Welcome
Dear
 Welcome to the last issue of Voicemail for this year. What a SENSATIONAL finish to our 2011 season! We're still basking in the festive triumphs that were our Messiah and A European Christmas performances last week that brought packed houses to their feet! We hope those who came to Messiah on Sunday especially enjoyed their encore Hallelujah performance! We heartily congratulate our 450-strong Massed Messiah Choir whose participation turn the concert into a truly amazing community event. Of course thunderous applause also goes to our Symphony Chorus as well as our young adult choir VOX who continue to go from strength to strength with their angelic performance in A European Christmas. Bravo also to the brilliant soloists and we look forward to presenting the Britten next year!
Speaking of the (slightly chilly) festive season . . . If you're stuck for Christmas gift ideas we've got the solution! We've introduced new CHRISTMAS GIFT CERTIFICATES which make the perfect present for the choral music-lover! Why not buy a budding soprano a ChorusOz 2012 registration to perform on the Opera House stage - priceless! Or consider redeemable vouchers for single concert tickets, a subscription or even a bargain Under 30s Youth Subscription - a plentiful Christmas present for the discerning Gen Y concert-goer in your life! We're happy to talk you through the options available - call us on (02) 9251 2024 or go online to find out more about Gift Certificates. If you're thinking of subscribing for yourself, don't forget that you have until the end of the year to claim the best seats before they go on sale to the general public. You also receive 10% off single tickets for family and friends and this month we're introducing a further Subscriber Exclusive offer with the Vienna Boys' Choir touring next year - read on through the newsletter to find out more!
Don't forget our Season 2012 Single Tickets go on sale just after New Year's on 3rd January, 2012 - visit our online calendar of concerts to pick your favourites! You can purchase tickets both by phone and online (02) 9251 2024.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We take this opportunity to thank you for your enthusiastic support throughout 2011 and look forward to seeing you next year for another fabulous season of choral music!
Sydney Philharmonia Team
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December festive performances!
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December would have to be one of the busiest months in the Sydney Philharmonia calendar!
On Saturday 19 November members of our Chamber and Symphony Chorus officially heralded in the start to Westfield's Christmas shopping season at their Pitt St Mall store entrance. Morning shoppers were treated to an array of festive carols such as Silent Night, and of course the ever-popular Hallelujah chorus, as their 'Tree of Light' lit up the corridors in blazing colours!
In a splendid warm-up to the performance of MESSIAH on 8, 10, 11 December, some of our choristers sang the rousing Hallelujah chorus in a live-to-air cross with Tim Bailey, Channel 10's weatherman, on the outside steps of the Sydney Opera House - Tuesday 6 December at 5.55pm. It must have worked for the sun finally came out for a brief cameo appearance a couple of days later! Watch the live-cross here
It may have been raining but nothing could dampen the spirits of VOX - our young adult choir - who sang a glorious line-up of carols at City of Sydney's Christmas on the Green open-air event at Hyde Park on Thursday 24 November. People impressed by VOX's angelic tones could hear more of their carols at A EUROPEAN CHRISTMAS at the Sydney Opera House on 11 December. VOX will also continue the festivity singing on Christmas Eve at a Carol Service at St Phillip's Church, York St Sydney on 24 December, 8pm.
You can see snapshots of these performances in our Facebook albums!
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Exclusive Subscription Offer!
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 Sydney Philharmonia Choirs 2012 subscribers are being rewarded with a fantastic opportunity to book Vienna Boys' Choir tickets before they go on sale to the general public. This preferential offer also includes a $10 discount (applies to A Reserve tickets only).
The Vienna Boys' Choir is one of the world's oldest and most renowned choirs and indeed Austria's pride and joy. In its first tour of Australia since 2005, the Choir will feature carefully selected choristers between the ages of 10 and 14 performing a wide range of its repertoire including motets, lieder, arrangements of waltzes and polkas by Johann Strauss, and popular song. They will perform in Sydney on Tuesday 18 September, 8pm at the Concert Hall Sydney Opera House.
This offer ends 1st February 2012. CLICK HERE to subscribe and discover our many other subscriber benefits!
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Catch us at Sydney Festival!
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11-14 January, 2012
 Our first production for 2012 will be Something Wonderful - the collection of popular choruses from Rodgers & Hammerstein's vibrant musicals. If you can't wait that long to hear us then come to our performance in Sydney Festival. In 2012 Sydney Philharmonia Choirs will be performing in ASSEMBLY - a collaborative project with Chunky Move and Victorian Opera.
Blending dance with theatrical and operatic performance, this epic work involves more than 60 performers in the City Recital Hall stage with our singing choristers and eight of Chunky Move's most exceptional dancers.
With waves of glorious choral music by Gesualdo, Victoria, Purcell and Plainchant, ASSEMBLY is an awe-inspiring mixture of movement and voice, shifting and swaying the action between perfect order and the unpredictable clamour of the mob. Guaranteed to be an unmissable Sydney Festival event!
City Recital Hall Angel Place
January 11-14 at 8pm
January 14 at 2pm
Visit sydneyfestival.org.au/assembly
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Join Festival Chorus! 5 February 2012
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 MAKE 2012 THE YEAR YOU TAKE THE PLUNGE AND JOIN US!
Festival Chorus welcomes singers of all abilities, from beginners to the experienced, into a program of choral training featuring great repertoire! With over 300 members, it's a friendly community of people who love music and enjoy the lively rehearsals and the energising vocal workout. In 2012 Festival Chorus will sing two exciting choral concerts at the Sydney Opera House - SOMETHING WONDERFUL in May and AN ENGLISH CHRISTMAS in December.
HOW TO JOIN: Singers of all abilities can attend the OPEN DAY which includes a vocal workshop and voice assessment with our Artistic and Musical Director, Brett Weymark.
FESTIVAL CHORUS OPEN DAY - 5 FEBRUARY 2012
10AM - 12PM
At our rehearsal space on Pier 4 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay
Registration fee: $30
Registration ends FRIDAY 27 JANUARY 2012 - HURRY!! Visit: www.sydneyphilharmonia.com.au/openday
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INSPIRED BY BEETHOVEN . . .
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 STORY BY REBECCA GLADYS-LEE - SPC CHORISTER
Beethoven inspired a desire in me at a transformative time in my life to discover my life’s passion and the joy and courage to pursue this. During this process I discovered my talent for art and sculpture. My sculpture of Beethoven was borne out of my intense interest in his music and life story. He was passionate about the power of the human spirit (individually and collectively) and the importance of the freedom of its expression especially in the face of adversity and his life was an example of this.
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An American Journey
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 Every year Sydney Philharmonia Choirs departs on a 'choral pilgrimage'. The aim is to bring the joy of choral music to regions outside of Sydney. This year our Chamber Singers ensemble ventured through regional NSW on a tour that included performances in Bathurst, Orange, Bowral and Penrith, as well as Sydney CBD presenting 20th century works by American composers. Chorister Gillian Markham reflects on the rollicking month-long party that was AMERICAN JOURNEYS 2011!
"All too often, travel provides a wonderful set of comic circumstances, and somewhere between the twin poles of obsessive itinerary-planning and utter surrender to fate was our preferred travel style. Drop a few singers in a small town; add an element of coffee deprivation and a long bus trip, and the potential for absent-mindedness, show-tunes and ridiculous Facebook check-ins is high. Each tour began with our meeting at Central Station bus terminal - a batch of excited souls who were to shape our touring party for the next month.
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Singing our Praises!
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Lavish reviews for our recent performances!
Bach B Minor Mass, October 2011
Article - Harmonies are made of this as baroque masterpiece thrills and soars
‘Hugely rewarding passages, notably the great final chorus, Dona nobis pacem where, joined by the four soloists, the contrapuntal fabric glowed and soared.’
Sydney Morning Herald, 17.10.2011
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Singing with Sydney Symphony
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As many in our audience are aware, every year Sydney Philharmonia Choirs often sing at Sydney Symphony productions at the Sydney Opera House. Here's a list of our 'Star Appearances' in 2012 to keep an eye out for!
8, 10, 11, 13 February - Beethoven Symphony No. 9
2, 4, 5 May - Gloria by Poulenc & Mozart Requiem
27, 28, 29 July - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
1, 3 December - The Queen of Spades (An Opera in Concert) - Tchaikovsky
For further information head to: www.sydneysymphony.com
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Australian Chamber Orchestra
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Special Ticket Offer - Australian Chamber Orchestra
The ACO'S 2012 Season features superstar vocal group The Hilliard Ensemble, soprano Danielle de Niese performing Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate and Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge. For your chance to win 2 tickets to see The Hilliard Ensemble and the ACO at Sydney Opera House on 11 March, enter code word SPC when you request a brochure at aco.com.au
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Come sing with us!
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Auditions to join our choirs (Chamber Singers, Symphony Chorus and VOX) will next be held on Monday & Tuesday, 23 & 24 January 2012 5-7.30 pm both days. For further information visit our webpage for FAQs and to fill out the online audition registration form.
Registration Fee: $30
Venue: SPC Rehearsal Studio, Pier 4 Walsh Bay, Hickson Rd Millers Point
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Keep Sydney Singing
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The support that Sydney Philharmonia Choirs receive from individuals, organisations and corporations is vital for the future of choral music in Australia. Become a champion of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs this year by contributing to our 2011-2012 fundraising campaign. Join our family of accomplished singers and music enthusiasts and help us to keep our great choral tradition alive and vibrant!
Donate now
All donations of $2 and over are tax-deductible.
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