Sydney Philharmonia Choirs has announced their Concert Season for 2023 – a year-long celebration marking 20 years of leadership by Artistic & Music Director Brett Weymark OAM.
Programming this anniversary season with a focus on Voice, Energy and Joy, Weymark says, “has been cause to reflect on 20 years as Music Director of a remarkable company that is truly unique in the international arts landscape. An exemplar of music’s ability to bring people together, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is a family as much as it is a thriving arts organisation.”
“Looking back, there have been some incredible on-stage moments – both in Australia and overseas, as well as behind the scenes, and the inspirational experience of commissioning and creating new works from both local and international composers,” he continues. “These occasions are honoured in a season where many of the musical choices have a personal resonance in my own career, and are also pillars of the type of repertoire that the Sydney Philharmonia excels at.”
A resident company of Sydney Opera House, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is thrilled to present a diverse program of music in the recently refurbished Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, including:
- Much-loved choral works from across the centuries – from Handel’s Samson, Verdi’s Requiem and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana to The Golden Age of Broadway, with favourite hits from the musicals that lit up stages from the 1940s to 1960s; and
- ChorusOz 2023 – the annual ‘big sing’ – that will draw 1000 community members from across Australia and the globe together to perform Mahler’s epic Symphony No.8 (Symphony of a Thousand): a truly audacious undertaking.
Interwoven throughout the season is newly commissioned Australian music, including the long-awaited premieres of Yuwaalaraay composer James Henry’s Murrgumurrgu, and Elena Kats-Chernin’s major choral work Human Waves, inspired by the stories of migrants to Australia.
The Choirs’ operational home is part of the revitalised Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, and it is here that two highlights of the season will be presented in Sydney’s exquisite, new, intimate state-of-the-art performance space, The Neilson on Pier 2/3:
- The Australian premiere of James McMillan’s acclaimed Stabat Mater, described by Brett Weymark as “simply the best work written for chamber choir this century” is paired with meditations from Arvo Pärt and soulful works from Australian composers Andrew Anderson, Daniel Brinsmead and Matthew Orlovich; and
- Two performances of David Lang’s Pulitzer prize-winning The Little Match Girl Passion, one of the most profound choral works of our time, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s 1845 story, The Little Match Girl, and complemented by music by Luke Byrne for choir and piano, and the premiere of a new work by Naomi Crellin.
To end the year, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs return to the SOH Concert Hall stage, presenting an extended Christmas season, comprising Bach’s monumental Christmas Oratorio, Parts 1 -3, and a concert specifically with families at heart – Carols at the House, with special guest John Bell AO.
Throughout 2023 each of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ concerts will continue to open with a live performance of Yorta Yorta composer Deborah Cheetham’s Tarimi Nulay – Long time living here, a musical Acknowledgement of Country commissioned by the Choirs as part of their 2020 centenary celebrations. Cheetham’s words have been translated into the local Gadigal language by Matthew Doyle.
