Music created by the human voice – the oldest instrument on the planet – has a primal power to move. The ACC’s imaginatively themed programs engage young and old, and listeners often speak of being transported: ‘“Magnificent! Transporting! Phenomenal!” The many listeners … were totally captivated’ (Regensburger Allgemeine)
Recognised nationally and internationally as best in class for its concert performances, the ACC has been praised by music critics of the main stream press in six countries for its ‘flawless intonation, superb uniformity, perfect tonal balance and astounding dynamic range’ (General-Anzeiger Bonn). Artistic Director, Douglas Lawrence , who founded the ACC in 2007, was in January 2020 honoured with an AM for his pioneering and ambassadorial work with the choir.
Programs range from a cappella to major works with orchestra, from the Renaissance to the present day. The singers make a profound impression with their mastery of multiple styles: ‘…never before had the Basilica experienced such radical and ecstatic musical extremes’ (Augsburger Allgemeine).
The ACC provides a rigorous training ground for young professional musicians. Payment of all singers is a key principle and is an important aspect in the development of professionalism. Under Douglas Lawrence’s tutelage, singers, composers and conductors gain indispensable experience through up to 55 performances a year in ensembles of four to 24 voices.
Since 2007, The ACC has toured Europe eight times, giving over a hundred concerts. With a reputation for its ‘lucidly articulated’ (The Age) performances of Bach’s motets, the choir has performed several times in JS Bach’s church, St Thomas’, Leipzig and was invited to return there for three performances in 2021. Other prestigious engagements have included Palazzo Pisani and St Mark’s Venice, the Cathedrals of Berlin, Bonn, Freiberg, Konstanz and Meissen, St Augustine’s and St Peter’s Vienna, Trinitatis Copenhagen, Ognisanti Florence, Saint Germain Geneva and St Martin-in-the-Fields London.
The performance of Australian compositions in Europe and Australia has become a hallmark. Douglas Lawrence commissions new works from his country’s most talented young composers and showcases them in the choir’s international touring programs, winning the outspoken praise of critics in the mainstream press:
“In Australia, as in Europe, refugees are an important topic … Uncertain Journeys (Tom Henry, 2017) … illuminates the acuteness of this problem … Henry has created a richly evocative work in which the sounds of a surging sea form a backdrop … choral sound overlaps sprechstimme, resolving into wordless vocalises that seem to symbolise speechlessness in the face of overwhelming emotion. The choir delivered this harmonically demanding work … with the greatest security” (Echo, Darmstadt, July 2017),
In 2015, the choir was recognized as an honorary life member of Denmark’s oldest classical music festival, the Sorø International Music Festival, taking its place among such luminaries as Wilhelm Kempff, Anton Heiller, Gaston Litaize and Julian Bream and hailed in the Danish press under the heading “Australian Choir in the Super League”. (Dagbladet, Ringsted)
A new work by Christine McCombe, performed in Bonn for the first time in 2024 was greeted with the following comment: “it is impressive how the male and female voices balance and blend. And that all four voices are technically at their best. But with the ACC, this is always a given.” (General Anzeiger, Bonn, July 2024)
Australia’s foremost historian, Geoffrey Blainey wrote of the “tyranny of distance”, a geographical remoteness that has shaped the country’s cultural identity. The ACC, based in Melbourne, is committed to sharing fine music with those who live outside the capital cities. Every program performed in Melbourne is also presented in at least two rural centres.
Many of the choir’s concert programs have been recorded. The ACC is regularly broadcast on ABC Classic FM and 3MBS FM and can be heard in six commercial recordings.