now through that same forest we must go From those with hardened hands and souls.

1. Someday

Wonderful, beautiful, out of my league But the gambler internal succumbs to infernal desire And the dopamine raises me higher and higher

Never leave me, and I’ll never leave you.

Someday my bae will come Someday I’ll find my love

So change yourself into a flowering tree, And I’ll be your one perfect rose.

They’ll never find us here.

Wherever you are is my home.

Sick of singing solo, I want to be a duo I’d even consider a trio I don’t know what I should do, oh

On through the woods past unseen eyes Silently watching from windows, Over trails of crumbs left behind, And whispering deep in the shadows.

But still through the dark forest we must go From those with hardened hands and souls.

Never leave me, and I’ll never leave you.

So change yourself into a towering church And I’ll be your bright chandelier.

They’ll never find us here.

Wherever you are, wherever you are…

Or change into a shimmering lake, I’ll be the bird on your waters clear.

In the fading light the evening stars will One-by-one appear, Until the silver moon shines a path upon your face.

Where you are [repeated].

Never leave me, and I’ll never leave you.

Text by Luke Byrne after Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm

Please, I am down on my knees And I’m begging you, please I am down on my knees I really wanna find me a heart and a mind of the kind To complete my story

2. Goldilocks Zone Not too short, and not too tall Not too big and not too small Not too heavy and not too light You gotta be just right Not too smart and not too dumb Not too boring but not too fun Not too old and not too young You gotta be just right Not too serious not too silly Not too Jack and not too Jilly Not too poor and not too rich Not a total Bits and pieces are okay No one’s perfect anyway Come and lead me astray We gotta be just right Not too hot and not too not Not a clean freak and not a grot Not too smooth and not too spotty Not too obsessed with the perfect body Not too waxed and not too hairy Not too tame, but not too scary Not too placid, not too contrary You gotta be just right

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Hope you’re magical and charming Hope your smile is quite disarming Hope your motives aren’t ulterior Hope I don’t feel too inferior Hope I fit all your criteria We gotta be just right

3. Taco Bell It didn’t start so well We met at Taco Bell I ordered enchiladas You couldn’t stand the smell We sat there awkwardly Trying to chew daintily The conversation stilted We both left gratefully

1. Come, daughter Come, daughter Help me, daughter Help me cry Look, daughter Where, daughter What, daughter Who, daughter Why, daughter Guiltless daughter Patient daughter Gone

2. It was terribly cold

And why does it feel like I’m all alone?

Oh why? Is it because I play the trombone?

After bad date twenty three I went to therapy I hoped to find the answer Why no one wanted me The question I received Clarified what I believed I saw my holy grail As romance in a fairytale And why did I fall for the Disney plot?

Oh why can’t I untie the Gordian knot?

After session thirty three I could face reality

It was terribly cold and nearly dark on the last evening of the old year, and the snow was falling fast. In the cold and the darkness, a poor little girl, with bare head and naked feet, roamed through the streets. It is true she had on a pair of slippers when she left home, but they were not of much use. They were very large, so large, indeed, that they had belonged to her mother, and the poor little creature had lost them in running across the street to avoid two carriages that were rolling along at a terrible rate. One of the slippers she could not find, and a boy seized upon the other and ran away with it, saying that he could use it as a cradle, when he had children of his own. So the little girl went on with her little naked feet, which were quite red and blue with the cold.

So the little girl went on.

So the little girl went on.

I went back to Taco Bell Snuck in a Zinfandel To match the enchiladas Oh how I love that smell

3. Dearest heart

I poured a glass of wine Felt my fingers intertwine I asked myself a question It got quite personal And I didn’t feel I was all alone And I didn’t even look at my phone And I, now I know that I’m enough And I, now I strut when I’m in the buff My story wrapped up sweetly Now I know that I complete me Amidst the tears and laughter I’ve found my ever after Text by Naomi Crellin

THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL PASSION

Dearest heart Dearest heart What did you do that was so wrong?

What was so wrong?

Dearest heart Dearest heart Why is your sentence so hard?

4. In an old apron In an old apron she carried a number of matches, and had a bundle of them in her hands. No one had bought anything of her the whole day, nor had any one given her even a penny. Shivering with cold and hunger, she crept along; poor little child, she looked the picture of misery. The snowflakes fell on her long, fair hair, which hung in curls on her shoulders, but she regarded them not.

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5. Penance and remorse Penance and remorse Tear my sinful heart in two My teardrops May they fall like rain down upon your poor face May they fall down like rain My teardrops Here, daughter, here I am I should be bound as you were bound All that I deserve is What you have endured Penance and remorse.

Tear my sinful heart in two My penance My remorse My penance

stretched out her feet as if to warm them, when, lo! the flame of the match went out, the stove vanished, and she had only the remains of the half-burnt match in her hand.

She rubbed another match on the wall. It burst into a flame, and where its light fell upon the wall it became as transparent as a veil, and she could see into the room. The table was covered with a snowy white table-cloth, on which stood a splendid dinner service, and a steaming roast goose, stuffed with apples and dried plums. And what was still more wonderful, the goose jumped down from the dish and waddled across the floor, with a knife and fork in its breast, to the little girl. Then the match went out, and there remained nothing but the thick, damp, cold wall before her.

9. Have mercy, my God

6. Lights were shining Lights were shining from every window, and there was a savory smell of roast goose, for it was New-year’s eve- yes, she remembered that. In a corner, between two houses, one of which projected beyond the other, she sank down and huddled herself together. She had drawn her little feet under her, but she could not keep off the cold; and she dared not go home, for she had sold no matches, and could not take home even a penny of money. Her father would certainly beat her; besides, it was almost as cold at home as here, for they had only the roof to cover them, through which the wind howled, although the largest holes had been stopped up with straw and rags.

Her little hands were almost frozen with the cold.

Her little hands were almost frozen with the cold.

7. Patience, patience!

Patience.

Patience!

8. Ah! perhaps Ah! perhaps a burning match might be some good, if she could draw it from the bundle and strike it against the wall, just to warm her fingers. She drew one out-“scratch!” how it sputtered as it burnt! It gave a warm, bright light, like a little candle, as she held her hand over it. It was really a wonderful light. It seemed to the little girl that she was sitting by a large iron stove, with polished brass feet and a brass ornament. How the fire burned! and seemed so beautifully warm that the child

Have mercy, my God. Look here, my God. See my tears fall. See my tears fall.

Have mercy, my God. Have mercy.

My eyes are crying.

My heart is crying, my God. See my tears fall.

See my tears fall, my God.

10. She lighted another match She lighted another match, and then she found herself sitting under a beautiful Christmas-tree.

It was larger and more beautifully decorated than the one which she had seen through the glass door at the rich merchant’s. Thousands of tapers were burning upon the green branches, and colored pictures, like those she had seen in the show-windows, looked down upon it all.

The little one stretched out her hand towards them, and the match went out.

The Christmas lights rose higher and higher, till they looked to her like the stars in the sky.

Then she saw a star fall, leaving behind it a bright streak of fire. “Some one is dying,” thought the little girl, for her old grandmother, the only one who had ever loved her, and who was now dead, had told her that when a star falls, a soul was going up to God.

11. From the sixth hour From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour she cried out: Eli, Eli.

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She again rubbed a match on the wall, and the light shone round her; in the brightness stood her old grandmother, clear and shining, yet mild and loving in her appearance.

“Grandmother,” cried the little one, “O take me with you; I know you will go away when the match burns out; you will vanish like the warm stove, the roast goose, and the arge, glorious Christmas-tree.” And she made haste to light the whole bundle of matches, for she wished to keep her grandmother there. And the matches glowed with a light that was brighter than the noon-day, and her grandmother had never appeared so large or so beautiful. She took the little girl in her arms, and they both flew upwards in brightness and joy far above the earth, where there was neither cold nor hunger nor pain, for they were with God.

13. When it is time for me to go When it is time for me to go Don’t go from me When it is time for me to leave Don’t leave me When it is time for me to die Stay with me When I am most scared Stay with me

14. In the dawn of morning In the dawn of morning there lay the poor little one, with pale cheeks and smiling mouth, leaning against the wall; she had been frozen to death on the last evening of the year; and the New-year’s sun rose and shone upon a little corpse! The child still sat, in the stiffness of death, holding the matches in her hand, one bundle of which was burnt. “She tried to warm herself,” said some. No one imagined what beautiful things she had seen, nor into what glory she had entered with her grandmother, on New-year’s day.

15. We sit and cry We sit and cry And call to you Rest soft, daughter, rest soft Where is your grave, daughter?

Where is your tomb?

Where is your resting place?

Rest soft, daughter, rest soft You closed your eyes. I closed my eyes.

Rest soft Text by David Lang after Hans Christian Andersen, Susannah Mary Paull, Picander and St Matthew

PHOTO: KEITH SAUNDERS

12. She again rubbed a match

Elizabeth Scott conductor Dr Elizabeth Scott has led SPC’s young adult choir VOX to great success since 2008. A former SPC Assistant Chorus Master (2006– 2008) and Acting Music Director (2013), she was appointed SPC’s first Associate Music Director in 2022. She is also a Lecturer in Choral Conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (University of Sydney) and has been the Choral Director of the NSW Schools Spectacular since 2009.

After graduating from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 1995, she completed postgraduate studies in choral conducting, vocal performance and aural training in Hungary and Germany. She has worked with the Queensland, Adelaide and Melbourne symphony orchestras, as well as Orchestra Victoria through Symphony Australia’s Conductor Development Program, and in 2008 was awarded the 2008 Sydney Choral Symposium Foundation Choral Conducting Scholarship. She holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting.

She is a regular chorus master for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and also works with Gondwana Choirs and Cantillation.

In 2017, she became the first Australian woman to conduct SPC’s Messiah concerts at the Sydney Opera House. Other recent performance highlights include Mozart: Requiem & Revelations and Bach Mass in B Minor (2022), Berliner Messe and St John’s Passion Reimagined (2021), Considering Matthew Shepard (2020) and Music at the Movies (2019).

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PHOTO: BLUEPRINT STUDIOS

Luke Byrne piano Luke Byrne is an Australian composer and musician based in London, where he is an Associate Teacher at the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA). From 2021 to 2023 he was the pianist, arranger and chorus master for The Bauhaus Band, an interdisciplinary musical ensemble within the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in partnership with the University of Oxford.

In Australia, his credits as a musical director for theatre include The Harp in the South, Muriel’s Wedding and Chimerica for the Sydney Theatre Company, and Hamlet, The Events and The Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie and Little Ragged Blossom for Belvoir St Theatre.

For many years Luke Byrne was the pianist for VOX, and he has been a chorus master for Sydney Philharmonia in Sydney Symphony Orchestra concerts including Gladiator and The Music of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, as well as the forthcoming Australian Ballet production of The Dream. He has also worked extensiviely as a pianist with Gondwana Choirs and Sydney Children’s Choir, particularly for Gondwana Chorale and the Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir, and for Sydney Chamber Choir.

VOX Elizabeth Scott Associate Music Director Tim Cunniffe Assistant Chorus Master and Principal Rehearsal Pianist Daniel Guo Rehearsal Pianist SOPRANOS Lucy Andrews Nicollette Burr Courtney Cousins Georgia Hopkins Annabel Jeffery* Miriam Jeffery Jasmin Jungo Caitlin Kearney Emily Knapman Jennifer Lee Grace Leonard Lucy Lush Clare Macpherson Charlotte Moore Amelia Myers Isabella Rahme† Maya Schwenke Eva Tarbox Lily Tindale Emily Winton Liv Wishart ALTOS Jasmin Borsovszky Amelia Bussing Lucy Cantrill Aija Draguns Madison Dring Laura González Comalada Stephanie Gough Karissa Kee Georgia Lee Laura McKay

Caitlin McNamara Georgia Moore Jess Moore Madi Moore† Kathleen Morris Alleyne Moss Ines Obermair Lara Rogerson-Wood Ruby Scott-Wishart Belinda Smith Jedda Thorley Jaimie Wolbers Dorothy Wu TENORS Blade Fuller Tom Hazell* Alex Lin Aedan MacNamara† Caleb Mayo Tristan Spiteri BASSES Phillip Cullen Scott Hekking Jonathon Kelley† Chris Masson Rafi Owen Edward Phillips Theo Picard Daniel Rae Lachlan Wrenford Stephen Young

* Soloists – Crellin † Soloists and percussion – Lang

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VICE-REGAL PATRONS The Hon. Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales and Mr Dennis Wilson VICE PATRONS Prof. the Hon. Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO Lauris Elms AM OBE DMus (Syd) AMBASSADOR FOR SINGING Yvonne Kenny AM BOARD Jacqui Wilkins Chair Claire Duffy President Katie Blake, Stuart Goddard, Terence Kwan, Jill Lester, Elizabeth Neilsen, Georgia Rivers STAFF Brett Weymark OAM Artistic & Music Director Dr Elizabeth Scott Associate Music Director Tim Cunniffe Assistant Chorus Master & Principal Rehearsal Pianist Mark Robinson Artistic Operations Manager Chizuru Maruyama Choirs Administrator Susan Gandy Orchestra Coordinator Simon Crossley-Meates Marketing Manager Naomi Hamer Office & Box Office Administrator Sarah Howell Philanthropy Manager John Liebmann Finance Manager PROGRAM CREDITS Yvonne Frindle Editor and Design Tone Bullen, Smörgåsbord Cover Artwork Immij NSW Printer

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PHOTO: KEITH SAUNDERS

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs presents the art of choral singing at the highest standard, and develops the talents of those with a passion for singing, in Sydney and beyond. Founded in 1920, it has become Australia’s finest choral organisation and is a Resident Company of the Sydney Opera House.

Led by Artistic and Music Director Brett Weymark OAM and Associate Music Director Dr Elizabeth Scott, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs comprises three auditioned and three community choirs that perform repertoire from choral classics to musical theatre and commissions by Australian composers. SPC presents its own annual concert season as well as collaborating with leading conductors, soloists and orchestras in Australia and overseas. In 2002, SPC was the first Australian choir to sing at the BBC Proms (Mahler’s Symphony No.8 under Sir Simon Rattle), returning again in 2010 to celebrate its 90th anniversary. The Choirs perform in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s season every year, as they have done for more than 80 years. SPC also presents community singing events throughout the year – Chorus Oz (the annual Big Sing), Big Heart Sing at the Sydney Opera House and choral workshops throughout Sydney and NSW. 2020 was Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ centenary and saw the realisation of the 100 Minutes of New Australian Music project, featuring commissioned works by composers including Elena Kats-Chernin, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon and Brett Dean. In 2022 the Choirs took part in the reopening of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, performing Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and in 2023, Brett Weymark celebrates his 20th anniversary as Artistic Director.