“Connections” Reviews, September 2025
© Chalice Pavia
Reviews
classikON
Sydney Chamber Choir celebrates connections and a legacy alive and thriving
Pepe Newton | 29 September 2025
“… This concert was as much a reunion as it was a performance. President Chris Matthies opened proceedings by welcoming 22 former choristers who were joining the ‘regular’ ensemble, some were from as far back as 1975 when the choir first formed at Sydney University. It set the tone for the afternoon – a gathering across generations, voices past and present and a heartfelt sense of belonging which I felt genuinely extends to us, the choir’s audiences.
Three conductors took the stage in turn — Paul Stanhope, Nicholas Routley and Sam Allchurch — each shaping a distinct set.”
“What struck me most was how each conductor shaped their set differently: Stanhope with clean modernism and Baltic shimmer, Routley with imaginative soundscapes and early polyphony, Allchurch with an embrace of contemporary Australian voices. Together they painted not just 50 years of the choir, but also 50 years of evolution in Australian choral music itself, an evolution spearheaded by groups like Sydney Chamber Choir (bravo SCC).”
Sydney Morning Herald
Sydney Chamber Choir: Five decades of distinctive, distinguished performance
Harriet Cunningham | 4 stars | 29 September 2025
“Sydney Chamber Choir was formed in 1975. Fifty years on, it continues to thrive. As part of year-long celebrations, this concert brings together the most recent three artistic directors, an ensemble of current choristers and alumni, and a program packed with touchstone works.
Et Misericordia, for example, was commissioned by the choir in 1986 from Clare MacLean, one of its own choristers, who here rejoined the choir as an alumna to sing her own spiky counterpoints and rich harmonies. A more recent commission, Evening Star by Harry Sdraulig, set Edgar Allan Poe’s poem with deceptively diatonic melodies. Both works were dispatched with the well-articulated, blended tone that is the hallmark of this ensemble.
The concert opened under the baton of Paul Stanhope, conducting Nigel Butterley’s Surrexit Dominus, an early work sounding disarmingly straightforward at first, but with flashes of harmonic and rhythmic complexity that give tantalising hints at the composer’s emerging voice. Stanhope also navigated the choir through the joyful rhythms of Estonian composer Urmas Sisask’s Benedictio and the extended techniques and textures of Aija Draguns Dawn of Creation.
Stanhope passed the baton to Nicholas Routley for two settings of Sicut Lilium from the Old Testament’s Song of Songs: an exquisite miniature from French Renaissance composer Antoine Brumel, and Routley’s own setting, just as beautiful, but with a knowingly sensual overlay.
The choir’s current director, Sam Allchurch, began the final lap with Meta Cohen’s uplifting Meteora, and finished with another commission, Joseph Twist’s Sunrise on the Coast from Timeless Land. The combined forces of current and past choristers, including some of the original members, filled the Verbrugghen Hall with blazing sound.
A choir is not a constant thing: it changes as people change, as artistic directors come and go. The thing about Sydney Chamber Choir, as this concert so ably demonstrated, is that every work, every chorister, every conductor and composer involved with the ensemble across five decades has left their mark. Sydney Chamber Choir is not just an ensemble; it is a community.“
What’s on Sydney
Sydney Chamber Choir’s Historic Concert
Eleanor Edwards
“The Sydney Chamber Choir made a strong impression this past weekend, opening their Connections Concert at the Verbrugghen Hall with Surrexit Dominus by Nigel Butterly in a blend of satisfying harmonies. I was impressed by the choir’s precise, unified entries and crisp diction as Paul Stanhope conducted them, exemplifying the choir’s high standard.”
“A piece that really stood out to me was Agnus Dei by Josquin des Prez, conducted by founding director Nicholas Routley. A sense of peace washed over the audience as the choir performed the beautiful descending passages with delicacy, the male voices offering warm sustained harmonies. Reading the program, I leaned that the Sydney Chamber Choir had performed this silky, serene work as a newly formed ensemble back in 1975, making this a lovely full-circle moment.”
“It is always exciting to hear new Australian works, so it was pleasing to learn that Sydney Chamber Choir proudly commissions works by both established and emerging Australian composers, and concluded this concert with a series of contemporary Australian pieces written between 2021 and 2025. It was wonderful to hear new works by Meta Cohen and Harry Sdraulig conducted enthusiastically by Sydney Chamber Choir’s Artistic Director Sam Allchurch. The dynamic concert ended with a performance of Sunrise on the Coast by Joseph Twist - the perfect piece to close with. The audience was enthralled as the choir sang with gentleness contrasted with intensity, along with a warm, bright sound that created musical magic. ”
Artists
Sydney Chamber Choir
Sam Allchurch
Conductor
Nicholas Routley
Conductor
Paul Stanhope
Conductor
Szu Yu Chen
Piano
Jess Ciampa
Vibraphone
Program
Antoine Brumel
Sicut lilium
Nigel Butterley
Surrexit Dominus
Meta Cohen
Meteora (World premiere)
Aija Draguns
Dawn of Creation
Ēriks Ešenvalds
Long Road
Josquin
Agnus Dei III from Missa l'homme armé sexti toni
Clare Maclean
Et misericordia
Nicholas Routley
Sicut lilium
Harry Sdraulig
Evening Star
Urmas Sisask
Benedictio
Joe Twist
Sunrise on the Coast