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, the choir was also a pioneer in revitalising Sydney performances of Bach 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, Clare Maclean and

Paul Stanhope Paul Stanhope is an Australian composer, conductor and music educator, known for his choral and instrumental music. Early life and education Stanhope was a student of Andrew Ford, Andrew Schultz and Peter Sculthorpe, and received the Charles Ma ...

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 to perform Tallis' 40-voice motet Spem in alium in City Recital Hall Angel Place. As part of the same concert, the Sydney Chamber Choir presented works by Australian composers Ross Edwards and Paul Stanhope. In 2007 the Sydney Chamber Choir commissioned a new work from Australian composer Nigel Butterley. 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) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. , - , AIR Awards of 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 (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 Christopher Willcock (born 1947) is an Australian Jesuit priest and composer of liturgical music. Life Willcock studied music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (graduated 1974) and was ordained to the priesthood in 1977. He then pursued doct ...

, Michael Leunig) – Sydney Chamber Choir, Marshall McGuire , , 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) *

(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