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“We were often covered in a blanket of sound, of sheer energy…”
– Sydney Arts Guide, 2023 –
Come to the Northern Foyer to hear one of this program’s featured composers, Joanna Forbes L’Estrange (picture below), in conversation with 2MBS Fine Music presenter Nina Fudala speak about the music this program. Grab a drink at the bar and enjoy this free, 30-minute talk, with plenty of time to find your seat for the 7pm concert.
Seating is on the carpeted stairs in the Northern Foyer. Some chairs may be available on a first-come basis.
Access the Northern Foyer via the new tunnel from the Southern Foyer.
2025 Pre-Concert Talks are made possible with the support of our media partner, 2MBS Fine Music.
The English cathedral is a place of sanctuary from the distractions of a hectic world. It’s also the home of a rich and enduring choral tradition, and you don’t have to be a believer to find comfort in the transcendent beauty and reflective spirituality of sacred music.
For this Sydney Philharmonia Choirs concert, Brett Weymark turns to the cathedral for inspiration, assembling some of the great hymns and anthems in a stirring program featuring the 140-voice Symphony Chorus and David Drury at the Sydney Opera House Grand Organ. This is music that has filled the air at coronations, weddings, jubilees and funerals – the perfect accompaniment for pageantry and celebration, for meditation and mourning.
The musical treats range from Hubert Parry’s I Was Glad, sung at every English coronation since 1902, and the luscious sounds of Henry Balfour Gardiner’s Evening Hymn, to Howard Goodall’s poignant setting of Psalm 23, which began life as the theme for The Vicar of Dibley. And this ‘evensong’ for the concert hall concludes with the Australian premiere of music from A Season to Sing, a choral transformation of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with words by Emily Brontë.
After a performance in the splendid acoustic of Sydney’s ‘secular cathedral’, the Sydney Opera House, I Was Glad will tour to Bathurst and Goulburn, for performances in two of NSW’s great cathedrals.
Tuesday 1 April | 7pm
Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
Saturday 5 April | 2pm
All Saints Cathedral | Bathurst
Saturday 12 April | 2pm
St Peter & Paul’s Old Cathedral | Goulburn
This performance will run for 2 hours and 5 minutes, including one 20-minute interval.
Hubert PARRY I Was Glad
John IRELAND Greater Love Hath No Man
Joanna FORBES L’ESTRANGE|
A Season to Sing: A Time to Dance*
A Season to Sing: Spring*
William Henry MONK Abide with Me
Henry Balfour GARDINER Evening Hymn
Roxanna PANUFNIK Coronation Sanctus
Gerald FINZI Lo, the Full Final Sacrifice
– Interval –
Edward BAIRSTOW Blessed City, Heavenly Salem
Howard GOODALL The Lord is My Shepherd
Cecilia McDOWALL Celebration, for organ
William HARRIS Bring Us, O Lord God
Joanna FORBES L’ESTRANGE A Season to Sing: Summer*
Edgar BAINTON And I Saw a New Heaven
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS All the People That On Earth Do Dwell
Hubert PARRY Blest Pair of Sirens
* Australian premiere of an international co-commission from 55 choirs, including Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
Brett Weymark conductor
Symphony Chorus
David Drury organ
SYDNEY
Premium $140 | A $114 | B $88 | C $60 | D $45
Concessions $126| A $103| B $79 | C $55 | D $41
Under 30 $30
A booking fee of $8.95 per transaction applies.
BATHURST & GOULBURN
General Admission $40
Concessions $35
Under 30 $30
A booking fee of $8.95 per transaction applies.