SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS
24 AUGUST, 2:30PM
The Baroque era gave us splendid architecture and magnificent art. It also inspired glorious music that resonated under the gilded domes and painted ceilings of Italy’s great chapels, that echoed from balcony to balcony in St Mark’s, Venice.
In this concert Sydney Philharmonia Choirs invites you to step back to a visionary age when music evoked powerful emotions with striking and dramatic musical imagery – even in church!
This transcendent program featuring SPC’s Chamber Singers and an ensemble of period instruments begins with Domenico Scarlatti’s intense, almost graphic setting of the Stabat Mater – inviting empathy with the very real grief of Mary at the foot of the cross. It’s followed by expressions of faith and joy, and a fervent mass setting by Monteverdi. Through it all you’ll hear the voices of the Chamber Singers, weaving together in 4, 8, 10 or more parts. A choir, yes, but also an ensemble of individual virtuosos working as equals-in-harmony as they move you to ecstasy, and tears, in this celebration of the Italian Baroque.
PROGRAMME | VOICES OF THE ITALIAN BAROQUE TREASURES
SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS
CHAMBER SINGERS and BAROQUE ENSEMBLE
Brett Weymark conductor
Claudio MONTEVERDI Messa a 4 voci, SV 190
Giacomo CARISSIMI Dixit Dominus
Antonio CALDARA Crucifixus a 16 voci
Domenico SCARLATTI Stabat Mater
Antonio LOTTI Crucifixus a 8 voci
Saturday, 24 August, 2:30pm
Snow Concert Hall
Canberra Grammer School
40 Monaro Crescent, Red Hill
ACT 2603
SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs presents the art of choral singing at the highest standard, and develops the talents of those with a passion for singing in Sydney and beyond. Founded in 1920, it has become Australia’s finest choral organisation and is a Resident Company of the Sydney Opera House. Led by Artistic and Music Director Brett Weymark OAM and Associate Music Director Dr Elizabeth Scott, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs comprises three auditioned and three community choirs that perform repertoire from choral classics to musical theatre and commissions by Australian composers. It presents its own season of concerts as well as collaborating with leading conductors, soloists and orchestras.
In 2002, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs was the first Australian choir to sing at the BBC Proms (Mahler’s Eighth Symphony under Sir Simon Rattle), returning again in 2010 to celebrate the Choirs’ 90th anniversary. The Choirs also perform in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s concert season every year, as they have done for over 80 years.
2020 was Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ centenary and saw the realisation of an inspiring commissioning project – 100 Minutes of New Australian Music – featuring works from Elena Kats-Chernin, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon and Brett Dean. 2022 saw the reopen the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, performing Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony with the SSO. In 2023, Brett Weymark celebrated his 20th anniversary as Artistic Director: a highlight of the season was ChorusOz performing Mahler’s Eighth Symphony. In 2024 the Choirs will perform an exciting season including Fauré’s Requiem, Rachmaninoff’s Vespers, and Beethoven’s Ode to Joy alongside Dame Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D.
BRETT WEYMARK
CONDUCTOR
One of Australia’s foremost choral conductors, Brett Weymark OAM is celebrating his 20th season with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Appointed Artistic & Music Director in 2003, he has also conducted the Sydney, Adelaide, Queensland, West Australian and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, Orchestra of the Antipodes, Sydney Youth Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic and productions for WAAPA, Pacific Opera and OzOpera. He has performed with Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera, Australian Chamber Orchestra, The Song Company and Musica Viva.
He studied singing and conducting at Sydney University and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and continued conducting studies with Simon Halsey, Vance George, Daniel Barenboim and Sir John Eliot Gardiner, amongst others.
His performances have included Bach’s Passions and Christmas Oratorio, the requiems of Mozart, Verdi, Duruflé and Fauré and Orff’s Carmina Burana. He is a champion of Australian composers and has premiered works by Matthew Hindson, Elena Kats-Chernin, Peter Sculthorpe, Ross Edwards and many others. He has prepared choirs for Sir Charles Mackerras, Zubin Mehta, Edo de Waart, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Sir Simon Rattle. He has recorded for the ABC and conducted film scores for Happy Feet, Mad Max Fury Road and Australia.
Recent highlight performances include Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (West Australian Opera), Paul Stanhope and Steve Hawke’s Jandamarra (SSO), Michael Tippett’s A Child Of Our Time (Adelaide Festival) and Carousel (State Opera South Australia).
In 2001, he was awarded an Australian Centenary Medal. In 2021, Brett was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the performing arts through music.
Brett is passionate about singing and the role that music plays in both the individual’s wellbeing and the overall health and vitality of a community’s culture. Music can transform lives and should be accessible to all.
