Hark! 2025 - A Celebration of Hope and Home

Hark! returns once again in 2025 to ring in the festive season with The Song Company’s signature blend of beauty, warmth, and joy. This year’s program is an uplifting and hopeful celebration of Christmas in Australia - journeys home, gatherings with loved ones, and a time for cherishing the special traditions and memories that bind us together.

From the shimmering sounds of Poulenc and Pärtto the radiant choral writing of Judith Weir, Gabriel Jackson, and Bob Chilcott, Hark! 2025 weaves together old and new - time-honoured favourites alongside vibrant works by Australian voices Alice Chance, David Yardley, Joe Twist, and Ruth McCall.

Filled with music that rejoices in belonging, reflection, and renewal, Hark! invites audiences to pause, breathe, and share in a joyful moment of harmony as we look forward to another year of hope and togetherness.

My second major project for Pinchgut Opera in 2025 is their performances of Handel’s Messiah at City Recital Hall. Presenting the original ‘Dublin Version’ with just twelve singers and the extraordinary playing of the Orchestra of the Antipodes will be very special.

This year, we celebrate the holiday season with one of the most beloved works of Baroque music, Handel's Messiah.

Renowned for its profound beauty and spiritual depth, Messiah isa deeply moving and transcendent experience.

Since its premiere in Dublin in 1742, Messiah has become one of the most performed choral works in Western music. Pinchgut will perform Handel's original Dublin version with an ensemble of 12 singers. The original scoring with its transparency and lightness of touch will be a revelation even to those who know the work well.

Handel's ability to convey complex emotions through his music makes Messiah a timeless work of art. Its blend of lyrical beauty and dramatic intensity ensures its place as a cornerstone of Baroque repertoire.

Erin Helyard leads the Orchestra of the Antipodes from the keyboard, just as Handel did, in his first time conducting Messiah on period instruments.

In a work that has become synonymous with Christmas and the holiday season, this a rare opportunity to discover it afresh, as the original audience did over 300 years ago.

Messiah
(Orginal Dublin Version, 1742)
by George Frideric Handel

Running time: 3 hours, including interval

Sung in English with surtitles

City Recital Hall, Sydney

Thursday 27 November, 7pm
Saturday 29 November, 2pm
Sunday 30 November, 5pm
Tuesday 2 December, 1pm
Wednesday 3 December, 7pm

In 2025 I’ll be continuing my now 10-year association with The Song Company appearing in two major tours across the year. Pairings and Odd Couples is programmed and directed by Huw Belling, and will be a very ‘Song Company’ program that contrasts music, styles, and deliveries across many centuries. More below from The Song Company website.

12-21 September
Sydney, Blackheath, Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra

Please note the current website dates are not accurate – check individual ticket listings

Pairings and Odd Couples is a bold exploration of musical contrasts, curated by Guest Director Huw Belling. This eclectic program brings together works from different countries and eras, placing composers in fascinating dialogue. Estonian chant meets Irish modernism, while the premiere of Belling’s Pru Vir offers a fresh response to Guerrero’s Prudentes Virgines.

The program also delves into the timeless versatility of J.S. Bach, highlighting his enduring influence. Spanning centuries, Pairings and Odd Couples ranges from early chant to contemporary compositions by living composers such as Finsterer and Pärt, creating a transcontinental conversation through time. These intriguing juxtapositions reveal the unexpected connections between seemingly disparate musical worlds, offering a compelling reflection on how music bridges cultures and eras.

My year would absolutely not be complete without my work with Pinchgut Opera – and I am thrilled to be part of the moment when this ‘boutique’ opera company finally presents an opera in a real theatre! Moving from its usual and regular home at City Recital Hall (where the concert hall has a stage and set built on it) we are presenting Purcell’s The Fairy Queen at the Roslyn Packer Theatre in Walsh Bay. There is a wonderful cast of familiar (and newer) faces in a production directed and designed by Netia Jones which promises to be very special.

from the Pinchgut Opera website

Purcell’s The Fairy Queen is a curious and captivating opera, which originated as an adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Pinchgut’s brilliant reimagining explores love in all its guises and disguises across a city in twenty-four hours.

Renowned for her imaginative and innovative work, award-winning UK director Netia Jones makes her Pinchgut debut to create this enthralling new production. The Fairy Queen examines the deepest of human emotions in a timeless portrait of our attempts to communicate, cohabitate, and love.

The score encompasses everything from French-style dances to exquisite laments and elaborate choruses. Its diversity and richness are a shining example of Purcell’s brilliance, securing its status as an enduring masterpiece.

Staged at the Roslyn Packer Theatre, The Fairy Queen marks a significant moment for Pinchgut and a highlight of the 2025 season.

In 2025 I’ll be continuing my now 10-year association with The Song Company appearing in two major tours across the year. Journeying to Finisterre is programmed and directed by Amy Moore, and will feature many early Spanish works alongside contemporary Australian works by Anne Cawrse, Joe Twist, and more.

From the Song Company website

7-16 March
Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra, Sydney, Blackheath*

*Other dates to be added…

Journeying to Finisterre is an evocative exploration of pilgrimage, not just across landscapes but deep within the self. Curated by Co-Artistic Director and Soprano Amy Moore, this program delves into the 12th Century Codex Calixtinus and 14th Century Libre Vermell de Montserrat—devotional manuscripts that guided pilgrims both physically and spiritually.

We trace the Camino paths to Santiago de Compostela with Spanish and Portuguese Renaissance polyphony, including Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Versa est in Luctum which echoes through time in Joseph Twist’s setting of the same text. Paul Stanhope’s Explorer’s Journal draws us deep into the natural world, and Anne Cawrse’s Pilgrim Psalms offer a contemporary reflection on spiritual journeys, the quest for inner connection and the timeless search for meaning.

My first performances for 2025 are at the Sydney Festival with Bach Akademie Australia from 9-11 January. It’s one of my favourite times to be in Sydney - and in the height of what is usually a very warm summer I like to escape into the cool of the concert hall or theatre when I can!

The two performances are at Walsh Bay (The Nielsen, Pier 2/3 home of the ACO) and form part of a myriad of events being held at ‘The Wharf’ as part of the Festival.

From the Sydney Festival website

When Galileo’s father, Vincenzo, was composing in the 16th century, the heavens were thought to have their own music, audible to the soul. Even today, the ‘heavenly dance’ of the stars and planets evokes a sense of inevitable destiny, elegant precision and timeless mystery. Those same qualities can be heard in the intricate creations of Johann Sebastian Bach, and it’s one of the reasons his music continues to resonate. 

The music of Bach – perfect and universal – is the connecting thread in a compelling program that looks to the heavens for inspiration. Voices and instruments will dance and resound in music from the high Renaissance to our own time, from Europe to the Pacific and First Nations Australia – with the Morning Star as our guiding light.

It’s the kind of concert for which Madeleine Easton and the Bach Akademie Australia have become known: intellectually satisfying, emotionally rewarding and thrilling to the senses. 

PROGRAM

J.S. Bach Sinfonia and Chorus from ‘Himmelskönig, sei willkommen’ – Cantata, BWV 182 
Tomás Luis de Victoria O magnum mysterium 
J.S. Bach Prelude and Fugue No.1 in C major from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2
Vincenzo Galilei Highlights from ‘The Well-Tempered Lute’, arr. for string quartet
J.S. Bach Highlights from the Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
James MacMillan O Radiant Dawn
Troy Russell Clans, arr. for solo violin
J.S. Bach Aria and Chorale from ‘Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern’ – Cantata, BWV 1 

It is a great delight to be programming Hark! 2024 which rounds out the 40th Anniversary Year of The Song Company. Earlier this year I became an uncle for the first time, and I found myself reflecting on the 'sacred' and gentle way in which humans hold themselves around new life – and indeed around the end of life also. We speak gently, think deeply, and often find moments of great togetherness.

The Christmas Season, regardless of your particular religious stripe, is a time of year that invites reflections on family, friendship, and (for some) faith – and at its centre draws focus to the story of a child being born in a stable to Jewish parents in what was then Roman-controlled Palestine. Hark 2024! will reflect and celebrate the Christmas story and the little everyday miracle of new life with music and poetry old and new; both sacred and secular.

The Song Company tours Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong, and the Blue Mountains with this program from 28 November - 1 December.

All details can be found here.

From the Song Company Website:

Celebrating the wealth of Australian music commissioned and performed by The Song Company over its illustrious 40-year history.

14-30 June
Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra (more to come…)

Drawing inspiration from the iconic masterpiece by Peter Sculthorpe, The Stars Turn captures the essence of The Song Company's vibrant history, showcasing our rich tapestry of collaborations with some of the brightest stars of Australian music. From the mesmerising Elena Kats-Chernin to the intricate textures of Nigel Butterly and Katy Abbott, this program is a snapshot of The Song Company's musical milestones.

The Stars Turn also casts its gaze toward the future, with the next generation of composers whose talents light up the musical sky. Experience the innovative soundscapes of Alice Chance, Sonya Holowell and Chris Williams, and the debut of a mesmerising new work by Angus Davison.

Don't miss this extraordinary celebration of Australian musical creativity, past, present and future. Secure your tickets now and be part of this luminous constellation of sound.

As part of my involvement in all of Pinchgut Opera’s 2024 Season – I’m delighted to be singing in a reduced Consort of voices from Cantillation in this baroque gem that I haven’t sung for many years.

From the Pinchgut Opera Website

TICKETS & INFORMATION

Acclaimed for its insightful and unique interpretations of the lesser-known works from the Baroque period, Pinchgut Opera also relishes the opportunity to put its signature stamp on one of the best-known operas in the repertory.

Dido and Aeneas is the perfect operatic gem. Few stories capture the essence of tragic love, heroism and destiny as intensely as the tale of the Trojan hero Aeneas and the noble Queen Dido, the founder of Carthage.

It is this star-crossed love story, laden with the tumultuous interplay of duty, passion and fate, that Purcell, a master of music for the theatre, chose as the subject of his only true opera.

Australian star soprano Valda Wilson (Theodora, 2016) returns to Pinchgut in her role debut as Dido, with acclaimed baritone David Greco as Aeneas. Joining them is Kanen Breen (Ormindo, 2009; Platée, 2021) inhabiting the snarling malice of the Sorceress, and the ever-eloquent Sara Macliver (The Fairy Queen, 2003; Orfeo, 2004; Bajazet, 2015) as Belinda.

Dido and Aeneas features some of the most beautiful Baroque music of all time, including the final lament of Dido, darkly brooding and famously tragic, which was aptly featured in the final season of the HBO smash-hit series The White Lotus.

Musically resplendent and thrillingly fierce, Pinchgut’s presentation of Dido and Aeneas is not to be missed.

I am looking forward to working with Salut Baroque for the first time in May - having long known of their recordings and long history in Australia. These performances in May will feature a great mix of vocal and instrumental works by Bach, Handel, Purcell, Lambert, Buxtehude, Monteverdi and more!

From the Salut Baroque website

The Influencers

Expectations were high for salaried composers during the Baroque period. Constant demands for new repertoire required inspiration and creativity as well as talent. Influence ebbed and flowed between composers, nations, styles and beliefs. Bach was inspired by his devoutness and his vast collection of other composers’ works; Handel reinvented himself between German, Italian and English styles, depending on where he was living and what was fashionable; Purcell loved theatrical spectacle; and Rameau was fascinated by the exploration of culture from abroad. In turn, our curious composers influenced generations of musicians to continually discover new horizons of musical creativity.

Andrew O’Connor (Bass-Baritone), Sally Melhuish (Recorder), Jane Downer (Baroque Oboe, Recorder), Meg Cohen (Baroque Violin), Julia Russoniello (Baroque Violin), Karina Schmitz (Baroque Viola), Suzie Kim (Baroque Viola), Tim Blomfield (Baroque Cello), Simon Martyn-Ellis (Theorbo), Monika Kornel (Harpsichord)

Program

Avison – Concerto No. 5 in D minor
Bach – Aria Ich habe genug from Cantata BWV 82
Biber – Battalia in D major, C61
Handel – Aria O ruddier than the cherry
Locke – Lilk; Curtain Tune; Rustick Air; Minoit
Vivaldi – Aria Se il cor Guerriero
Buxtehude – Sonata; Vulnerasti cor meum
Rameau – Air pour les esclaves africains; Tambourins I-II; Air pour l’adoration de soleil; Air pour les Sauvages
Lambert – Ma bergère est tendre et fidèle
Telemann – Concerto in G major for Viola, TWV 51:G9
Purcell – Aria What Power Art Thou?
Monteverdi – Damigella tutta bella

Friday 3 May 2024, 7.30pm
Wesley Church, 20 National Circuit, Forrest, Canberra

Sunday 5 May 2024, 3.00pm
Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music

I will be joining Bach Akademie Australia for a few projects across 2024 - my COVID-cancellation at the Sydney Festival not withstanding - and the first is this Cantata project with two concerts in Sydney: Paddington and Chatswood — April 12 & April 14

From the Bach Akademie Australia website

The Bach family spent their lives in service. After four generations of practicing musicians, J.S. Bach was no different. He was a passionate educator, pedagogue, school master and mentor to his own many children and those of the Thomasschule of which he was Cantor. With a strong social conscience, he composed music to enrich, instruct and inspire the lives of all. Bach Akademie Australia presents a program featuring Bach’s cantata ‘Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot’, dubbed the ‘refugee cantata’, thought to have welcomed the arrival into Germany of Protestant refugees banished from Salzburg.

Composed in Cöthen, his Harpsichord Concerto in E arranged for violin is a shining example of clever adaptation, which he used later in his career as a toolfor teaching his students. We end with his famous cantata ‘Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben’ BWV 147, which perfectly encapsulates Bach’s desire that our hearts, mouths, deeds and lives be in service to humanity and to God.

PROGRAM

J.S. Bach Cantata ‘Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot’ BWV 39

J.S. Bach Harpsichord Concerto in E arranged for Violin in D (after BWV 1053) arr. K. Debrezeni

J.S. Bach Cantata ‘Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben’ BWV 147

I will be (re)joining The Song Company for three major projects in its 40th Anniversary Season in 2024 - and the first of these is Superbloom with guest director Jane Sheldon.

Touring from 1-10 March in Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra, Sydney, and to the Orange Chamber Music Festival.

From The Song Company Website:

"Superbloom" is the phenomenon in which the desert landscape receives an unusual season of rain such that the next spring brings forth carpets of rare displays of flowers. Immerse yourself in this magical and musical "Superbloom" - a program of rare works for unaccompanied voices that draws parallels between the stark beauty of the arid desert and the lush abundance brought by the wet season.

Acclaimed Australian-American soprano and composer Jane Sheldon makes her Guest Directorial debut with The Song Company. Her artistry has created a musical journey that connects historical compositional giants such as Hildegard von Bingen and Carlo Gesualdo with contemporary composers Rebecca Saunders, Chaya Czernowin and James Weeks. Plus, be among the first to experience a brand-new work composed by the talented Jane Sheldon herself.

The Song Company has been captivating audiences with adventurous programming for 40 years. Join Australia's world-class vocal ensemble for this unforgettable experience that celebrates both the resilience of the desert and the creativity of the human spirit.

Superbloom Tour Dates & Ticket Links

Newcastle
Fri 1 March, 6pm
Newcastle Conservatorium of Music, Newcastle

Wollongong
Sat 2 March, 3pm
St Francis Xavier Cathedral, Wollongong

Canberra
Sun 3 March, 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, Ainslie

Sydney
Thu 7 March, 7pm
Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House 
 
Orange
Sat 9 March, 11am
Orange Chamber Music Festival 
Holy Trinity Church, Orange

Chatswood
Sun 10 March, 3pm
Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Church, Chatswood

THEODORA IN CONCERT

BY HANDEL
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OPERA AUSTRALIA

8 & 9 FEB | JOAN SUTHERLAND THEATRE | SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

In a milestone collaboration with Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera makes its Sydney Opera House debut for Handel’s masterpiece.

Bookings and Information available here.

How strange their ends, and yet how glorious!

The Messiah might be Handel’s most famous work, but the composer himself held Theodora in higher esteem.

Judge for yourself which oratorio deserves the title of Handel’s greatest masterpiece when Pinchgut Opera and Opera Australia join forces to present Theodora in concert.

A series of sublime arias and powerful choruses, Theodora is a heavenly musical experience. Set in ancient Rome, it follows the plight of a courageous woman and bold young soldier who risk everything in the face of a tyrannical power.

This milestone collaboration with Pinchgut Opera is the first time the acclaimed Baroque specialists have performed in the Joan Sutherland Theatre.

It’s a wonderful chance to see the Orchestra of the Antipodes in their element, performing on period instruments, with Pinchgut’s charismatic director Erin Helyard leading from the harpsichord, and Cantillation as the chorus. Pinchgut has assembled a cast of early music specialists, including countertenor Christopher Lowrey who reprises his acclaimed performance of Didymus which he first sang in Pinchgut’s fully staged production of Theodora in December 2016.

I’m delighted that my first engagement for 2024 is part of the Sydney Festival’s Temperament Series - a 5-day mini festival of J.S. Bach held at The Neilson, home of the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

From the Sydney Festival website

TEMPERAMENT SERIES

JS Bach is a true avant-gardist. Temperament – a week-long celebration and deconstruction of Bach – pays homage to the revolutionary advances his music enabled and its influence on modern composers.

This series features an exceptional group of local and international artists and ensembles including Bach Akademie Australia, Korkmaz Can Sağlam, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Andrew Bukenya, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Benjamin Skepper and Ensemble Apex.

"Bach truly is the master of rhetoric and the Bach Akademie Australia the masters of persuasion and joy."

PROGRAM

Under violinist and founder Madeleine Easton, the ensemble's focus on mastery, authenticity and originality of interpretation makes it the ideal companion for the journey of Bach’s remarkable life, from beginning to end. Bach’s earliest cantata (his 'Actus Tragicus', circa 1708) is a perfect place to start, an introspective and innovative funeral cantata. In his splendid Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, written a decade later, we hear what is arguably the first ever keyboard concerto ever written. From Bach’s later life in Leipzig, comes his motet 'Lobet den Herrn’, one of his most joyful works, and his cantata 'Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats', a narrative of faith and hope in six captivating movements. Played in intimate, acoustically excellent surroundings, JS Bach: A Life in Music promises spiritual depth, instrumental brilliance and choral splendour.

TIMES

Tue 23rd Jan, 07:30pm

Wed 24th Jan, 02:00pm

TICKETS & INFO

The Song Company Christmas

Start the festive season with well-loved carols and heart-melting harmonies. 
A Christmas concert for the whole family to enjoy together in Sydney and Wollongong.

The Song Company Christmas Carol program Hark! will be presented three times in Sydney and for the first in Wollongong.

TICKETS AND DETAILS

See The Song Company Christmas Carols:

Wed 29 Nov, 6:00PM Our Lady of Dolours, Chatswood

Thu 30 Nov, 6:00PM St Francis of Assisi, Paddington

Fri 1 Dec, 6:00PM The Garrison Church, Millers Point

Sat 2 Dec, 2:00PM St Francis Xavier Cathedral, Wollongong

Hark! will also be broadcast live via the Australian Digital Concert Hall on Friday, 1 December at 6pm and will be available on demand after that initial livestream.

In November I will join Bach Akademie Australia for their final program in 2023 (the only one I was available for!) which includes performances in Glenbrook, Chatswood, and the ‘flagship’ performance at City Recital Hall, Angel Place. Featuring some of the music I recently sang in the United States with the American Bach Soloists, it will be a fitting end to a big year of Bach for me personally.

Saturday 18 November, 7:30pm, Glenbrook

Sunday 19 November, 2:30pm, Chatswood

Thursday 23 November, 7:00pm, City Recital Hall

From the Bach Akademie Australia Website - where further details can be found

2023 brings us an opportunity to celebrate one of the greatest events in musical history, J.S. Bach’s appointment as Thomaskantor in Leipzig. As a result, a new era in music history began. For the next 27 years, the requirements of his appointment combined with his deep faith and desire to encourage faith in all others, inspired Bach to produce music of such staggering beauty, complexity and profundity that changed the course of music forever. These works, particularly the cantatas, are still performed and idolised around the world today, demonstrated by the more than 300 Bach choirs and societies that exist worldwide. To celebrate this momentous event, we have chosen 3 of his most celebrated Leipzig cantatas and his jubilant motet ‘Singet dem Herrn’. How can the works of Bach ever be adequately summed up? We will leave it to our international patron Sir John Eliot Gardiner ’But it is Bach, making music in the Castle of Heaven, who gives us the voice of God – in human form. He is the one who blazes a trail, showing us how to overcome our imperfections through the perfections of his music: to make divine things human and human things divine.’

PROGRAM

J.S. Bach Chorale Prelude ‘In Dulci
Jublio’ BWV 729

J.S. Bach Cantata ‘Unser mund sei voll
Lachens’ BWV 110

J.S. Bach Motet ‘Singet dem Herrn’
BWV 225
— Interval —
J.S. Bach Cantata ‘Jesu, der du meine
Seele’ BWV 78

J.S. Bach Cantata ‘Wachet auf’
BWV 140

I will be joining (after many asks!) the Chapel Choir of St Paul’s College in their presentation of Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen. Quite literally I start rehearsing this meer hours after arriving back in Australia after study and travels in the United States – so it will be a fun adventure on that front as well as being a lively and effervescent score!