If it wasn’t enough of an honour to have my Sydney compositional debut to be at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall last year – it’s a double honour that it is being performed again in the same building a little over a year on. AVÉ will join forces with the NSW Combined Choirs taking in almost 800 singers from a range of public schools. It promises to be very heartening and inspiring – and I couldn’t be more grateful that the work Katie and I wrote for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is having further life in this way.

More details and links to tickets below!

From the AVÉ Website

Monday, August 18, 2025

• 7:00 PM 9:00 PM

• Sydney Opera HouseSydney, NSW, 2000Australia (map)

The 2025 In Concert series is an annual showcase of secondary choral music within our NSW public schools. It features 800 high school students in a combined choir. 

This magnificient concert involves hundreds of schools and students from across NSW. This concert series is one of the core state level arts programs managed by The Arts Unit of the NSW Department of Education. 

The series also provides a unique opportunity for schools to access targeted high-quality repertoire and professional learning opportunities. 

This festival will also feature the NSW Public Schools Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Jazz Orchestra and the NSW Public Schools Singers.

Presented by NSW Department of Education

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AVÉ are returning to Sydney to present Thought is Surrounded by a Halo - our project featuring the words of Gwen Harwood.

From the AVÉ Website

Sunday, August 10, 2025

• 2:30 PM until 3:50 PM

• ACO On The Pier - The Neilson, Hickson Road Dawes Point, NSW, 2000 Australia (map)

Four of Australia’s finest vocalists bring the words of one of the nation’s most revered poets, Gwen Harwood, to life through new Australian compositions that listen closely to the emotional and philosophical worlds within her texts.

This song cycle features new works commissioned and composed for AVÉ by Stephen Leek, Anne Cawrse, Sally Whitwell, Perry Joyce, Paul Stanhope, Kevin Baker, Joseph Twist, Elena Kats-Chernin, Andrew O’Connor and Thomas Green. Each composer brings a distinct musical language to Harwood’s poetry, crafting songs that respond to her insights, personal reflections, and lyricism with depth and sensitivity.

These works have become living interpretations of both the text and AVÉ’s growing sound world. Rooted in the traditions of a cappella chamber music, AVÉ’s programming embraces contemporary voices and reimagines classical works, offering performances that are warm and welcoming.

The program also features AVÉ’s interpretations of music by Bach, Tomás Luis de Victoria, paying tribute to the golden age of vocal polyphony and highlighting the individual voices of the ensemble.

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As part of our ongoing relationship with the Griffith Conservatorium of Music (Queensland University) AVÉ - Australian Vocal Ensemble - is spending several days in Meanjin, Brisbane working alongside composers and singers alike in a very special new workshop. This will combine First Nations Storytelling and Engagement, working with contemporary QLD writers, and workshop-performances and recording of some of AVÉ’s recent projects.

Well, in one of those things you never quite expected or anticipated, I am still shocked myself to reveal that I am writing some of the music to be performed in this Sydney Philharmonia Choirs ChorusOz event at the Sydney Opera House. Also featuring the voices of AVE (Australian Vocal Ensemble) and most chiefly Katie Noonan (whose fault it is I have been dared to write music!) it will be a surreal moment to hear a little piece of my own musical brain be sung by hundreds of others on one of the iconic stages of the world.

From the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs website

ChorusOz | The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace

ChorusOz – our annual ‘big sing’ at the Sydney Opera House – brings together singers from across Australia and around the world for an inspiring weekend of community and music-making.

Brett Weymark has chosen The Armed Man: one of the most popular choral works of our time, with thousands of performances and decades in the classical charts. Its starting point is a mediæval earworm (L’Homme armé) but the themes are absolutely contemporary.

Inspired by the tragedy of the Kosovo War, Karl Jenkins combines sacred and secular texts. It’s exhilarating music to perform, with a parade of musical styles, thought-provoking texts and powerful emotions. Equally exhilarating are the choral hymns Finlandia and Jerusalem. And – for the first time the 16-year history of ChorusOz – we’ve commissioned a new Australian work especially for this event.

Whether you’re in the middle of the choir singing at full voice, or joining us in the audience, find harmony singing for peace.

Sing in ChorusOz 2024: open to singers of any ability – no prior singing experience required. Find details and register below. 

Sunday 9 June at 5pm
Sydney Opera House Concert Hall

This performance will run for 1 hour and 30 minutes. No interval.

PROGRAM

Karl JENKINS The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace
Jean SIBELIUS Finlandia with choral hymn finale
Hubert PARRY Jerusalem
(orchestral accompaniment by Edward Elgar)
Katie NOONAN & Andrew O’CONNOR New Work†

† Sydney Philharmonia Choirs commission

ARTISTS

Brett Weymark conductor
Katie Noonan soprano
AVÉ (Australian Vocal Ensemble)
ChorusOz 2024
Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra

Four of Australia’s finest vocalists come together in a visionary performance combining heavenly vocals in a chamber setting. Katie Noonan’s new project, AVÉ Australian Vocal Ensemble, will intertwine new Australian compositions by Anne Cawrse, Robert Davidson, Thomas Green, Alice Humphries, Zac Hurren, Stephen Leek, Katie Noonan and Jessica Wells, alongside new arrangements of music by Bach, Handel and Tomás Luis de Victoria.

The AVÉ quartet sees Katie Noonan joined by three extraordinary, Internationally renowned artists — Tenor Andrew Goodwin (Sydney), Mezzo-Soprano Fiona Campbell (Perth) and Bass Baritone Andrew O’Connor ( Sydney).

https://www.aco.com.au/whats-on/2022/tumbling-like-stars

Don’t miss an opportunity to see a truly unique performance of soaring vocals as they celebrate the release of their debut album Stars.

Duration: 80-90 minutes, no interval.

Sunday 26 September 2021 | 2:30PM

TUMBLING LIKE STARS

Avé is a Latin word, used by the Romans as a salutation and greeting, meaning 'hail'. It is the singular imperative form of the verb avēre, which meant 'to be well'.

Katie Noonan is a five-time ARIA Award winning artist who has produced twenty studio albums throughout her eclectic career. Since rising to fame twenty years ago as the lead singer of indie rock band george, Katie has engaged in cross-genre collaborations with Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Dance Company, Queensland Ballet, guitarist Karin Schaupp, and the Brodsky Quartet.

In April 2021, mezzo soprano Fiona Campbell, tenor Andrew Goodwin and bass baritone Andrew O'Connor – all highly acclaimed Australian soloists in their own right – joined Katie to form the Australian Vocal Ensemble (AVÉ), receiving a five-star review in Limelight for their debut concert in Brisbane.

Committed to telling uniquely Australian stories, AVÉ will present new works based on the poetry of iconic Australian writer David Malouf, by Stephen Leek, Jessica Wells, Anne Cawrse, Isaac Hurren, Thomas Green, Robert Davidson, Alice Humphries, David Hirschfelder, Iain Grandage and Katie Noonan – alongside new arrangements of music by Bach, Handel and Tomás Luis de Victoria.

Duration | Approximately two hours, including a twenty-minute interval.

Note | Complimentary afternoon tea will be served during the interval.

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS AND TICKETS

AVE in Eumundi

Friday 24 September 2021

7:00 pm – 10:00 pm AEST

School of Arts Hall

63 Memorial Drive

Eumundi, QLD 4562

Featuring World Premiere performances from their David Malouf song cycle showcasing Australia’s finest composers, alongside new arrangements of Bach, Handel and Tomás Luis de Victoria

AUSTRALIAN VOCAL ENSEMBLE

Katie Noonan - Soprano

Fiona Campbell - Mezzo-Soprano

Andrew Goodwin - Tenor

Andrew O’Connor - Bass-Baritone

Katie Noonan (Soprano)

Fiona Campbell (Mezzo Soprano)

Andrew Goodwin (Tenor)

Andrew O’Connor (Bass Baritone)

Australian Vocal Ensemble performs in Melbourne Recital Centre (17 Sep, 7pm)

Australian compositions and poetic a capella effortlessly intertwined. Four of Australia’s finest vocalists come together in a visionary performance combining heavenly vocals in a chamber setting. Katie Noonan’s new project, AVÉ Australian Vocal Ensemble perform within the incredible acoustics of Elisabeth Murdoch Hall as part of their debut national theatre tour.
The vocal quartet intertwines Australian compositions by Cawrse, Davidson, Iain, Green, Hirschfelder, Humphries, Hurren, Leek, Noonan and Wells, and poetic a capella effortlessly, creating a beautiful tension between ties to more traditional European music and modern Australian classical. The music was commissioned specially for this group, and the poetry works were written by prolific Australian writer, David Malouf.
Don’t miss an opportunity to see a truly unique performance of soaring vocals, off the back of the release of their debut EP in August this year.

Friday 2 July, 7:30pm

Federation Concert Hall, Hobart

Festival of Voices 2021

Australian Vocal Ensemble

Katie Noonan, Soprano

Fiona Campbell, Mezzo Soprano

Andrew Goodwin, Tenor

Andrew O’Connor, Bass Baritone

After many years of planning, Katie Noonan is thrilled to announce the launch of AVÉ (Australian Vocal Ensemble) in Tasmania for 2021. A world class vocal quartet combining four of Australia’s finest vocalists are embarking on recording their debut album and their first national tour this year.

Their repertoire, like our Australian culture, will be a unique blend of the old and the new:

The OLD – the glorious spiritual music of the late Renaissance and the early Baroque – the golden age of vocal polyphonic writing.

The NEW – modern music of the 20th and 21st Century, with a particular focus on new Australian music. Every program will feature new Australian works and engagement with our First Nations People.

The program for this year’s festival will premier new works based on the poetry of David Malouf by Stephen Leek, Jessica Wells, Anne Cawrse, Isaac Hurren, Thomas Green, Robert Davidson, Alice Humphries, David Hirschfelder, Iain Grandage, Katie Noonan and a selection of new arrangements of pieces by Bach, Handel and De Victoria.