BEFORE YOU REGISTER
Please take a moment to read the important information to the right. Please ensure you can commit to the full weekend in Sydney – Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June 2025.
Please read the Chorister Terms and Conditions here before registering.
Register yourself online by clicking the pink links below.
Multiple/Other registrations: If you would like to register multiple choristers (eg, yourself and your partner/friend), or register another person as a gift, please do not do this online below. Please register by phone. Call Sydney Philharmonia Choirs on (02) 8274 6200 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm). Or email [email protected]
For all other general queries also call the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Office on (02) 8274 6200 during office hours, Monday-Friday 9am-5pm. Or email [email protected]
Postage cut off: Monday 19 May. All registrations past this date will need to be collected from our office (details to be sent) or collected at check in on Saturday 7 June.
REGISTRATION
We recommend you book as soon as possible so you can receive your score and start practising.
Cost: $358 per adult – including GST – and includes:
Optional Extra: $55 including GST including postage – Vocal score for Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony
If you already own a copy of the score, please feel free to use that.
When you Register for ChorusOz, you will be directed to a page housed by the Sydney Opera House. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is a Resident Company of the Sydney Opera House and we share a booking system. You will need to log in or register. Your ChorusOz registration will be received by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.
As you proceed it will look like you are buying an ‘e-ticket’ to an event, but please be assured you are registering for ChorusOz.
Once completed, you will receive a confirmation email from Sydney Opera House.
Again, any general queries or registrations for others or multiple choristers, call us on (02) 8274 6200 (Monday-Friday 9am–5pm). Or email us on [email protected]
ChorusOz | A Sea Symphony PERFORMANCE TICKETS
Invite your family and friends along to see your performance at the Sydney Opera House. Tickets to ChorusOz | A Sea Symphony will be available from Wednesday 27 November 2024. Once you have registered, you will be sent your special Chorister discount code which can be used when purchasing tickets to the performance. Seats will be very limited so we encourage you to book early!
Chorus Oz The Armed Man, SOH, June 2024
Chorus Oz The Armed Man, SOH, June 2024
ABOUT ChorusOz
ChorusOz® was created in 2006 by Brett Weymark to allow those who couldn’t commit to a regular choir the opportunity to sing once a year on a world-class stage. It has since become a fixture in the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ calendar.
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. 2025 will be the 17th ChorusOz and we will welcome people from across Australia and internationally to enjoy the experience of singing Ralph Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony, led by Artistic & Music Director Brett Weymark.
Participants will share the experience with hundreds of other passionate singers, world-class soloists and the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra. This is a life-changing experience and one you will never forget.
ABOUT A SEA SYMPHONY
British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony was the first of his nine symphonies, written over several years after the turn of the 20th century and first performed at the 1910 Leeds Festival. The ocean held a fascination and allure for many composers and artists around that time in Britain and Europe: think of Edward Elgar’s Sea Pictures (1899), Frank Bridge’s The Sea (1911) and Claude Debussy’s La mer (1905). The Empire was riding high, trading routes to exotic places were thriving and the sea was the passage to the exciting wider world beyond Britain. Look out to sea and inhale deeply: one’s romantic nostrils were filled with dashing heroism, revelling in nature’s elements, adventure, exploration, the new. It also stirred one’s inward seascape of emotions, sense of purpose, humility and mortality in the face of the boundless, deep unknown.
A Sea Symphony draws on the poetry of American Walt Whitman, from his Leaves of Grass anthology and has four movements:
It takes about 70 minutes to perform, and the choir features prominently in all four movements alongside soprano and baritone soloists. It’s a moody work – from the opening bold exuberance (“Behold, the sea itself / And on its limitless, heaving breast, the ships…”) to melancholic broodiness – but it is a work that grips you and inspires from the opening to the end.
William Ayerst Ingram (1855-193), A Sailing Ship at Sea with a Ghost Freighter.
DATES
ChorusOz workshops will take place at Sydney Opera House on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June 2025. The concert will take place on Sunday 8June, 5pm.
SCHEDULE
Saturday 7 June
Check in from 8am
Rehearsals 9am–4pm
Sunday 8 June
Rehearsals from 9am
Performance 5pm
PREPARING FOR THE WEEKEND
There’s no audition or vocal assessment, however, the ability to follow a music score will be an advantage. You will also need a basic understanding of music and musical terms. It is expected that you will use the score, text and teaching tracks provided as part of your registration to prepare yourself before the weekend.
T-SHIRTS
Your fee includes a souvenir ChorusOz T-Shirt which all choristers will wear for the Sunday performance. If necessary, refer to the sizing chart below and select your size when registering.
SCORES & MUSIC
Scores will be available for posting from October 2024.
Any orders received after Friday 13 December will be posted in the new year.
Teaching tracks will be provided to guide you through the music and assist with your preparation. These will also be available for download in 2024.
VOICE PARTS
The vocal ranges for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass are shown below.
If you are more comfortable singing the high notes in your part, please select part 1 (Soprano 1, Alto 1, Tenor 1, Bass 1).
If you are more comfortable singing the low notes in your part, please select part 2 (Soprano 2, Alto 2, Tenor 2, Bass 2).
Any general queries or registrations for others or multiple choristers, call us on (02) 8274 6200 (Monday-Friday 9am–5pm).
This performance of A Sea Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams is given by permission of Hal Leonard Australia Pty. Ltd. exclusive agent for Stainer and Bell.