Welcome to
Sydney Chamber Choir’s
2026 season
Our opening concert sees us collaborate for the first time with the Sydney Children’s Choir in a performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.
Loved by choirs and audiences for its energetic rhythms and grand melodies, this will be a thrilling start to our choral year at City Recital Hall. We pair this with a set of three pieces: Nardi Simpson’s Dharriwaa – Narran Lakes Dreaming, Paul Stanhope’s exploration of the Fitzroy River in the Kimberley region of Western Australia I am Martuwarra and David Conte’s moving Invocation and Dance. We’ll be joined by the dynamic combination of Luke Byrne and Jem Harding at the piano and a team of expert percussionists.
(And as a former chorister of Sydney Children’s Choir, it will be a great joy for me to bring together the experience of the Sydney Chamber Choir with the intensity and passion of the next generation of singers.)
In May, we present In Paradisum, a collection of music from Scandinavia, Estonia and Australia, featuring two stunning works for choir and cello.
We’ll be joined by cellist Julian Smiles for Knut Nystedt’s Stabat Mater and Joseph Twist’s Lament. Other highlights of this program include Sven-David Sandström’s Four Songs of Love and Veljo Tormis’ Autumn Landscapes. In the beautiful atmosphere of St James’ Church in Sydney or at the Hume Conservatorium in Goulburn, this music will transport you.
In July, we are delighted to perform Look Up to the Sky at The Pavilion in Sutherland as part of their new Morning Series.
This program will feature music from some of our much-loved Australian composers, including Meta Cohen’s Meteora, a new work in 2025 which is already taking its place as a firm favourite. For this concert we are pleased to be joined by the Sutherland Shire Choral Society and their conductor Hayden Barrington.
In 2023, we embarked upon a new style of choral jazz concerts at the ACO’s The Neilson on Pier 2 / 3 with Australian jazz and a cappella legend Naomi Crellin.
This collaboration has been one of the most rewarding for the choir and our audience alike, so it’s a delight to welcome Naomi back in September alongside Nick Begbie for the third instalment: Sessions on the Pier – Time & Tide.
Join us for a spring evening on the water at Walsh Bay to bask in the classic melodies of George Gershwin and Rodgers and Hammerstein.
We bring our choral year to a close in November with music at the core of the chamber choir identity – James MacMillan’s monumental Cantos Sagrados, Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs and Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb.
We’re delighted to be presenting this program both in Sydney at St James’ Church and in the Blue Mountains with two of Sydney’s finest musicians, baritone David Greco and organist Thomas Wilson.
Collaboration lies at the heart of Sydney Chamber Choir. Our wide range of collaborators in 2026 will offer you different perspectives on the music that you know and love, and introduce you to new works.
I hope you will join us for what promises to be a year of beautiful music.
Sam Allchurch
Artistic Director
Explore the 2026 Season
-
![Pink and white flowers with bees at the blooms]()
Carmina Burana
Sunday, 22 March
Experience the energy of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana alongside works by Nardi Simpson, Paul Stanhope and David Conte — voices, piano and percussion come together to celebrate life and love.
-
![A luscious forest canopy]()
In Paradisum
Saturday, 23 May
Saturday, 30 MayIn Paradisum — where northern serenity meets southern warmth. Voices and cello unite in glowing choral works from Baltic, Nordic and Australian composers tracing a journey through light, faith and love.
-
![Clouds in a blue sky with a mirror effect]()
Look Up to the Sky
Tuesday, 07 July
Enjoy Australian, Baltic and Nordic choral works that blend purity, warmth and quiet radiance in Look Up to the Sky, part of the new Morning Series at The Pavilion Sutherland.
-
![Nightscape with city lights over the harbour]()
Sessions on the Pier: Time & Tide
Saturday, 19 September
Naomi Crellin and Nick Begbie of The Idea of North lead the Choir and a jazz trio in Time & Tide, blending classical, jazz and popular song in a celebration of the changing year.
-
![Dawn over a lake with a moutain in the distance]()
Cantos Sagrados
Sunday, 8 November
Saturday, 14 NovemberCantos Sagrados brings choir and organ together in masterworks by Benjamin Britten, James MacMillan and Ralph Vaughan Williams, a celebration of faith, resilience and the transcendent power of music.