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 [email protected]
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
sydneyphilharmonia.com.au
singwithpassion.com.au