It’s no secret that singing in a choir is good for you: it has been scientifically proven to improve your health and well-being. Choristers’ heartbeats synchronise when they sing together providing a calming effect and the endorphins released leave you uplifted and buoyant. Singing is also the perfect hobby – no equipment is required and it is a great way to make friends and join a community.
Make singing with us the highlight of your year. Each year we hold Open Days which is open to everyone: simply register, sing on Open Day so we can ‘place’ your voice type and then get ready to sing a major choral work in an iconic venue with professional soloists and an orchestra. Festival Chorus rehearses on Thursday evenings. In 2024 Festival Chorus will sing Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Beethoven’s Ode to Joy and Smyth’s Mass in D major.
Our next Festival Chorus Open Day will be on Sunday 21 July 2024. You can register your interest here.
ChorusOz returns in 2024 with one of the most popular choral works of our times: Sir Karl Jenkin’s empassioned The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, along with a special new commission by Katie Noonan. ChorusOz is an opportunity for singers of all levels to immerse themselves in a major choral work over a full weekend, culminating in a performance of the music. Previous participants have said it is an unforgettable and life-changing experience.
In 2022, the Christmas Choir performed Handel’s Messiah joined by SPC Choristers, River City Voices and the Wollongong Messiah Choir – a combined choir of 650 singers! In 2023, the Christmas Choir performed uplifting carols and Christmas music in Carols at the House. In December 2024, Christmas Choir will again sing three performances of Handel’s magnificent Messiah in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall with renowned conductor Graham Abbott. Everyone is welcome to join our Christmas Choir.
Festival Chorus is our largest choir, a community of 400 passionate members converging twice a year to perform choral repertoire on a grand scale.
As our illustrious Artistic & Music Director, Brett Weymark says, “Festival is at the heart of the idea that singing is for everyone, fulfilling our dream of being a community choir for all, exploring great repertoire in the Sydney Opera House and beyond”.
In 2024, Festival Chorus will sing in two programs:
Our next Festival Chorus Open Day will be on Sunday 21 July 2024.
You can register your interest HERE.
ChorusOz is the brainchild of Brett Weymark, intended for anyone who can’t commit to a regular choir to have the opportunity to sing a major choral work on the stage of the Sydney Opera House once a year. It has since become a fixture in the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ calendar.
People travel from across Australia and the world to enjoy the experience of singing a large-scale choral work with hundreds of other passionate singers, world-class soloists and an orchestra. Many people say this is a life-changing experience and attend each year, sharing it with family, friends, colleagues and choir members. No audition or assessment is required.
In 2024, ChorusOz returns on the long weekend in June to sing Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, two choral hymns Finlandia and Jerusalem, and special new work by Katie Noonan and Andrew O’Connor, An Instrument of Peace.
The 2024 ChorusOz choir is now full and registrations are closed. Consider singing in our Festival Chorus, or register to join our Christmas Choir and sing Messiah at the Sydney Opera House in December. ChorusOz will return in 2025.
Christmas is a time for singing and celebration and we do it in style at Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. In 2024, Christmas Choir will sing Handel’s Messiah, conducted by Graham Abbott. Three performances, 13-14-15 December, at the Sydney Opera House. More information on the program HERE.