

Congratulations to the Sydney Chamber Choir for the beautiful ‘Garden of the Soul’ concert held at the acoustically brilliant Independent Theatre last Saturday 20th November, 2021.
The first three pieces were from the Renaissance era (Jacobus Clemens non Papa, Monteverdi, Tomas de Victoria). Then the intensity mounted with three Benjamin Britten hymns (Rosa Mystica, Hymn to the Virgin, Hymn to St Cecilia which featured soloists Megan Cronin, Josephine Gibson, Alison Lockhart and Richard Sanchez).
Then came the long anticipated premiere of composer Joseph Twist’s An Australian Song Cycle, accompanied by Anthea Cottee on the cello and pianist Jem Harding. These eight engaging songs are each based on an Australian poem (Banjo Paterson, Henry Lawson, Judith Wright, Michael Leunig, Peter Skrzynecki, Les Murray, Jack Twist and Oodgeroo Noonuccal). The choir and the audience easily imagined the birds squawking and swooping around the theatre with Leunig’s ‘Magpie’’ and of Skrzynecki’s ‘Lorikeets’. An Australian Song Cycle is a colourful celebration of our poets, our birds and our landscape. Continue reading SYDNEY CHAMBER CHOIR : GARDEN OF THE SOUL