Sydney University Graduate Choir

Our first concert in 2020 will carry you away to the ancient court of King Xerxes of Persia, in Handel’s magnificent first ever oratorio Esther. This landmark work was so successful, it marked the birth of the English oratorio, ending with a grandiose final chorus only Handel could have written.

Leave the hectic world behind and immerse yourself in the heavenly music of Fauré’s peaceful Requiem and Schubert’s gentle Stabat Mater. Enjoy an uplifting and comforting afternoon.

Mendelssohn’s Elijah, the powerful and dramatic masterpiece about the Old Testament prophet Elijah, is the perfect finale for our 2020 concert series. Experience the drama between Elijah and Queen Jezebel, the contest between Baal and God and the vivid imagery of Elijah’s ascent to heaven in a fiery chariot. While strongly influenced by Bach’s and Handel’s oratorios, its lyricism and use of orchestral and choral colours reflect Mendelssohn‘s own great genius.

The final concert of the Choir’s 2019 season features a rarely performed masterwork from the German Romantic period which deserves to be heard more often: Rheinberger's lyrical and very personal Star of Bethlehem, based on words by the composer’s poet wife and presenting a heart-warming and joyful portrayal of the Christmas story.

Our 2019 Sydney Sings...TM concert presents Brahms’ A German Requiem, a timeless work, full of comfort and hope. Not based on the traditional Latin text, this Requiem focuses rather on the living, beginning with the words ‘Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted’. Brahms himself admitted that he would gladly have named the work ‘A Human Requiem’. Our Guest Choir will join us once again for this concert, which will also include Brahms’ Tragic Overture.

Our August concert features Puccini’s youthful Messa di Gloria. This work, written as a graduation exercise, already reveals much of the mastery of his mature operatic works. It is thus a fitting work for a concert featuring the finalists of the 2019 Joan Carden Award competition. These exceptional young singers, at the beginning of their careers, will demonstrate their talents for judges and audience alike as they perform famous opera arias by the great masters.

he Choir’s 2019 concert season opens with Gossec’s ground-breaking Messe des mortswhich made the composer famous overnight. This inventive work was truly ahead of its time, and is said to have influenced the requiems of both Mozart and Berlioz. Who had ever thought to use a ‘distant wind orchestra’ in a Requiem before? Born in a small village in what is now Belgium, Gossec spent all of his successful musical career in Paris.