Edward Elgar
‘Nimrod’, from the Enigma Variations Op.36
Premiered in London, 19 June, 1899
Arranged by Elizabeth Anderson for 8-part choir
Premiered in Melbourne, 24 June, 2018
Watch/Listen Category: Australian Works
Power in Stillness, by Christine McCombe
In July 2024, the Australian Chamber Choir gave eleven performances in Europe. This performance was presented by the Swiss international festival known as ‘Ceresio Estate’, a series of summer concerts in churches around Lake Lugano. European Audiences were fascinated by this new work by Christine McCombe.
Power in Stillness was commissioned by the ACC, and premiered in 2022. In writing this work, Christine was inspired by the concept of Dadirri. Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann, artist, tribal elder and Principal of St Francis Xavier School, Daly River in Australia’s far north, explains that the word, from the Ngan’gikurunggurr language, describes “deep listening and silent awareness”.
Christine McCombe’s Power in Stillness is structured to focus the audience’s attention on the silences within the music. The work features on the ACC’s 2024 CD release, Gold.
Alchemy, by Gordon Kerry
This time last year, the Australian Chamber Choir gave eleven performances in Europe. This video was filmed at the Swiss international festival known as ‘Ceresio Estate’, a series of summer concerts in churches around Lake Lugano. European Audiences were fascinated by the Australian works on the program, which included this setting of William Shakespeare’s Sonnet XXXIII, by Gordon Kerry.
Alchemy is the first track on the 2025 CD release, Gold.
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Triste Noel, by Henry Handel Richardson
Henry Handel Richardson (1870–1946). Famous for her novel The Getting of Wisdom, Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson was born in Melbourne in 1870. During and after her period of study at the Leipzig Conservatory of Music, she was a prolific composer. This work sets a poem by the Massachusetts-based Louise Imogen Guiney.
Filmed live in concert at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Middle Park, 8 December 2024, by 5stream.
I had a dream by Brenton Broadstock
directed by Douglas Lawrence
filmed live
at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Middle Park
June 2018
Film by Filmoo
Sound courtesy of ABC Classic FM
Hear this as part of the ACC’s Transports of Delight
3PM on 2 March Thomson Memorial Church, TERANG
3PM on 3 March Our Lady of Mount Carmel, MIDDLE PARK (MELBOURNE)
First Light, by Alan Holley
Text by Mark Tredinnick
Soprano – Amelia Jones
Douglas Lawrence talks about the ACC’s first 4 years
In 2011, we decided to pay ACC singers to perform. This video was created at this turning point in the ACC’s history. Paid concerts have become an important affirmation in the early careers of the young singers who work with us. Ensemble singing as a career path is almost non-existent in Australia. While opera singers train for the loudest and most beautiful solo sound, ensemble singers train for a high degree of musicianship, the ability to sight-read at a high level, produce a good blending sound, to be able to listen and continually adjust to other singers and to sing with absolute rhythmical accuracy. Douglas Lawrence was recognised with an AM in the 2020 Australia Day honours for his role promoting ensemble singing and encouraging young singers.
Tom Henry – This Earth at St Martin-in-the-Fields
Number A4 on the ACC’s Top Ten shortlist
Text by Bill Neidjie OAM, set to music by Tom Henry