THE MUSIC OF ERIC WHITACRE - Sydney Philharmonia Choirs

THE MUSIC OF ERIC WHITACRE

LIGHT & GOLD SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS 2013 SEASON SSAT AATT 30 30 MARCH, MARRCH H, 77P 7PM PM SYDNEY SYD SY DNEY OP OPERA OPER ERAA HOUSE ER HOU OUSE S SE CCONCERT CO ONCE ON C RT HHALL ALLL AL FRII 5 APRIL, FR APRI RIL, L, 7PM 7PM ST.. PATRICK’S ST PAT A RI RICK CK’S ’SS CATHEDRAL CAT ATHE HEEDR HEDR DRAL AL PPARRAMATTA ARRA AR RAMA RA MAATT M ATT TA

UPCOMING EVENTS WITH SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA, MARCH – APRIL

REMEMBER ME Fri 26 April 7pm The Concourse Concert Hall (ticketek.com.au or 1300 795 012)

PURCELL Dido and Aeneas BRITTEN Five Flower Songs EDWARDS Flower Songs MEALOR Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal

Sat 27 April 2pm Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre (jspac.com.au or 4723 7600)

Sydney Philharmonia Chamber Singers Brett Weymark Conductor Fiona Campbell mezzo-soprano Anna Fraser soprano Penelope Mills soprano Richard Butler tenor Tobias Cole countertenor Alexander Knight baritone

Sun 28 April 5pm City Recital Hall Angel Place (cityrecitalhall.com or 8256 2222) Photo: Lisa Tomasetti

FESTIVAL CHORUS OPEN DAY Have you been thinking about joining a choir recently? Ever wanted to sing with 300 other singers in the Sydney Opera House? This year our Festival Chorus Open Day will be held on Sunday 7 April, 2pm-5pm for new applicants keen to join the Festival Chorus. A relaxed and simple voice assessment held at our rehearsal studios (Pier 4 Hickson Road, Millers Point), the Open Day is for those who are able to hold a melody and who have basic music reading ability. Participants of Festival Chorus then commit to two concert programs in 2013 including Opera’s Triple Threat and A Cole Porter Celebration Concert. For more information and to register visit sydneyphilharmonia.com.au Registrations close Thursday 4th April.

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CHORUSOZ – BRAHMS A GERMAN REQUIEM ChorusOz has become an annual event for many with singers returning year after year to sing in a weekend of music-making in the Sydney Opera House. No auditions, no commitment, no strings attached – just one weekend of rehearsals culminating in a grand performance of Brahms’ German Requiem with over 800 musicians! Date: Sat 18 – Sun 19 May For more information and to register visit sydneyphilharmonia.com.au If you don’t want to sing but do want to see what all the fuss is about, buy a ticket for this special event – sydneyphilharmonia.com.au or call 9251 3115 Photo: Ph Phot otoo: ot o: JJacqui acq acqu cqui Dean Deean a

LIGHT & GOLD THE MUSIC OF ERIC WHITACRE Lux Aurumque

VOX

3 Traditional Spirituals (Trad. arr. Moses Hogan) Elijah Rock I Want Jesus to Walk with Me The Battle of Jericho Alleluia The Seal Lullaby c

Symphony Chorus

The City and the Sea c I i walked the boulevard II the moon is hiding in her hair III maggie and milly and molly and may IV as is the sea marvellous V little man in a hurry Higher, Faster, Stronger

ac

Symphony Chorus & VOX

INTERVAL Five Hebrew Love Songs ab I Temuná (A picture) II Kalá kallá (Light bride) III Lárov (Mostly) IV Éyze shéleg! (What snow!) V Rakút (Tenderness)

Symphony Chorus

The Chelsea Carol c A Boy and a Girl

VOX

Come, Sweet Death (Music by Bach, conceived by Edwin London) Cloudburst

ac

Sleep

Symphony Chorus & VOX

Conductors – Eric Whitacre (30 March) Elizabeth Scott, Anthony Pasquill (5 April) Sydney Philharmonia Symphony Chorus & VOX Synergy Percussion a The Acacia Quartet b Christopher Cartner piano and organ c Saturday’s performance will be broadcast live across Australia on Fine Music 102.5 and streamed on finemusicfm.com

Piano for Friday’s performance has been serviced and provided by Theme and Variations Piano Services, exclusive agents for Steinway and Sons pianos.

Approximate durations: 50 minutes, 20-minute interval, 45 minutes – The concert will conclude at approximately 9pm. LIGHT & GOLD

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It is a huge honour to work with the wonderfully talented singers of the Sydney Philharmonia Symphony Chorus and VOX. To make my conducting debut with these two fantastic choirs in the beautiful surroundings and acoustics of the Sydney Opera House will be a truly memorable experience. Although it is not my first time in Australia, I have long waited to return to this amazing country. I have many fond memories of my previous visits so am absolutely thrilled to be back here for what promises to be a magical evening of music.

Eric Whitacre

PROGRAMME NOTES Lux Aurumque After deciding upon the poem by Edward Esch (I was immediately struck by its genuine, elegant simplicity), I had it translated into the Latin by poet Charles Anthony Silvestri (Tony). I tried to write simple, ‘breathing’ gestures, gentle motions that would allow the music to shimmer and glow. This piece became the subject of my Virtual Choir in 2010, achieving more than a million hits in just two months. I had played with the idea of singers from all parts of the world coming together via the web previously, but for Lux Aurumque I wanted to push the concept to the next level. It was so exciting to imagine individuals all recording their respective voice parts in the comfort of their home or office, cutting it together to form a Virtual Choir. I recorded a conductor track on video, filming it in complete silence hearing the music only in my head. Then I watched the video and played in the piano accompaniment to my conductor track to be used as a guide for the singers, for pitch and rhythm, when filming their voice part. The sheet music was offered as a free download. As singers began posting their individual tracks, I called for ‘auditions’ for the soprano solo. Melody Meyers from Tennessee posted my favourite entry. My goal with this ‘chapter’ of the Virtual Choir was to see if we could not just sing our parts separately and cut them together; I wanted to see if we could actually make music. There is a lot of rubato in my conducting (slowing 4 LIGHT & GOLD

down, speeding up) and some very specific dynamic gestures, and the singers responded beautifully. When I saw the finished video for the first time I actually teared up. The intimacy of all the faces, the sound of the singing, the obvious poetic symbolism about our shared humanity and our need to connect; all of it completely overwhelmed me. We had singers involved from 12 different countries. It must be said that a lot of the credit for its beauty should go to Scott Haines, who spent untold hours editing and polishing the video.

Alleluia I’m not an atheist, but I’m not a Christian either, and for my entire career I have resisted setting texts that could be used in a liturgical context. After spending the 2010 Michelmas term in Cambridge (Sidney Sussex College), though, singing with Dr. David Skinner and his marvellous Chapel Choir, I began to see the deep wisdom in the liturgical service. I found myself suddenly open to the history and the beauty of the poetry, and it was the single word Alleluia, “praise God”, that most enchanted me. It seemed the perfect fit for the music of my wind symphony work October, which to me is a simple and humble meditation on the glory of Autumn. Alleluia was written for Dr. David Skinner and the Sidney Sussex Chapel Choir; they premiered it in the Sidney Sussex Chapel, Cambridge University, on 25 June, 2011.

The Seal Lullaby In the spring of 2004 I was lucky enough to have my show Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings presented at the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop. The workshop is the brainchild of legendary composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell), and his insights about the creative process were profoundly helpful. He became a great mentor and friend to the show and, I am honoured to say, to me personally. Soon after the workshop I received a call from a major film studio. Stephen had recommended me to them and they wanted to know if I might be interested in writing music for an animated feature. I was incredibly excited, said yes, and took the meeting. The creative executives with whom I met explained that the studio heads had always wanted to make an epic adventure, a classic animated film based on Kipling’s “The White Seal”. I have always loved animation (the early Disney films; Looney Tunes; everything Pixar makes) and I couldn’t believe that I might get a chance to work in that grand tradition on such great material. “The White Seal” is a beautiful story, classic Kipling, dark and rich and not at all condescending to kids. Best of all, Kipling begins his tale with the mother seal singing softly to her young pup. (The opening poem is called The Seal Lullaby). I was struck so deeply by those first beautiful words, and a simple, sweet Disney-esque song just came gushing out of me. I wrote it down as quickly as I could, had my wife record it while I accompanied her at the piano, and then dropped it off at the film studio. I didn’t hear anything from them for weeks and weeks, and I began to despair. Did they hate it? Was it too melodically complex? Did they even listen to it? Finally, I called them, begging to know the reason that they had rejected my tender little song. “Oh,” said the exec, “we decided to make Kung Fu Panda instead.” So I didn’t do anything with it, just sang it to my baby son every night to get him to go to sleep. (Success rate: less than 50%.) And a few years later the Towne Singers graciously commissioned

this arrangement of it. I’m grateful to them for giving it a new life. And I’m especially grateful to Stephen Schwartz, to whom the piece is dedicated. His friendship and invaluable tutelage has meant more to me than I could ever tell him.

The City and the Sea The City and the Sea is a set of five settings on poems by E.E. Cummings I wrote: one for SATB chorus and piano; and one for solo baritone and piano. The entire set is based on white key clusters in the piano. I’ve started calling this the “oven-mitt” technique, because the chords are played as if you are wearing mitts on your hands – the four fingers all bunched together and the thumb on its own. Occasionally I break up the clusters and write the chords as arpeggios, as in maggie and milly and molly and may.

Higher, Faster, Stronger I was truly honoured to be invited to write a piece for the BBC Proms in 2012. There is such a sense of history with the Proms. I can feel the weight of hundreds of commissions and performances before mine; over the years every great ensemble or group has performed at the Proms in the incredible Royal Albert Hall. I wanted to write a piece which showcased the extraordinary talent of my own professional choir, the Eric Whitacre Singers, and the BBC Singers, while paying homage to the Proms tradition of excellence. The title, Higher, Faster, Stronger is derived from the Olympic motto, Citius, Altius, Fortius. My idea was to take the combined total of 56 singers, split them into three choirs: Higher Choir, Faster Choir, Stronger Choir, and the audience will get the impression that the choirs are racing and competing throughout the piece. I collaborated with my close friend, poet and historian, Charles Anthony Silvestri to find the perfect poetry: an Olympic Ode from the 5th century BC by Greek poet Pindar, translated into Latin. Light&&GOLD Gold LIGHT

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Five Hebrew Love Songs

A Boy and a Girl

In the spring of 1996, my great friend (and brilliant violinist) Friedemann Eichhorn invited me and my girlfriend-at-the-time Hila Plitmann (a soprano) to give a concert with him in his home city of Speyer, Germany. We had all met that year as students at the Juilliard School, and were inseparable.

(Composed 2002)

Because we were appearing as a band of travelling musicians, ‘Friedy’ asked me to write a set of ‘troubadour’ songs for piano, violin and soprano. I asked Hila (who was born and raised in Jerusalem) to write me a few ‘postcards’ in her native tongue, and a few days later she presented me with these exquisite and delicate Hebrew poems. I set them while we vacationed in a small skiing village in the Swiss Alps, and we performed them for the first time a week later in Speyer, Hila singing, Friedy playing violin, and I at the piano. Each of the songs captures a moment that Hila and I shared together: “Kala Kalla” (which means ‘light bride’) was a pun I came up with while she was first teaching me Hebrew; the bells at the beginning of “Eyze Sheleg” are the exact pitches that awakened us each morning in Germany as they rang from a nearby cathedral, and we really did see the most astonishing snowflakes falling from the sky. In 2001, the University of Miami commissioned me to adapt the songs for SATB chorus and string quartet, which is the version presented here. These songs are profoundly personal for me, born entirely out of my new love for this soprano, poet, and now my beautiful wife, Hila Plitmann.

The Chelsea Carol The Chelsea Carol was commissioned by the Choirs of Birmingham-Southern College, Lester Seigel, conductor, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the college’s Service of Lessons and Carols. Original Latin text by my long-time collaborator Charles Anthony Silvestri, scored for choir and organ, it was first printed in December 2012.

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For me, writing music is a very lonely experience. The process of wrestling the notes from my heart to my brain to the page is usually a brutal one; only rarely does it feel as glamorous as the word “composing” sounds. I spend huge amounts of time researching texts, and seek to find words and poems that, to me at least, have music hidden with the words. “A Boy and a Girl” is such a tender, delicate, exquisite poem; I simply tried to quiet myself as much as possible, teasing out the music that is contained within the words to create this piece. I’m often asked which of my compositions is my favourite. I don’t really have one that I love more than the others, but I do feel that the four measures that musically paint the text “never kissing” may be the truest notes I’ve ever written.

Cloudburst After a performance of Go, Lovely Rose in 1991, Dr. Jocelyn K. Jensen approached me about writing a piece for her High School Choir. She is an amazing conductor, legendary for doing crazy things on stage (choralography, lighting, costumes, you name it), and I wanted to write something for her that would really knock the audience out. I had recently been given an exquisite book of poems by Octavio Paz, and around the same time I witnessed an actual (breathtaking) desert cloudburst, and I guess it just all lined up. The finger snapping thing (all of the singers snap their fingers to simulate rain) is an old campfire game that I modified for the work, and the thunder sheets were giant pieces of tin we took from the side of the school. The piece was originally about ten minutes long, but Dr. Jo-Michael Scheibe sagely convinced me to “tighten it up”. I did, and the piece (now a lean eight and a half minutes) was finally published in 1995.

Sleep In the winter of 1999 I was contacted by Ms. Julia Armstrong, a lawyer and professional mezzosoprano living in Austin, Texas. She wanted to commission a choral work from me that would be premiered by the Austin ProChorus (Kinley Lange, cond.), a terrific chorus in which she regularly performed. The circumstances around the commission were certainly memorable. She wanted to commission the piece in memory of her parents, who had died within weeks of each other after more than fifty years of marriage; and she wanted me to set her favourite poem, Robert Frost’s immortal “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”. I was deeply moved by her spirit and her request, and agreed to take on the commission. I took my time with the piece, crafting it note by note until I felt that it was exactly the way I wanted it. The poem is perfect, truly a gem, and my general approach was to try to get out of the way of the words and let them work their magic. We premiered the piece in Austin, October 2000, and the piece was well received. Rene Clausen gave it a glorious performance at the ACDA National Convention in the spring of 2001, and soon after I began receiving letters, emails, and phone calls from conductors trying to get a hold of the work. And here was my tragic mistake: I never secured permission to use the poem. Robert Frost’s poetry has been under tight control from his estate since his death, and until a few years ago only Randall Thompson (Frostiana) had been given permission to set his poetry. In 1997, out of the blue, the estate released a number of titles, and at least twenty composers set and published “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” for chorus. When I looked online and saw all of these new and different settings, I naturally (and naively) assumed that it was open to anyone. Little did I know that the Robert Frost Estate had shut down ANY use of the poem just months before, ostensibly because of this plethora of new settings. After a LONG legal battle (many letters, many representatives), the estate of Robert Frost and their publisher, Henry Holt Inc., sternly and formally forbade me from using the poem for publication or

performance until the poem became public domain in 2038. I was crushed. The piece was dead, and would sit under my bed for the next 37 years because of some ridiculous ruling by heirs and lawyers. After many discussions with my wife, I decided that I would ask my friend and brilliant poet Charles Anthony Silvestri (“Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine”, Lux Aurumque, Nox Aurumque, “Her Sacred Spirit Soars”) to set new words to the music I had already written. This was an enormous task, because I was asking him to not only write a poem that had the exact structure of the Frost, but that would even incorporate key words from “Stopping”, like “sleep”. Tony wrote an absolutely exquisite poem, finding a completely different (but equally beautiful) message in the music I had already written. I actually prefer Tony’s poem now…And there it is. My setting of Robert Frost’s “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” no longer exists. And I won’t use that poem ever again, not even when it becomes public domain in 2038. Program notes © Eric Whitacre 2013 www.ericwhitacre.com

For all enquiries regarding Eric Whitacre please contact: Claire Long, Manager, Eric Whitacre [email protected] Rose Donmall, Administrator, Eric Whitacre [email protected] Rebecca Sparkes, Concerts and Tours Manager [email protected] Celeste Collis, Administrator [email protected] Music Productions Ltd. Pinewood Studios, Pinewood Road, Iver Heath, Bucks, SL0 0NH +44 (0) 1753 783 739 | [email protected]

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ERIC WHITACRE Eric Whitacre is a Grammyaward winning pioneer of 21st century composition who has a rare talent, combining originality with popularity. The innovation that he has brought to the music world through his groundbreaking Virtual Choirs has captured the imagination of millions worldwide, as well as visionaries in the digital space. He is one of the most performed composers of our time, a distinguished conductor, broadcaster and public speaker with a wide spectrum of media and corporate engagements across the globe. A versatile composer, Eric has written for the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, BBC Proms, Chanticleer, Julian Lloyd Webber and the Philharmonia Orchestra, Berlin Rundfunkchor and he co-wrote the “Mermaid Theme” for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides with legendary film composer, Hans Zimmer. An exceptional orator, Eric was honoured to address the UN Leaders programme and the revered TED conference in Long Beach CA where he earned the first full standing ovation of the event. He has addressed audiences worldwide, including leading universities, The Economist and Seoul Digital Forum. In October 2012, Eric presented his Virtual Choir at the Founders conference alongside a discussion with Jawed Karim, co-founder of YouTube. Eric addressed the World Economic Forum, Davos, in January 2013 and will return to Davos by invitation in 2014. On 1 March 2013, he presented the first “live” Virtual Choir at TED (Long Beach, CA) singing Cloudburst. Eric Whitacre is Composer in Residence at Cambridge University, UK.

ELIZABETH SCOTT Elizabeth Scott graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 1995 as a flute major having earned the prestigious Student of the Year Award and the Reuben F. Scarf Scholarship for academic and musical excellence. As the holder of scholarships from the Hungarian Ministry of Education, she then completed post-graduate studies in choral conducting, vocal performance and aural training in Hungary and Germany before returning to Australia in 2004. Elizabeth was the Assistant Chorus Master to Sydney Philharmonia Choirs from 2006 to 2008 and has been 8 LIGHT & GOLD

the Musical Director of Vox, Sydney Philharmonia’s youth choir since 2008. Currently Acting Music Director of Sydney Philharmonia, she is also Associate Conductor of Sydney Chamber Choir and is also in demand as a guest choral director for ensembles including Gondwana Choirs, Coro Innominata, Macquarie University Singers, and Orpheus Choral Music. Elizabeth is currently Music Performance Projects Officer at The Arts Unit, a specialist branch of the Department of Education and Communities and is the Director of Vocal and Choral Studies at the Conservatorium High School. Since 2007, Elizabeth has been part of Symphony Australia’s Conductor Development Program and in 2008 was awarded the Sydney Choral Symposium Foundation Choral Conducting Scholarship. Elizabeth sings regularly with Cantillation and has performed and recorded with Pinchgut Opera and The Song Company.

ANTHONY PASQUILL A pianist, clarinettist and singer by training, Anthony began his musical education at Lichfield Cathedral where he was head chorister under the guidance of Andrew Lumsden and graduated with a BMus from Leeds University after spending a year abroad at the University of North Texas studying contemporary clarinet performance. He has just completed his MMus in conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and currently works in the music departments of The King’s School and Wenona Girls School. Anthony is currently the Assistant Chorusmaster of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Musical Director of Sydney-based chamber choir Bel a cappella. Recent engagements include preparing Rachmaninov’s Vespers, the Australian premiere of Rautavaara’s Missa, Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades, Britten’s St Nicolas and both Handel’s Semele and works by Ligeti as part of the 2013 Sydney Festival, both to critical acclaim with Sydney Philharmonia, and Howells’ Requiem, Britten’s A Boy Was Born and Australian premieres of Dyson’s Hierusalem and Vasks’ Missa with Bel a cappella. Other 2013 engagements include preparing for performances with David Robertson (Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer and Verdi’s Messa di Requiem) and Vladimir Ashkenazy (War Requiem) as well as other concerts with the Sydney Symphony. With Bel a cappella he will be conducting Britten’s Sacred and Profane as well as Gabriel Jackson’s Edinburgh Mass, Frank Martin’s Mass and both secular and sacred works by 20th century composers from Estonia, Latvia, Sweden and Finland.

SYNERGY PERCUSSION Photo: Karen Steains

Timothy Constable, Bree van Reyk, Joshua Hill, William Jackson percussion

soprano Jane Sheldon, bassoonist Kim Walker, singer songwriter Katie Noonan, vocal ensemble Halcyon and composers Elena Kats-Chernin, Gordon Kerry and Lyle Chan. The Acacia Quartet developed a special relationship with Elena Kats-Chernin when she heard them play her music in 2011. Kats-Chernin’s invitation to record her complete work for string quartet resulted in the world-premiere recording made in the presence of the composer.

“Synergy is the finest contemporary music group in Australia, and I am proud to be associated with it.” – Peter Sculthorpe, 2008 Synergy is a world of sound with percussion at its heart. The group continues a journey which began 39 years ago, touching audiences with the beauty and expressive diversity of percussion today. With an enviable international reputation as one of Australia’s finest and most versatile music projects, Synergy has performed at festivals throughout Europe, Asia and the United States, as well as most of Australia’s mainstage recital and performance venues. Core members – Timothy Constable, Bree van Reyk and Joshua Hill are all award-winning and internationally acclaimed exponents of new music in their own right.

Two recordings have been released so far by the Acacia Quartet: Blue Silence, the double CD with the complete string quartets by Elena Kats-Chernin and North + South, 10 folk songs with Jane Sheldon and Genevieve Lang. Fast Blue Village, the first volume of Blue Silence, received a 4½ star review and Editor’s Choice selection in the July 2012 edition of Limelight Magazine. Blue Silence was recently featured as ABC Classic FM’s CD Of The Week in February 2013.

CHRISTOPHER CARTNER

ACACIA QUARTET Lisa Stewart, Myee Clohessy violins, Stefan Duwe viola, Anna Martin-Scrase cello

The Acacia Quartet is comprised of four remarkable musicians: Lisa Stewart and Myee Clohessy (violins), Stefan Duwe (viola) and Anna Martin-Scrase (cello). Their diverse careers led them to play in chamber ensembles and orchestras the world over before forming the Acacia Quartet in 2010. Their performances couple established repertoire with the unorthodox and have notably included debut performances of contemporary compositions. In the short time the group has been together, they have collaborated with acclaimed

Chris Cartner was still a teenager when he was appointed Organ Scholar at Rochester Cathedral in the UK. He went on to graduate in classical piano performance at Trinity College of Music in London, before completing his training under the expert guidance of concert pianist Professor Matthijs Verschoor at the Amsterdam Conservatoire in Holland. After a period as repetiteur with British Youth Opera, Chris became a much sought-after musician on the busy London circuit, embarking on a huge array of different musical projects. Since this time he has worked as solo pianist, accompanist, chamber musician and musical director in various parts of the world, and in particular completed several hundred recital programmes in the British and Dutch capitals. Since coming to Australia early in 2008, Chris has been increasingly involved in the arts industry in Sydney, working with most of the nation’s major arts organisations. He is currently pianist with Opera Australia, Sydney Philharmonia and Sydney Chamber Choir amongst others, and has a busy diary of concert engagements. LIGHT & GOLD

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SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS Music Director Brett Weymark Acting Music Director & Music Director: VOX Elizabeth Scott Assistant Chorus Master Anthony Pasquill Rehearsal Pianists Josephine Allan, Luke Byrne, Christopher Cartner, Michael Curtain

SYMPHONY CHORUS SOPRANOS Jacqui Binetsky† Georgina Bitcon Anne Blake Nikki Bogard Anne Cook Rouna Daley Catherine De Luca Shamistha De Soysa* Soline Epain-Marzac Rachel Evans Belinda Griffiths Caroline Gude Rychelle Kiely Karolina Kulczynska Yvette Leonard Athena Lill Carolyn Lowry Lyanne Macfarlane Bernadette Mitchell

Sarah Parker Dympna Paterson Allison Rowlands Elna Schonfeldt Meg Shaw Rachel Sibley Sarah Thompson Sara Watts Jacqui Wilkins

ALTOS Amanda Baird Mallika Bender Jan Borrie Heather Burnett Michelle (Nien-Hung) Chou Kate Clowes Alison Dutton Ruth Edenborough

Helen Esmond Jessica Farrell Phoebe Ferguson Linda Gerryts Jennifer Gillman Kathryn Harwood Margaret Hofman Pia Kostiainen Rachel Maiden Donna McIntosh Maggie McKelvey Tijana Miljovska Penelope Morris Susie North Helen Pedersen Jan Shaw Natasja Stu Melvin Tan Robyn Tupman

TENORS

BASSES

Matthew Allchurch Simon Cadwallader Daniel Comarmond Denys Gillespie * Steven Hankey Jude Holdsworth Ben Hurley Michael Kertesz Selwyn Lemos Frank Maio Juan Martin Marangoni Mark Meehan Martin Stebbings

Julian Coghlan Philip Crenigan * Graham Dick Tom Forrester-Paton Eric Hansen David Jacobs Timothy Jenkins Ian Pettener Peter Poole Michael Ryan Jannie Van Deventer Robert Williams Arthur Winckler David Wood

Isabel Colman Naomi Cooper Emma Hancock Edwina Howes Johanna Knoechel Sarah McGrath Mia Miller Liane Papantoniou† Christine Polec Olivia Robinson Hannah Shanks Alexandra Stuart-Watt Chela Weitzel Lia Weitzel Brigitte Wirfler Jaimie Wolbers Priscilla Yuen

TENORS

BASSES

Xander Bird Lanhowe Chen Cody Christopher Blade Fuller Shaun Gessler Todd Hawken Fenn Idle Neil Lazo Matthew Lennon Paul Mai Jarred Mattes Jack Pengelly Ben Wirfler Shaun Young

Timothy Bennett Dominic Blake Gabe Fischer Isaias Sirur Flores Jack Garner Zac Gough Alex Li-Kim-Mui Sebastian Lush† Samuel Merrick Sean Moloney Michael Nolan Theo Small Ryan Wiblin Stephen Young

VOX SOPRANOS Ria Andriani Olivia BandlerLlewellyn Anita Burkart Victoria Campbell Charlotte Campbell Jeongyoon (Ashley) Choi Charmaine Cusack Vanessa Ede Joanna Forbes Meredith HarrisonBrown Emi Haskell Ellen Hopper Genevra Howard Clare Kenny† Yi-Hsia Koh

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Alexandra Little Georgia Melville† Amelia Myers Quan Quan Phua Amanda Ramos Clare Richards† Maya Schwenke Kaila Sercombe Alex Siegers† Kimberley Stuart Simone Toldi Stephanie Vierboom

ALTOS Maddy Carr Ananya Chakravorty Erin Chapman Misha Christian

* Section Leader † Solo

SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS – WHO WE ARE General Manager Atul Joshi Music Director Brett Weymark Acting Music Director & Music Director: VOX Elizabeth Scott Assistant Chorus Master Anthony Pasquill Operations Manager Jenna Mathie Choirs Manager Mark Robinson Development Manager Lisa Parragi Administration Assistant Thomas Chiu Accounts Darela Kurtovic

PATRONS & BOARD PATRON Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO Governor of NSW VICE PATRONS Lauris Elms AM OBE Hon D. Mus (Syd) Sir David Willcocks CBE MC BOARD Sara Watts (Chairman) Jacqui Wilkins (President) | Vesna Hatezic (Vice-President) Andrea Hoole (Treasurer) Simon Boileau, Ian Davies, Ruth Edenborough, Hannah Mason

SUPPORTED BY Sydney Philharmonia Choirs gratefully acknowledges financial assistance and support from:

The Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

The NSW Government throungh the Department of Trade & Investment Arts NSW

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs also thanks the following for their generous co-operation and assistance:

SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA LTD. Pier 4 Hickson Road, Millers Point NSW 2000 Phone (02) 9251 2024 Fax (02) 9251 2117 www.sydneyphilharmonia.com.au 12 LIGHT & GOLD

SUPPORT SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS THE POWER OF SINGING Sydney Philharmonia Choirs has championed the exhilarating power of the human voice in Australia for almost 100 years. This makes us Australia’s oldest performing arts organisation and one of the oldest community participation groups. Over that time, we have impacted on and empowered tens of thousands of Australians through the communal activity of singing together and have kept a strong choral tradition alive for new generations. We are looking towards our 100th anniversary in 2020, and need your support to enable us to really celebrate our centenary through an expanded range of activities, commissions, and performances which are beyond our usual scale and scope. To realise this vision, and to ensure that our traditions exist for the next hundred years, we need your help in assisting young people to be the future singers, composers, conductors and audiences of tomorrow. Don’t hesitate to contact us directly for further information or to discuss your interest in supporting the work that we do now or in the future. Your donation to Sydney Philharmonia Choirs will help guarantee that great choral music remains at the heart of cultural life in Sydney and Australia. Contact Lisa Parragi Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Pier 4 Hickson Road MILLERS POINT NSW 2000 Phone: 02 9251 2024 Email: [email protected] www.sydneyphilharmonia.com.au LIGHT & GOLD

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DONORS Sydney Philharmonia Choirs warmly thanks all our generous donors and supporters. Your contributions ensure that we are able to continue developing the choral tradition in Australia. Donations $2 and above to Sydney Philharmonia Limited are tax deductible and donations of $100 and above are listed in our programmes and on our website $10,000+ Mr Robert Albert Estate of the late Ruth Jurd

Ms Sara Watts Mr Anthony Whelan Anonymous x 3

$500–$999 $5000–$9999 Ars Musica Australis Mr Michael Crouch Mr John Lamble Anonymous x 2

$2500–$4999 Mrs Christine Bishop Mr Simon Boileau Mr J.D.O. Burns Ms Ruth Edenborough Foster Raffan Pty Ltd Mr Cecil Grivas

$1000–$2499 Mr Michael Ahrens Mr David & Mrs Halina Brett Prof. Edmund Campion Mr Robert Clark Ms Jennifer Cook Mr James P. Cox Mr Philip Crenigan Ms Elizabeth Donati Mr Eric Hansen Ms Despina Kallinikos Mrs W.G. Keighley Mrs Christine Kenworthy The Macquarie Group Foundation Mary Mortimer & Donald Denoon The Hon. Barry & Mrs Janette O’Keefe Ms Lindsay Paget-Cooke Patricia H. Reid Endowment Fund Ms Jacqueline Rowlands 14 LIGHT & GOLD

M.J. Brodribb & C. Draper Colleen & Michael Chesterman Julian Coghlan & Andrea Beattie Mr Denys & Mrs Jenny Gillespie Mr Warren Green Mr Robert Green Mrs Audrey Harry Ms Vesna Hatezic Ms Andrea Hoole Mr David Jacobs Dr Veronica Lambert Mr KJ Martin Ms Marsha Milliken Ms Beverley Price Mr Mark Sheldon Dr Agnes Sinclair Mrs Rayner Soothill Judge Robyn Tupman Ms Kay Vernon Hon. Justice Anthony Whealy Ms Louisa Wright Anonymous x 2

$100–$499 Mr David Allen Ms Oon Ja Bae Dr Duncan Bassett Jane Beeby Mr Brian Beech Dr Richard M. Bibby Ms Rhonda Black Mrs Norma Blackwood Ninette Boothroyd Ms Lea Bouganim Ms Kate Bowen-Jones Mrs Sue Bowring E. Bradhurst Mrs Patricia Bradley Mrs Pamela Bray Canberra Choral Society Miss Margaret Coleman Mrs Mavis Cooney Mr Paul Couvret Mr Charles Curran & Mrs Eva Curran Mrs Rosa Dai Mr Ian Davies Ms Erna de Vries Gail Edinborough Dr Beverley Firth Lynne Frolich Ms Eleonore Fuchter Ms Susan Gordon Ms Dallas Griffin Alison & David Gyger Mrs Kathleen P. Hamilton Ms Deborah Henville Ms Sally Hopkins Mrs Patricia Howes Mr Alistair Johnston John & Joan Jones Mrs Merle Jones Keola Pty. Ltd. Mrs Lilly Krienbuhl

Ms Stephanie Lang Ms Penny Le Couteur Dr Carolyn Lowry OAM Mrs Elizabeth Mackinnon Ms Louise Marsden Mr Paul Marx Ms Soline Marzac Mr Lauchlan McIntosh Ms Alison McIntyre Mr Duncan McKay Ms Susan Melick Mr Jeffrey Mellefont Mrs Jane Mezzina Mr Dimitry Moraitis Morestone Management Solutions Mrs Patricia O’Dea Ms Kathleen Oakley Mr Paul Ovnerud-Potter Mrs Margaret Partridge Ms Dianne Peters Ms Susan Ping Kee Mr Chris Raper Mrs Jenny Raper Mrs Ruth Redgrave Ms Georgia Rivers Mrs Jeanne Robertson Ms Margaret Shaw Mr Allen Sibley Dr William E. Smith Fiona Spence Mrs Margaret Symes Ms Helen Thompson Mrs Susan Tooker Mr & Mrs Larry Turner Mr Peter Warren Ms Barbara Weissflog Ms Jacqui Wilkins Mr Alban Wong-Too-Tuen Ms Jocelyn Woodhouse Anonymous x 13

For further information about how you can support Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, please contact Lisa Parragi, Development Manager on 9251 2024 or [email protected]

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SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS 2013 SEASON

VOICES IN MOTION REMEMBER ME – APR 26, 27, 28 Fiona Campbell sings Dido in Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas

CHORUSOZ – 19 MAY Brahms’ German Requiem with Celeste Lazarenko & Samuel Dundas

OPERA’S TRIPLE THREAT – JUN 8 & 9 Verdi, Wagner and Britten featuring Cheryl Barker and Stuart Skelton

ARCHITECTURE OF SOUND – AUG 24 & 25

SUBSCRIPTIONS STILL AVAILABLE! 4 CONCERTS FROM $104

Baroque & new music with saxophonist Michael Duke

A COLE PORTER CELEBRATION CONCERT – SEP 19, 21 Just one word: de-lovely!

TRACING TIME – OCT 25, 26, 27 Vocal transformations with Paul Capsis, Genevieve Lacey, Kirsty McCahon and Marshall McGuire

MESSIAH – DEC 12, 14, 15 The return of Handel’s masterpiece with Miriam Allan, Sally-Ann Russell, Andrew Goodwin and Peter Coleman-Wright

GET MORE INFO AND BOOK AT WWW.SYDNEYPHILHARMONIA.COM.AU Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is supported by the NSW Government through Arts NSW and the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

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Photo: Lisa Tomasetti