Sydney Chamber Choir is a choir from Sydney formed as the Sydney University Chamber Choir in 1975. Following its formation in 1975, the Sydney Chamber Choir quickly established itself as a champion of

Renaissance Music Renaissance music is traditionally understood to cover European music of the 15th and 16th centuries, later than the Renaissance era as it is understood in other disciplines. Rather than starting from the early 14th-century '' ars nova'', the Tr ...

, especially the works of

Josquin des Prez Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...

. Under the leadership of founding director

Nicholas Routley Nicholas Routley born 26 June 1947 is an Australian pianist, Conducting, conductor, accompanist and composer, and the founding director of the Sydney Chamber Choir. Born in England, he was educated in Edinburgh and studied music at St John's Col ...

, the choir was also a pioneer in revitalising Sydney performances of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

and

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

. 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 Nigel Henry Cockburn Butterley (13 May 1935 – 19 February 2022) was an Australian composer and pianist. Life and career Butterley was born in Sydney and learned to play the piano at the age of five. He attended Sydney Grammar School, but mus ...

Clare Maclean Clare Maclean (born 1958 on the South Island of New Zealand, at Timaru) is a New Zealand composer. She received her formative musical training under Gillian Bibby at the Wellington Polytechnic. She then moved to Australia, where she studied comp ...

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 ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. ...

, 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 The Tallis Scholars is a British professional early music vocal ensemble normally consisting of two singers per part, with a core group of ten singers. They specialise in performing ''a cappella'' sacred vocal music. History The group was formed ...

to perform Tallis' 40-voice motet

Spem in alium ''Spem in alium'' (Latin for "Hope in any other") is a 40-part Renaissance motet by Thomas Tallis, composed in c. 1570 for eight choirs of five voices each. It is considered by some critics to be the greatest piece of English early music. H. B. ...

in City Recital Hall Angel Place. As part of the same concert, the Sydney Chamber Choir presented works by Australian composers

Ross Edwards Ross Edwards (born 1 December 1942) is a former Australian cricketer. Edwards played in 20 Test matches for Australia, playing against England, West Indies and Pakistan. He also played in nine One Day Internationals including the 1975 Crick ...

and Paul Stanhope. In 2007 the Sydney Chamber Choir commissioned a new work from Australian composer

. The work, ''Beni Avshalom'' was completed almost fifty years after Butterley's frequently performed landmark choral work ''The True Samaritan''. 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. The current music director, Sam Allchurch commenced in 2019.

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards 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. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. , - ,

AIR Awards of 2018 The AIR Awards of 2018 is the twelfth annual Australian Independent Record Labels Association Music Awards (generally known as the AIR Awards) and was an award ceremony at Queen's Theatre Adelaide, Australia on Thursday 26 July 2017. In 2018, ...

, ''Paul Stanhope: Lux Aeterna'' , Best Independent Classical Album , , -

ARIA Award for Best Classical Album

, - ,

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, , ''The Victoria Requiem'' – Sydney University Chamber Choir , , ARIA Award for Best Classical Album , ,

APRA Classical Music Awards

The APRA Classical Music Awards are presented annually by

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...

(APRA) and

Australian Music Centre The Australian Music Centre (AMC), formerly known briefly as Sounds Australian, is a national organisation promoting and supporting art music in Australia, founded in 1974. It co-hosts the Art Music Awards along with APRA AMCOS, and publishes '' ...

(AMC). , - ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, , ''Southern Star'' (excerpts) ( Christopher Willcock,

Michael Leunig Michael Leunig (born 2 June 1945), typically referred to as Leunig (his signature on his cartoons), is an Australian cartoonist. His works include ''The Curly Pyjama Letters'', cartoon books ''The Essential Leunig'', ''The Wayward Leunig'', ' ...

) – Sydney Chamber Choir,

Marshall McGuire Marshall McGuire (born 1965) is an Australian harpist, teacher, conductor and musical administrator. He has been described as the world's greatest champion of new music for the harp. Biography McGuire was born in Melbourne in 1965. His interest i ...

, , Vocal or Choral Work of the Year , ,

Musical director

*Nicholas Routley (1975 - 1982) *Neil McEwan (1982 - 1985) *Nicholas Routley (1985 - 1990) *Hans-Dieter Michatz (1990 - 1993) *Nicholas Routley (1993 - 2006) * Paul Stanhope (2006 - 2015) * Richard Gill (2015 - 2018) *Sam Allchurch (2019 - )

References

External links

homepage

Sydney Chamber Choir
at Australian Music Centre {{Authority control APRA Award winners Australian choirs Musical groups established in 1975