2017season

There is a fundamental belief at the heart of everything we do at Sydney

Philharmonia Choirs that music is the greatest way of bringing people

together. Music is such a powerful force that it has the potential to

eliminate our differences and amplify our common humanity. When you

come to a concert in our 2017 season, I hope this is something you will

sense regardless of how many people are singing, what language the work

is in or when it was written. What you will see is a group of people from

many different walks of life all coming together to express the vision of a

poet’s words and a composer’s inner world.

Joyand ConneCtivity

We tell stories through music. This is Sydney’s choir and it is there for

you to experience on so many levels — as a singer, audience member

or supporter. The community that we build through singing is what I

become more and more focused on within my weekly rehearsals and

performances. What is the connection we can forge with each other

and what can the audience take from a particular work?

Putting together the season for 2017 is therefore about the people

who are singing the notes and those who are listening. It is about our

choristers and their audience. Sprinkled over the top is a myriad of

opportunities for people to sing on an occasional basis from Singing at

the House, a free event nearly every month in the Sydney Opera House,

to ChorusOz which is a full weekend of glorious singing and friendship.

This year we tackle Mendelssohn’s dramatic Elijah.

Easter and Christmas feature two masterpieces from the baroque

period: Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Handel’s Messiah. These two

composers underpin our musical world – St Matthew is one of the

great gifts of our repertoire and will feature our three auditioned choirs,

Symphony Chorus, Chamber Singers and VOX. Messiah this year is led

by the extraordinary Elizabeth Scott. Why not make this the year that

you join us as part of our Christmas Choir?

Festival Chorus will breathe life into Rossini’s Stabat Mater and then

Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius — both in the Sydney Opera House, it

is choral music on a grand scale.

For something more reflective, we will remember those who have

sacrificed so much with a special concert performed by our Chamber

Singers on Remembrance Day. VOX will perform in the intimate

acoustic of St Mary’s Cathedral Crypt in a concert dedicated to the

music of Northern Europe.

After our triumphant performance of Vaughan Williams’ A Sea

Symphony in 2016, our esteemed Symphony Chorus return to the

City Recital Hall to explore a range of colourful characters in the

infrequently heard Vaughan Williams’ Five Tudor Portraits.

Be part of our vision — that Sydney could become a singing city where

people sing to express their joy and connection.

Brett Weymark

aprilBaCHst MattHew passionSat 15 April, 1pmSydney Opera House

Mayrossini staBat Mater Sat 6 May, 8pm Sun 7 May, 2pm Sydney Opera House

June CHorusozSun 11 June, 5pmSydney Opera House

augusttudor portraitsThu 24 August, 7:30pmSun 27 August, 2pmCity Recital Hall

2017Calendar

season

septeMBernordiC songsSat 23 September, 8pmSun 24 September, 2pmSt Mary’s Cathedral Crypt

oCtoBerelgar dreaM of gerontiusThu 19 October, 8pmSat 21 October, 2pmSydney Opera House

noveMBer songs of farewellSat 11 November, 11amSun 12 November, 2pmPaddington Uniting Church

deCeMBerHandel MessiaHThu 14 December, 8pmFri 15 December, 8pmSat 16 December, 1pmSydney Opera House

How to BookFor more information and to book,

visit sydneyphilharmonia.com.au

.

BaCHst MattHew passion

.

J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion is simply, one of the greatest works

of art of any age. A profound meditation on the final days of Christ’s

life, as related in the Gospel of St Matthew, the Passion is a masterful

harmonisation of the theatrical and the intimate, the epic and the human.

An Easter tradition for many regardless of faith, the St Matthew

Passion’s themes speak to all of us: sacrifice and resurrection,

betrayal and redemption, compassion and love. Bach brings the

familiar story to life with a vivid immediacy and visceral power that

grips us from the first moments. Interleaved within this story are

sublimely beautiful and sombre reflections on Christ’s suffering that

invite us to share this despair and hope. A tour de force for the choir,

vocalists and orchestra under Brett Weymark, the St Matthew Passion

is a pinnacle of the Baroque repertoire.

Join with us to hear one of the world’s most moving narratives

told by a master.

BACH St Matthew Passion BWV 244

Brett Weymark conductor

Robert Macfarlane, Evangelist

Christopher Richardson, Christus

Celeste Lazarenko soprano

Sally-Anne Russell mezzo soprano

Jonathan Abernethy tenor

David Greco baritone

Symphony Chorus

Chamber Singers

VOX

Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra

saturday, 15 april 1pmConcert Hall, sydney opera Housetickets: $49-$109 plus booking fees

rossinistaBatMater

VERDI Giovanna d’Arco – Overture

ROSSINI Mose in Egitto – Act III: Preghiera “Dal tuo

stellate soglio”

DONIZETTI Maria Stuarda – Act III: “Deh! Tu di

un’umile preghiera”

VERDI Don Carlos – Act II: “E lui!... desso... i’infante!

BELLINI Norma — “Casta Diva, che inargenti”

MASCAGNI Cavalleria Rusticana – “Regina coeli

laetare”

ROSSINI Stabat Mater

Brett Weymark conductor

Taryn Fiebig soprano

Jacqueline Dark mezzo soprano

Jaewoo Kim tenor

Warwick Fyfe baritone

Festival Chorus

Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra

saturday 6 May, 8pmsunday 7 May, 2pmConcert Hall, sydney opera Housetickets: $49-$109 plus booking fees

Experience the celestial power of the voice as soloists and choir perform highlights from the operas of the Italian masters which find characters addressing heaven, from Moses leading his people in prayer to a glorious Easter Hymn in an Italian village.

When masters of the stage compose sacred music, they create work as powerfully dramatic as any opera. Gioachino Rossini, best known as a composer of brilliant comedy and moving tragedy, also wrote a handful of choral masterpieces after his early retirement from the theatre. Like his operas, they celebrate the beauty of the human voice, none more so than his Stabat Mater. This medieval poem describing Mary’s contemplation of her son on the cross is a vividly drawn drama in its own right and it has elicited profound musical responses from composers for centuries. Rossini sets the words with exquisite sensitivity to emotion and mood in the manner of his grandest operas, including virtuoso solos and ensembles and overwhelming choruses, sweeping listeners up in a gripping, living narrative.

ozCHorus

2017

Best.sing. ever.

sing MendelssoHn’s ELIJAHFelix Mendelssohn’s grand oratorio Elijah was inspired by two composers

whose spirits hover over this season: Bach and Handel. Like his two

heroes, Mendelssohn crafts biblical stories into compelling theatre —

in this case episodes from the life of the Old Testament prophet Elijah.

One of the most songful of composers, Mendelssohn made Elijah a

melodic treasure-trove. The oratorio’s sublime lyricism and sincerity

captivated its first listeners in Birmingham in 1846 — and has been

a favourite of choirs, orchestras and audiences ever since.

Now it’s your chance to play a part in this 160-year tradition: join

the hundreds of voices of ChorusOz at Sydney Opera House over

the June long weekend to rehearse and perform highlights from

Elijah under the baton of Music Director Brett Weymark with baritone

Michael Honeyman and the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra. One of

the year’s highlights, ChorusOz is an experience you won’t want to

miss. No audition is required — simply bring your passion for singing

great music in one of the world’s great halls.

register at sydneyphilharmonia.com.au/chorusoz

MENDELSSOHN Elijah Op.70

Brett Weymark conductor

Penelope Mills soprano

Sian Pendry mezzo soprano

John Longmuir tenor

Michael Honeyman baritone

ChorusOz Choir

Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra

sunday 11 June, 5pmConcert Hall, sydney opera Housetickets: $75 plus booking fees

tudorportraits

TALLIS Why fumeth in sight

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a Theme

of Thomas Tallis

TOMKINS O Praise the Lord, All Ye Heathen

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Serenade to Music

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Five Tudor Portraits

Brett Weymark conductor

Morgan Balfour soprano

Bronwyn Douglass mezzo soprano

Symphony Chorus

Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra

thursday 24 august, 7:30pmsunday 27 august, 2pmCity recital Hall tickets: $49-$109 plus applicable fees

Music transports us to other times and places. Journey to the

Elizabethan era with our Symphony Chorus and works inspired by

a golden age of English art.

Thomas Tallis and Thomas Tomkins created a unique style of choral

music: expressive, dramatic and intimate. A great English composer

of a later generation rediscovered their music and was profoundly

transformed: Ralph Vaughan Williams paid tribute to his forebears

in his Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis and invoked the spirit

of Shakespeare in his gorgeous Serenade to Music, but it is the Five

Tudor Portraits that are Vaughan Williams’ most extended love letter

to Merrie Olde England.

This suite of earthy and rowdy pictures of life in the 16th century

portrays good-time girl Elinor Rumming, the hard-to-get Pretty Bess

and a delicate requiem to a pet sparrow among much else. Teeming

with humanity and humour, Five Tudor Portraits is deservedly one of

Vaughan Williams’ most beloved works and a showpiece for a spirited,

brilliant choir.

nordiCsongs

PRAULINŠ Missa Rigensis

SANDSTRÖM Gloria

VASKS Pater noster

PÄRT Morning Star

PÄRT Bogoróditse Djévo

PÄRT Da pacem

EŠENVALDS Stars

MIŠKINIS Pater noster

GJEILO The Spheres

GJEILO Northern Lights

Elizabeth Scott conductor

VOX

saturday 23 september, 8pmsunday 24 september, 2pmst Mary’s Cathedral Crypttickets $30-$60 plus booking fees

As bracing as the arctic air and luminous as the aurora, music from

Northern Europe has become central to the 21st Century choral

repertoire. Eminences such as Arvo Pärt and Pēteris Vasks have inspired

younger generations of composers to create work of intense beauty,

both sacred and secular that realise the exquisite possibilities of the

contemporary choir.

‘Music and love explains everything‘, says Latvian composer Uģis

Prauliņš. In a musical language that is immediate, vivid and personal,

Missa Rigensis combines baroque polyphony, minimalism with the

energy of rock. In its final dissolve, the Mass reaches for the beyond by

looking inward. The sacred music of Pärt, Miškinis and Vasks sounds

both ancient and modern, its austerity a balm to modern souls.

From heaven to the heavenly, Eriks Ešenvalds and Ola Gjeilo look to the

skies in shimmering works that demonstrate the virtuosity of the young

voices of VOX, Sydney Philharmonia Choir’s brilliant young adult choir.

Alluring, evocative and ecstatic, discover these songs from the North.

elgartHe dreaM

ofgerontius

ELGAR The Dream of Gerontius Op.38

Brett Weymark conductor

Jacqueline Dark mezzo soprano

Andrew Goodwin tenor

José Carbo baritone

Festival Chorus

The Sydney Youth Orchestra

thursday 19 october, 8pmsaturday 21 october, 2pmConcert Hall, sydney opera Housetickets: $49-$109 plus booking fees

At the end of the score of The Dream of Gerontius, Elgar wrote: “This is

the best of me.” This monumental work embodies Elgar’s spiritual and

artistic ideals – it is as stirringly Romantic and grand as you’d expect,

but it is also Elgar’s most personal utterance.

Elgar poured his “heart’s blood” into Gerontius, responding to the

words with evocative, sincere and imaginative music – imposing

marches full of pomp and circumstance, choirs of demons and angels,

and celestial harmonies – that takes us from earth to heaven. Elgar’s

masterful choral writing celebrates the beauty and power of the voice

in partnership with the orchestra.

A performance of The Dream of Gerontius is a major event for

performers and audiences alike. In this case, the virtuosic young

musicians of The Sydney Youth Orchestra join the massed forces

of the Festival Chorus and celebrated vocalists Jacqueline Dark,

Andrew Goodwin and José Carbo to contemplate a vast fresco of

life and life everlasting.

songs ofsongs of

MusiC of reMeMBranCe

farewell

PURCELL Hear my prayer

BUTTERLEY The True Samaritan

HOWELLS Requiem

HARRIS Bring us O Lord

PARRY Songs of Farewell

Brett Weymark conductor

Chamber Singers

saturday 11 november, 11amsunday 12 november, 2pmpaddington uniting Churchtickets $60 plus booking fees

On the 11th of November we recall the sacrifice made by men and

women in protecting us, a time for contemplation of the grandest

themes of life and death. Music has always played a role in occasions

of shared sorrow, both as a means of expressing it, and as a

consolation. Choral music is an especially powerful vehicle for the

music of remembrance, a collective singing on behalf of humankind.

Our Chamber Singers mark Remembrance Day with works that

confront tragedy and offer hope.

Radiant acapella masterpieces by Herbert Howells, Herbert Parry

and Nigel Butterley are profoundly personal responses to loss,

redemption and eternity. Howells’ Requiem found the universe in his

private grief – the death of his young son. Interleaved between the

traditional words of the requiem, are psalms which offer peace and

hope. Parry’s Songs of Farewell make the global tragedy personal,

with six exquisite settings of verses about life, death and eternity.

It was also one of his final and finest masterpieces.

We are excited to commission a new work in this program which

will complement this music of reflection.

HandelMessiaH

HANDEL Messiah HWV 56

Elizabeth Scott conductor

Miriam Allan soprano

Helen Sherman mezzo soprano

Andrew Goodwin tenor

David Greco baritone

Symphony Chorus

VOX

Christmas Choir

Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra

thursday 14 december, 8pmfriday 15 december, 8pmsaturday 16 december, 1pmConcert Hall, sydney opera Housetickets: $49-$109 plus booking fees

Hallelujah! The beloved festive treat Messiah returns to the Sydney

Opera House. Handel poured his heart and soul into this work: visitors

found him shaken by the emotional labour of composing it. Something

of this power remains in the piece – the profound sadness, the

transporting joy, and the mystery of Christ’s birth and resurrection. With

its musical richness, dramatic power and spiritual intensity, there is

something in Messiah for people of all faiths.

Messiah is much more than the Hallelujah Chorus. The best way to feel

the music of Handel is to get inside it. Join our Christmas Choir and

perform with hundreds of choristers, plus soloists Miriam Allan, Helen

Sherman, Andrew Goodwin, David Greco and conductor Elizabeth Scott

for an unforgettable Christmas celebration.

register at sydneyphilharmonia.com.au/messiah

80 years of MusiC Making witH tHe sydney syMpHonyIn 2016 we celebrated 80 years of making music with the Sydney

Symphony Orchestra. The relationship dates back to September 1936

when our earlier incarnations, the ABC Sydney Symphony Orchestra

and Hurlstone Park Choral Society performed Verdi’s Messa da requiem

at Sydney Town Hall under the baton of conductor Malcolm Sargent.

Brett Weymark and Symphony Chorus, 2016

Since then we have enjoyed a close relationship, bringing to life choral

masterworks for the people of Sydney and beyond.

Our partnership grows stronger every year and 2017 is no exception.

Performing with the SSO offers our choristers the chance to sing great

choral works and in 2017 we perform the ever-popular Last Night of

the Proms, Debussy’s dreamy Pelléas et Mélisande, Mahler’s dramatic

Symphony No.3 and Belshazzar’s Feast by William Walton.

for information on joining our symphony Chorus visit sydneyphilharmonia.com.au/symphony-chorus

Have a go! disCover! sing!We put the joy in singing with our community singing workshops held

every month at Sydney Opera House. The workshops cater for all levels

and interests and are an informal way of exploring your voice under the

guidance of vocal experts and skilled musicians. For those interested in

joining one of our choirs, we encourage you to attend a workshop first.

singing at tHe HouseSpend a morning under the iconic Sydney Opera House sails. Hundreds

of people have now experienced this event and say it is the most fun

you can have on a Sunday morning! You do not need any previous

singing experience, just enthusiasm and energy!

duration: 1.5 hoursCost: free

disCover MasterClassFor those who want to really immerse themselves in the music, we

offer a series of masterclasses led by music and vocal specialists.

A Discover masterclass will focus on a particular composer or genre

such as English choral music, Broadway hits, or the work of Mozart.

Participants can expect to rehearse music from some of the great

choral works we will perform as part of our 2017 Season, whilst also

getting an insight into the times in which the piece was written.

duration: 2.5 hoursvenue: the wharf, pier 4, Hickson rdCost: $40 plus booking fees

sydney pHilHarMonia CHoirs

CeleBrating100 years

in 2020

Bravo! Thank you to all those who have invested generously to support

our wonderful organisation that provides so much enjoyment to

so many people.

Ticket sales only generate 60% of our annual income and we rely on

the support of our donors, corporate partners and government to allow

us to continue to present world class music.

Your support enables us to:

•Provideperformanceopportunitiesforemergingsoloists,

young orchestral players and choristers

•CommissionextraordinarynewAustralianmusic

•Growouraudienceandbuildournationalandinternationalreputation

“sydney philharmonia Choirs have greatly enriched my life both as an audience member and singing with the choir. i can’t imagine life without them.”

rhonda McMurray, nsw.

There are a number of ways you can support Sydney Philharmonia

Choirs and become personally involved. You may choose to give to

an annual campaign, come along to one of our events, pledge your

commitment to a specific project such as the commissioning of a

new work or leave a legacy for the future.

To make a donation or to enquire about partnering with us

please contact:

shauna wolifson, development Manager02 8274 6207shauna@sydneyphilharmonia.com.au

design Sylvia Weimer, Spacelab Design

www.spacelabdesign.com

pHotograpHyKeith Saunders

Will Taylor

sydney pHilHarMonia CHoirs

Pier 4, Hickson Road Walsh Bay NSW 2000

Phone: 02 8274 6200

admin@sydneyphilharmonia.com.au

sydneyphilharmonia.com.au

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